Is Rap Poetry?

Poet John Lundberg wonders on Huffington Post, "Is Rap Poetry?"

It's the kind of question that makes poetry's gatekeepers spin in their office chairs, and it's easy to understand why. Comparing the two genres, there's a huge difference in artfulness and intent. It's hard to compare John Keats' meditations on the sublime to Nelly's meditations on sneakers, and Plath and P. Diddy just look silly together. At the same time--especially at a time when many consider poetry to be a dying art--I'm a proponent of its having a big tent.

Spoken word poetry offers something of a bridge between traditional poetry and rap, and some in the poetry establishment are trying to take advantage of it.

"Spoken word" is the genre found in poetry slams and jams. Lundberg discusses a poem by Gemini, a regular on Def Poetry Jam.