Ebony E. Chinn
USA
I wanted to explore how the concept of remixing could be applied to poetry. Instead of viewing remixes as a form of revision, I wanted the “mixing” to be the focal point as a counterpoint to the usual revision that’s expected of literature (and art in general).
Bopped and Screwed
Poem
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Ebony E. Chinn
Biography
Ebony E. Chinn is from New Jersey. She has received support from the Callaloo Creative Writing Workshop, The Watering Hole, the Hurston/Wright Foundation, AWP’s Writer to Writer Mentorship Program, and the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference. She holds an MFA from the University of Alabama. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Obsidian, DIAGRAM, Lolwe, Frontier Poetry, Narrative, and Callaloo.
I’ve always liked chopped and screwed music and knew I wanted to write a persona piece as an homage to Robert Earl Davis Jr. aka DJ Screw after watching Moonlight. I became obsessed with chopped and screwed music at one point in my life as a result. Reading DJ Screw say, “I’m gonna screw the world up. It’s screwed up, but it ain’t finished” was so prophetic and ominous. I know this piece isn’t “chopped not slopped” but hopefully, it’ll introduce more people to his innovative influence in Hip Hop music.
Black Listening's website front page header art and Obsidian 49.2 cover art were created by Nettrice Gaskins