It would be facile, and a little 2016 of me, to simply say that I read two books that made me feel uncomfortable as a white person. Actually, it’d be mostly wrong<\/em> to say that. Neither of these books are written to highlight the sins of white people. They were written to celebrate Black musicians, and that is what they do. Both books do implicate structural white supremacy in ways that made me think about what it means to be part of a scene. Between this blog, both of my podcasts, and the reading series Brendan and I are putting on, I spend a lot of time thinking about how not <\/em>to make those spaces white boys’ clubs, and how to celebrate and honor artists who don’t look or date like me without being, y’know, a fuckin colonizer and culture vulture about it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n More important to say that these books tell stories that maybe you only know the outlines of, and they tell those stories with such rich, careful language that it makes you wonder why people aren’t talking about Merry Clayton or Josephine Baker or yes, Leadbelly more often. One book is subtitled In Praise of Black Performance<\/em>, and there is much to praise. The books, of course, are A Little Devil In America<\/em> by Hanif Abdurraqib and leadbelly<\/em> by Tyehimba Jess. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A Little Devil In America <\/em>by Hanif Abdurraqib:<\/strong> not gonna lie, this book was something of a motivator for the whole “let’s learn about music this year” theme. I bought it at KCAWP in 2024, was really excited about it, and then have just not been able to get to it yet. This is somehow my first Hanif book, despite being familiar with his work from before his first poetry collection came out, despite EJ Kenny Chuck & Shaq shouting out his basketball book, despite him once tweeting that a poem by my beloved Bob Sykora was, and I quote, \u201ca banger.\u201d1<\/a><\/sup> This is a book of lyric essays, which is a type of book I like to read about once or twice a year. Something about the writing of lyric essays, especially in the hands of talented poets\u2014Hanif, Eula Biss, even Claudia Rankine (whom I am reading in two weeks)\u2014it feels so weighty and intellectual and elevated. I dig it, but small doses.2<\/a><\/sup> <\/p>\n\n\n\n If it must be small doses, you can do a hell of a lot worse than an aging punk who also wrote a book about A Tribe Called Quest. Hanif\u2019s knowledge of music history is deep, and his synthesis of information and emotion is a pathway that always leads somewhere unexpected and instructive. There are chapters on Sun Ra, Merry Clayton, Josephine Baker, FUPU (glad I read Reaghan Buchanan\u2019s book!), Wu Tang Clan, and more. The sections are intercut with shorter essays entitled \u201cOn Times I Have Forced Myself To Dance.\u201d It\u2019s a beautifully organized book, and each chapter either made me want to check out an artist or made me see an artist in a new light. The way the chapter on FUPU ended made me want to run through a wall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n leadbelly<\/em> by Tyehimba Jess: <\/strong>some of the most dense poems you\u2019ll ever read, and far and away the best use of contrapuntal that I\u2019ve ever seen. These poems are mostly short, but they are not light. If you can hear leadbelly\u2019s laboring in the chain gang in his guitar playing, you can hear Tyehimba\u2019s laboring and sweating over every line (complimentary). You can practically smell the library stacks, hear the scratching of old vinyl. This book was RESEARCHED.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is, of course, a biographical component to this collection. Honestly, I recommend flipping to the back of the book, where there is a timeline of leadbelly\u2019s life. Maybe you know more about leadbelly than I do, which is \u201cold blues guy, one of the greats, love that Cobain cover.\u201d Even if that\u2019s the case, it\u2019s not a bad idea to brush up on the empirical facts before diving into the poetry. Hey, I read As I Lay Dying in front of a Wikipedia page, reminding me who the characters were and what the hell was happening. Made the reading experience go from confusing to wonderful. Anyway, don\u2019t be afraid of this book. It takes an effort to read, but it rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I must also plug the The Line Break<\/em> where we break down this book. We did a two-parter. Fair warning, the episodes are from before I quit drinking. Part 1 Apple<\/a> | Spotty<\/a> || Part 2 Apple<\/a> | Spotty<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n LINKS!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Something to listen to while you browse? Gotta be Leadbelly, right? <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.lazyandentitled.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/2-6-hanif-leadbelly-1024x768.jpg\")