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Linton Kwesi Johnson: Bass Culture (Island import); John Cooper Clarke: Snap, Crackle & Bop (Epic import)

Don Waller, New York Rocker, November 1980

THIS IS The Rap on The Rap, Part I: On the day you're born the doctor smacks your butt, then you start to rappin' and you don't shut up. From cradle to grave, from whisper to shout, communication's what it's all about. Now it's an old, old story that's been handed down from the talking drums to the Boss Hitbounds, through the minstrel cycle to the Answer Back — when you talk it like you walk it that's the Rock 'N' Roll Rap.

Total word count of piece: 799

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