This is not only a book of poetry. It is not only a book of prose. Furthermore, it is not only hip-hop lyrics, photographs, or street signification. It is a wonderful and creative blend of culture, diversity, and memoir. It is unlike any book I have read, which makes it interesting. A skip tracer is a tracker of missing persons, which truly describes the historical erasure of black culture and black families. In his book, Jive Poetic brings back his close family, the distant past, the diaspora of his family, and his journey through remembrance and careful thought about this past. The style of the book is as jumbled as connecting dots but always thematic in bringing us close to understanding the love that connects the author with his journey.
The author grew up treasuring his family’s vinyl collection, and this early love of music and rhythms is underneath every word in this book. It is fun to read and learn more about one artist’s struggle to connect disparate parts.
