Jenelle Hayward -- writer, poet, and all around awesome person -- comes through to break down poetry and Claudia Rankine's Citizen: An American Lyric. Poetry heads and poetry skeptics will come away with lots to chew on here.

We discuss the difference between poetry and prose, what we miss if we don't read poetry, and reading tips on how to read a poem.

Then, we jump into the masterpiece that is Citizen. Enjoy and share!

Some books we mention:

Home/Birth: A Poemic - Arielle Greenberg & Rachel Zucker

Jubilee - Roxanne Beth Johnson

One Big Self - C.D. Wright

Counting Descent - Clint Smith

Claude joins forces with former grad school pal and current English teacher, Joe Volk, as they share their top reads of 2016 and bring up a bunch of other books during their stimulating, nerdy convo. Enjoy!

Some of the books mentioned:

The Throwback Special - Chris Bachelder

Year of the Dunk - Asher Price

Rise and Fire - Shawn Price

Darktown - Thomas Mullen

1Q84 - Haruki Murakami

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle - Haruki Murakami

Underground Railroad - Colson Whitehead

John Henry Days - Colson Whitehead

The Vegetarian - Han Kang

You Are What You Love - James K.A Smith

Time Travel - James Gleick

Desiring the Kingdom - James K.A. Smith

Underground Airlines - Ben Winters

The Cross and the Lynching Tree - James Cone

Smilla's Sense of Snow - Peter Hoeg

The Cross of Christ - John Stott

Devil in a Blue Dress - Walter Mosley

The Man in the Basement - Walter Mosley 

The Philosophy Book (Big Ideas Simply Explained series)

After Crucifixion - Craig Keen

Cole Brown shares his music industry stories about Jay-Z, Pharrell, and Teddy Riley as well as his deep hatred for the library.

Cole talks about roller skating with Jay-Z and Sauce Money, recording "The City is Mine" for Jay's Vol. 1, if Pharrell was weird back in the day or just now, and which famous rapper always beat him at Goldeneye.

We also get into some Ma$e stories and Cole argues that Biggie is the most overrated rapper ever. Lots of laughs and stories on this one, y'all. Rate and review to help the podcast and share on social media. #brlpodcast

Classic songs referenced:

The Roots feat. Eryka Badu - You Got Me

 Blackstreet feat. Ma$e, Mya, et al. - Take Me There

Author, pastor, former A&R, and all around renaissance man, Cole Brown comes through for a convo on his new book, Daddy Issues.

Be sure to check out Side B of our conversation with Cole where we jump into his music industry stories with Jay-Z, Pharrell, and Teddy Riley as well as his deep hatred for the library.

 Humble Beast Records

Cole's book, Daddy Issues

We are officially in the building, folks! Claude gives a quick overview on the first run of BRL episodes and guests. Lots of literature and music talk coming your way. Enjoy.

Stay in the loop at booksrhymeslife.com

And be sure to SUBSCRIBE to BRL via your favorite podcast app!

Music production by Yongo Music.