Daniel Levin Becker in conversation with Ian S. Port, celebrating the release of his new book "What’s Good: Notes on Rap and Language," published by City Lights Books. This event was originally broadcast live via Zoom and hosted by Peter Maravelis.

You can purchase "What’s Good: Notes on Rap and Language" directly from City Lights at a 30% discount here: https://citylights.com/city-lights-published/whats-good-notes-on-rap-language/

An early contributor to the groundbreaking lyrics site Rap Genius (now known as Genius), Daniel Levin Becker is an American critic, translator, and editor, and the youngest member of the Oulipo literary collective. He is the author of "Many Subtle Channels: In Praise of Potential Literature" (Harvard UP, 2012) and the translator of, among others, Georges Perec’s "La Boutique Obscure" (Melville House, 2013) and Eduardo Berti’s "An Ideal Presence" (Fern Books, 2021), and co-translator of Frédéric Forte’s "Minute-Operas" (Burning Deck, 2015) and "All That Is Evident Is Suspect: Readings from the Oulipo 1963–2018" (McSweeney’s, 2018). He is a contributing editor to The Believer, senior editor at McSweeney’s Publishing, and English editor for the French nonfiction publisher Odile Jacob. He lives in Paris.

Ian S. Port is the author of "The Birth of Loud" (Scribner, 2019), an acclaimed portrait of electric guitar innovators Leo Fender and Les Paul and their impact on music. Ian’s writing has also appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Rolling Stone, Village Voice, and many other outlets. A Bay Area native and former music editor of SF Weekly, Ian spent seven years in New York City, and is trying to decide where to live next.

Songs included in this event:

"Exhibit C (Instrumental)" by Jay Electronica; Decon Records, 2009; produced by Just Blaze

"We Major" by Kanye West; Roc-a-Fella Records, 2005; produced by Kanye Wet, Baby Dubb, and Jon Brion

"Stay Schemin (Album Version [Explicit])" by Rick Ross; Maybach Music Group, 2012; produced by the Beat Bully

This event was made possible by support from the City Lights Foundation: citylights.com/foundation/