Sam Larson

My poem was inspired by the feeling of apathy. A lot of the time, I am under the impression that
I have no passions, nothing to motivate me which in turn makes me too lazy to make any
valuable changes in my life. I was inspired by this state of being as it is pretty much my daily
existence. My poem also speaks to unhealthy habits and being aware of the harm they cause, but
not having enough of a reason to change. My performance inspiration is from modern cloud rap.
These rappers have a unique abstract flow and ethereal melodic beat selection. Rappers such as
these also structure their bars in a way that's simplified yet hits hard and flows over the beat. This
and similar styles of rap are often negatively referred to as “mumble rap”.

I didn't really have a coherent process while writing my poem. I just found an old verse I wrote
and Lori liked it. From there I found a beat and I continued to write more verses. I had writer's
block a lot, but every once in a while it would stop and a line would pop into my head. My next
step was to layer the vocals of my poem on top of the beat and mix it.

The poetic devices I used were rhyme, alliteration, and figurative language. The most important
device I used was rhyme. This device was the most important because I wrote my poem as a rap.
This device adds the flow necessary and allows the topics flow together. I also used alliteration
to help the flow of my poem. I used figurative language to make the bars hit harder and make
them feel more physical.