Palimpsest in the Rap Lyrics of Abd Al Malik: Rejuvenating the Study of Poetry

A study of Abd Al Malik’s skillful use of palimpsest in his rap and poetry offers students in French literature classes a link to less recent poetic works that might otherwise seem remote and inaccessible without the construction upon past models that he provides. While his rap music and texts may not currently yield a hoped-for synthesis in a pluralistic contemporary France, an idea Abd Al Malik himself continuously and optimistically promotes through his work, they serve as an important bridge to the past and exhortation for the future.