The article discusses hip-hop music, comparing it to the epic poems the "Iliad” and the "Odyssey” by Homer. It examines the place of Homer's poetry in Greek cultural heritage and the place of hip-hop in American society, noting that the latter is associated with dissidence and a predominately African-American subculture. The author emphasizes the role of improvisation in Homeric poetry and hip-hop and considers traditional tropes in both. He offers a metrical analysis and discusses rhyme and syntax. Slam poetry is also explored as a form of dissidence.