Nick Cannon Talks Poetry, Hip-Hop, and Shel Silverstein
In his new book, Neon Aliens Ate My Homework and Other Poems, musician, actor, and comedian Nick Cannon weaves hip-hop rhymes and clever wordplay into over 60 zany, poignant, and hilarious poems that kids—even those who may not consider themselves huge fans of poetry—will love. His poems cover a wide range of both silly and serious subjects: from jazz, to family; from online bullying, to eating candy for breakfast. In the book’s forward, excerpted below, Cannon discusses the writers and artists who inspired him in his youth.
Neon Aliens Ate My Homework: And Other Poems
Hardcover $14.99
Neon Aliens Ate My Homework: And Other Poems
By Nick Cannon
Hardcover $14.99
I was inspired to write Neon Aliens Ate My Homework as a way to combine the worlds of poetry and hip-hop—two things that have shaped me into the artist that I am today. A lot of these poems are autobiographical with a healthy dash of imagination to spice things up! My hope is that you will laugh, think, and say Ewww as you read some funny, gross, wacky, and thought-provoking poems.
In writing this book, I wanted to do something unique and pay respect to the elements of hip-hop, so each poem is illustrated by an incredible street artist who has shown his or her work on walls all over the world. There are also four poems that I illustrated myself.
Writing is at the center of everything I do as an artist: music, comedy, and creating stories for television and film. The first important writer in my life was Shel Silverstein. When I was a kid, A Light in the Attic was the first book that I read on my own. Seeing how someone could rhyme so skillfully and also be so funny made me fall in love with writing. Also, seeing his whimsical sketches got me interested in art, too.
[caption id="attachment_733" align="alignleft" width="300"] Nick Cannon, Age 10: Photo Copyright: © Beth Hackett[/caption]
Other than Shel, the poets who inspired me when I was a kid were the storytellers of the street: rappers. In my eyes, their stories were no different from the ones that Shel created in his wonderful books—the only difference was that these rappers’ poems could be heard over beats that blared out of my boom box. I wanted to be a part of that movement. I had to! When I was eight years old, I got a spiral notebook and wrote my first poem/rap. It was called “Cars.” I still remember how it goes: “Lamborghini, Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz. To get one of these you gotta have endz. Talkin’ ’bout dollars; in other words, Big Bucks! You can’t go riding around in those Farmer Trucks!” From that day on, I could always be found writing in that notebook. I filled it with poems to girls I had crushes on, rhymes, jokes, and witty stories. My raps developed into roasts about fellow students and friends, which would later inspire my music albums and the hip-hop improv-comedy show, Wild ’N Out, that I created for MTV.
Doing creative writing—especially writing poetry—is when I felt the calmest and the freest. As a kid, it was my escape from inner-city pitfalls, such as gang violence and other peer pressures. After that, I never went anywhere without my notebook to write and draw in, and I still keep one to this day.
I hope the poems in my book make you want to get out a pen and piece of paper to write or draw your own thoughts, rhymes, and stories.
Nick Cannon’s new book, Neon Aliens Ate My Homework and Other Poems, is available now.
I was inspired to write Neon Aliens Ate My Homework as a way to combine the worlds of poetry and hip-hop—two things that have shaped me into the artist that I am today. A lot of these poems are autobiographical with a healthy dash of imagination to spice things up! My hope is that you will laugh, think, and say Ewww as you read some funny, gross, wacky, and thought-provoking poems.
In writing this book, I wanted to do something unique and pay respect to the elements of hip-hop, so each poem is illustrated by an incredible street artist who has shown his or her work on walls all over the world. There are also four poems that I illustrated myself.
Writing is at the center of everything I do as an artist: music, comedy, and creating stories for television and film. The first important writer in my life was Shel Silverstein. When I was a kid, A Light in the Attic was the first book that I read on my own. Seeing how someone could rhyme so skillfully and also be so funny made me fall in love with writing. Also, seeing his whimsical sketches got me interested in art, too.
[caption id="attachment_733" align="alignleft" width="300"] Nick Cannon, Age 10: Photo Copyright: © Beth Hackett[/caption]
Other than Shel, the poets who inspired me when I was a kid were the storytellers of the street: rappers. In my eyes, their stories were no different from the ones that Shel created in his wonderful books—the only difference was that these rappers’ poems could be heard over beats that blared out of my boom box. I wanted to be a part of that movement. I had to! When I was eight years old, I got a spiral notebook and wrote my first poem/rap. It was called “Cars.” I still remember how it goes: “Lamborghini, Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz. To get one of these you gotta have endz. Talkin’ ’bout dollars; in other words, Big Bucks! You can’t go riding around in those Farmer Trucks!” From that day on, I could always be found writing in that notebook. I filled it with poems to girls I had crushes on, rhymes, jokes, and witty stories. My raps developed into roasts about fellow students and friends, which would later inspire my music albums and the hip-hop improv-comedy show, Wild ’N Out, that I created for MTV.
Doing creative writing—especially writing poetry—is when I felt the calmest and the freest. As a kid, it was my escape from inner-city pitfalls, such as gang violence and other peer pressures. After that, I never went anywhere without my notebook to write and draw in, and I still keep one to this day.
I hope the poems in my book make you want to get out a pen and piece of paper to write or draw your own thoughts, rhymes, and stories.
Nick Cannon’s new book, Neon Aliens Ate My Homework and Other Poems, is available now.