Poetic Persona

[NobodyNothing]

Africa Bambaataa
Known as the "Godfather of Hip-Hop," he was originally the leader of the Harlem gang, the Black Spades. Gangs were originally a unification of men who worked toward a common goal, ridding their streets of drug dealers in their turf. They quickly became the "law" in the areas where NYPD failed to protect and serve. He changed the entire direction of music (along with DJ Kool Herc and a few others), thus creating Hip-Hop. After a journey to Africa, He returned with a new ideology which eventually led to the Universal Zulu Nation movement, which helped spread hip-hop across the world. The purpose of the movement was to bring social and political awareness to the streets as well as the world during a time when gang violence was spiking rapidly.

Notorious B.I.G.
In reality he was a black man from the middle class but he came to represent the poverty stricken, racially segregated class of New York and brought unity in America's largest city and eventually America itself.

Tupac Amaru Shakur
Same story, lived life in between middle class and low class but became prominently held as the "Voice of the Black Man."

Eminem
The voice of a generation where social identity meant everything. He could be the first mainstream example of the integration of the white man into hip-hop

Interesting persona capsules.

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Not sure I understand the question! Is this a "cult of personality " discussion?

This doesn't *quite* express the "persona" thing, but George Orwell once said that almost every author he ever read brought to his mind the face and expression of the persona of the author to him.  If that makes any sense.

Whitman's poetic persona was that of the man who embodied everyone and/or everything (at least American).  

I CELEBRATE myself, and sing myself,
And what I assume you shall assume,
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.

He was in his persona the ultimate "democrat", the everyman, or everyperson.  That's what he boldly aspired to be in his poetic persona from the opening stanza of the opening poem of Leaves Of Grass, the most famous and enduring of all American poems, or poetic works.

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Let me put it this way.  When I used to write poetry (or tried to, I don't anymore) I quite consciously entered into this "other" entity inside me, a different "me", master of the mazes, master of the soul (you know what I mean).  It was never "me" writing the poems I wrote, it was this "other me", this me that stood apart from me.  He knew everything, he was a god, a fallen god, I guess.  

It was my poetic self, my poetic persona. 

When I used to perform poetry, my friend/lover/partner would say to me (essentially) "who is that person, it's not you".

I don't know, something like that.

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It's kind of funny...Shakespeare "extinguished" himself and became everyone, whereas Whitman enlarged himself beyond compare and "subsumed" everyone.  

Fascinating.