Chinaka Hodge came of age along with hip-hop—and its influence became impossible to separate from her personal interactions. Her second poetry collection, Dated Emcees, a collection of 25 poems, examines Hodge’s love life through the lens of hip-hop’s best known orators, characters, archetypes and songs, creating a new and inventive narrative about the music that shaped the rugged heart of a young woman poet, just as it changed the global landscape of pop.
Chinaka see “Dated Emcees” as being the most volunerable she has ever been with her writings. In the book there are poems like “One Being the Other Woman,” “First Date with the Engaged Rapper,” and “Life is Good” speak of betrayal, the loneliness of being the second choice, or the disgust at discovering you’re the one being cheated on. She also includes a poem abt being sexually assaulted.