Rap artist Devon Glover, “Sonnet Man,” visited Grand Valley State University’s Shakespeare Festival on Oct. 7, bringing a unique hip hop adaptation to a Shakespearean love sonnet.
Sonnet Man performances introduce Shakespeare to young audiences through hip hop performances. Glover tours schools and raps passages from Shakespeare’s bodies of work, focusing largely on the playwright’s sonnets. Glover extends sonnets by rapping his own interpretation, or riffs on thematic elements of the passage. Throughout performances, he engages the crowd in call and response sections.
Ironically, Glover said he severely disliked Shakespeare in high school, as he failed an English class because of assignments related to Shakespeare’s “King Lear.” He later walked out of a college lecture after seeing Shakespeare’s name on a syllabus, pursuing the career of an educator in math instead.
As an educator, Glover added that he was forced to reconsider Shakespeare and, at a pivotal moment, was asked to help a student with the Shakespearean play “Othello.” When he read it aloud, he grew to love the poetry.
“I like the fact that I’m still teaching,” Glover said. “I’m still in an education field, and it’s entertaining.”
Glover said that reading Shakespeare aloud caused him to hear the rhythm of the dialogue, and he soon realized all the sonnets written by the playwright had cadence. He began rapping the passages shortly thereafter, and his talents were later discovered by late Broadway Playwright Arje Shaw, who helped Glover grow his career.
“I love to see the look on the students’ faces when (they see) Shakespeare in a different light,” Glover said. “It feels like every performance is a classroom.”
GVSU’s Department of Music, Theatre and Dance (MTD) said they have been interested in working with Glover for the past few years. Staff within MTD had previously seen Glover perform at a national Shakespeare conference, which inspired staff to invite him to GVSU’s Shakespeare Festival. The festival is a yearly celebration that includes performances, an on-campus Renaissance Festival and other activities. As a special guest artist, Glover also played a role in MTD’s production of “Romeo and Juliet.”
“When we were brainstorming people (that) we thought would be exciting and accessible for our students and for the community, Devon was definitely at the top of the list,” said Allison Metz, a professor in GVSU’s Theatre Department.
GVSU senior Hannah Cooke attended the Sonnet Man performance, and echoed Metz’s sentiments.
“I think if you can find a way to educate people, there’s a lot of value to that,” Cooke said. “Seeing the parallels between hip hop used as an art form, but also Shakespeare’s works as an art form, and how it works together is really cool.”
Although Glover has left traditional classrooms behind, his performances are still seen as a form of education. To Glover, that combination is invaluable.
“I’m still able to perform and entertain, so it’s like the best of both worlds for me,” Glover said.
