To Repel Ghosts The Remix
To Repel Ghosts The Remix by Kevin Young is a first edition published by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group on September 27, 2005. This 320-page work presents a unique “remix” of Young’s original “double album” version, capturing the dynamic life and artistry of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Through spare, jazzlike verse, Young narrates Basquiat’s journey from the graffiti artist SAMO to a prominent figure in the 1980s art scene, addressing themes of fame, addiction, and legacy.
Readers will find a poignant exploration of Basquiat’s influences, including his connections with notable figures like Andy Warhol and Keith Haring, as well as the black heroes who inspired him, such as Charlie Parker and Billie Holiday. Young’s poetic style channels Basquiat’s essence, creating an urban epic that resonates with the rhythms of the time. This edition not only reflects on Basquiat’s life but also contributes to Young’s broader exploration of art through poetry, forming part of an American trilogy that includes works like Jelly Roll: A Blues and Black Maria.
Official synopsis Publisher
Revamped from its original “double album” version of 350 pages into this unique “remix,” To Repel Ghosts captures the dynamic work and brief life of the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat.
In spare, jazzlike verse Kevin Young tells the story of Basquiat’s rise from the mock prophet and graffiti artist SAMO to one of the hottest painters of the 1980s (“blue-chip Basquiat / playing the bull / market”), exploring the artist’s bouts with fame and heroin, mourning his untimely death, and celebrating his legacy. Along the way Young riffs on Basquiat’s paintings and sayings, on the music he loved, on the artists he ran with (Andy Warhol and Keith Haring, among them), and on the black heroes (Charlie Parker, Muhammad Ali, Billie Holiday) who inspired him.
Young’s poetic channeling of Basquiat–a jostling, poignant brand of downtownspeak–makes for an urban epic in the tradition of Langston Hughes’s “A Dream Deferred.” To Repel Ghosts, along with Young’s Jelly Roll: A Blues and Black Maria, his recent book of film noir verse, forms an American trilogy–Devil’s Music–that explores other art forms through poetry. In its creation, Yound has become a poet whose work speaks both for and beyond his genre, with a music all its own.
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