When Issa Rae aired her YouTube series Awkward Black Girl (ABG) in 2011, I had never felt so seen in my life. At twenty-something I felt (and feared) every awkward experience Issa’s character J lived through. What facial expression should you wear when you are approaching someone in a hallway, but you are too far to say hello? Should you hold the door for the person behind you if they’re more than an arms-length away? How do you address your Boss Lady about her racially insensitive and tacky cornrows without being passive-aggressive? 

Today, Issa in HBO’s  Insecure is palimpsest of J in ABG; she is awkward, ambitious and so passive she raps in the mirror to express herself. And that’s what I love about the show. It’s relatable to ABGs like me who don’t quite fit the baddie mold.

Like Issa Rae, renaissance man Chris L. Butler writes for a Black audience that is not often glamorized: the Black nerds.  BLERD: '80s BABY, '90s KID is Butler’s debut anthology of poems, laced with ‘90s pop culture, hip hop, nostalgic video game and cartoon references and best of all: eloquent, Blackity Black poetry.

 Quintin Collins, Author of Dandelion Speaks of Survival, describes this collection as a piece that “It not only gives voice to a generation of popular culture, but also it weaves together these icons to define the word blerd, which is a portmanteau of Black and nerd. Through it all, the book offers a sense of what it meant to be shaped by nineties culture into a blerd of the time.”

Inspired by both rappers and poets, Butler’s words flow fluidly through each poem, painting a picture of the pre-Y2K era. “Hip hop is poetry. Not every rapper is a poet, but hip hop is poetic,” he says.  “Unfortunately, there are a lot of gatekeepers who don't see it as legitimate as page poetry.”

Butler is using this collection to illustrate to gatekeepers that many poets are inspired by art outside their genre. He says, “Langston Hughes & Ludacris made me want to write better.”

Of course, his writing also talks about issues concerning the Black community, without making the conversation too heavy. “Whenever I try to talk about things like Black liberation, I try to use humour and satire because people need a break,” says Butler. 

On that note, grab a copy of BLERD: '80s BABY, '90s KID, sit back and relax, because Black nerds, this one is for you.

 Get in touch with Chris L. Butler here and read more of his poetry here.

Interview with Chris L. Butler

Who are you and why do you write?

I am an Afro-Dutch poet and essayist who immigrated to Canada from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Houston, Texas. I write because I have always been drawn to the art form. I create in many different ways, but writing is my first love.

Tell me about your book.

My book is about being a Black millennial in the ‘90s and it’s about the thing that influenced me and how that shaped me: hip hop. The collection is to show gatekeepers that a lot of poets are inspired by art outside of their genre. Langston Hughes & Ludacris made me want to write better.

What are those things that shaped your writing?

Nickelodeon cartoons like Kablam, The Wild Thornberry, Hey Arnold.  As I came into my 20s, rappers like Rakim M.F. Doom, JAY-Z, Nas, Kendrick and their storytelling.

Hip hop is poetry. Not every rapper is a poet but hip hop is poetic. Unfortunately, there are a lot of gatekeepers who don't see it as legitimate as page poetry.

Also, Grand Theft Auto Vice City was my guilty pleasure - my mom didn’t want me playing the game and I hid it inside of a DVD case. Being a Black boy growing up in America, my mom did not want me to be [negatively] influenced. On that note, whenever I try to talk about things like poems on Black liberation, I try to use humour and satire because people need a break.

Have you ever used poetry to court someone?

My wife. I have been married for two years to Yasmin; I wrote her a poem early on. It is one that she revisits. I still write her new ones but I keep those private.

Top Poems from your book:

It's a long one: That Time We Went to Universal Studios ‘Cause Granny Hit the Lotto. My grandma hit a couple of 1000s and we hit Disney.