The Orientation Book Partners will compile resources to provide context for and extend the book throughout the summer. Follow CSWIMstagram and check back on this page for updates!
Listen to the music from They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us Until They Kill Us
In almost each of Abdurraqib’s essays, there is a particular kind of music or moment where music happens that he is drawn to — a certain song, album, or artist that his attention directs the reader toward. You can find these pieces through our CSWIM Spotify playlists. Each playlist is based on one of the essays from the book.
Poems by Hanif Abdurraqib
Other than an essayist, Hanif Abdurraqib is also an acclaimed poet. His poetry books include The Crown Ain’t Worth Much (2016) and A Fortune For Your Disaster (2019). Many of the artists and songs he writes about in They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us have also appeared in his poems. Here is a short list of Abdurraqib’s poems (performed and published) that are connected to essays within or outside of They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us:
Poems related to artists within the book:
- Ode to Prince (Button Poetry) - read "The Night Prince Walked On Water" on page 27
- At My First Punk Rock Show Ever, 1998 (Button Poetry) - read "I Wasn't Brought Here, I Was Born: Surviving Punk Rock Long Enough to Find Afropunk” on page 49
- Tell a Friend That You're in Love With Them Tonight: on "Your Type" (Drunk Education) and Carly Rae Jepsen – “E•MO•TION” (The Account Magazine) - read “Carly Rae Jepsen Loves You Back” on page 22 and “Carly Rae Jepsen And The Kingdom Of Desire” on page 284
- The Ghost of Marvin Gaye Sits In The Ruins Of The Old Livingston Flea Market And Considers Monogamy (Frontier Poetry), The Ghost of Marvin Gaye Plays the Dozens with the Pop Charts (The Rumpus) (find spoken word version here), and Marvin Gaye and The Prestige (O, Miami) - read Marvin Gaye interludes on pages 5, 47, 95, 113, 165, and 275
Poems related to artists outside the book:
- The Day Formation Dropped after Big Freedia (Button Poetry) - on Beyoncé’s 2016 album, Formation
- Ode to Biggie Smalls, Ending in Gold (Poetry Slam Inc) - on Biggie Smalls
- A Song to Make Us Forget the Burning / Faded 2001 (Button Poetry) - on Jay-Z and Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
- Ode to Jay-Z, Ending in the Rattle of a Fiend’s Teeth (Winter Tangerine) - on Jay-Z
- Ode to Kanye West in Two Parts, Ending in a Chain of Mothers Rising from the River (Button Poetry) - on Kanye West
- read Abdurraqib's response to his poem (Poetry Society of America)
- The Summer A Tribe Called Quest Broke Up (Muzzle Magazine) - on A Tribe Called Quest
- Rihanna – Birthday Cake (Pinwheel) - on Rihanna
- Olivia Newton John – Let’s Get Physical (Pinwheel) - on Olivia Newton John
- The Four Seasons – “December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)” (The Account Magazine) - on The Four Seasons’ “December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)”
- Idioteque (BEOTIS) - on Radiohead’s “Idioteque”
- Ode to Drake, Ending With Blood In A Field (Malcolm Friend, Tumblr) - on Drake
- Ode to Elliott Smith, Ending in the First Snowfall of 2003 (firstfullmoon, Tumblr) - on Elliott Smith
Abdurraqib’s Marvin Gaye interludes
Abdurraqib begins each of the six sections in They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us with an interlude about American singer, songwriter, and musician, Marvin Gaye. Here is some context about Marvin Gaye’s work and life:
- Marvin Gaye sings the American national anthem at the 1983 NBA All-Star Game
- From Gaye’s 1971 album, What’s Going On: What's Going On (Live, 1972), God is Love (Live, 1972), and Mercy Mercy Me (Live, 1980)
- Hanif Abdurraqib On Marvin Gaye’s ‘What’s Going On’ (written for What’s Going On’s 50th-anniversary edition of the album)
- Marvin Gaye is shot and killed by his own father | April 1, 1984 (on Marvin Gaye’s death)