WEBVTT

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In the spirit of Elena
Passarello's brilliant pop

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cultural observations, I'd like
us to consider the hype man.

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In hip-hop, the
hype man is a sort

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of backup rapper, a secondary
MC, a lyrical laborer of love.

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The hype man's job is
to keep the party live,

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to accentuate the artist's work.

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Some say the hype man starts
with Creole and MC Cowboy

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of the group Grandmaster
Flash and the Furious

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Five, Cowboy being the
first to press an audience

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to "throw your hands in
the air," still a staple

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at hip-hop shows.

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The greatest hype man, and
certainly the most well-known,

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has to be Flavor
Flav of Public Enemy.

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Complimenting Chuck D's
depth of voice and message

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with high-pitched,
enthusiastic interjections,

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Flavor Flav brought the
hype man to new heights.

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And I know Passarello
appreciates

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this master of the form.

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In the acknowledgments section
of her first essay collection,

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she calls Caroline Casey, quote,
"The best hype man this side

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of 'Terrordome'-era
Flavor Flav."

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The title of Passarello's
first essay collection,

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Let Me Clear My Throat, shares
its name with the 1996 song

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by DJ Kool.

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In a way, the song "Let
Me Clear My Throat"

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is the epitome of the hype man.

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The live recorded
track is largely

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composed of
audience-amping antics

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over slamming
saxophone-infused beat.

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And it's a perfect title
for a collection of essays

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about the human voice.

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One of the many things I
love about Passarello's work

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is tracing these references.

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It makes me feel
welcome, like I'm

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sitting with a friend
sharing inside jokes

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as she shows me things
that fascinate her.

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Perhaps we can even extend
the hype man connection

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to some of Passarello's
essays, for example,

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in "Communication
Breakdown," where

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she examines the infamous
and possibly campaign-ending

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Howard Dean scream of 2004.

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"The 'b' and 'y' of Dean's
scream," Passarello writes,

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"are flat F in the fifth octave,
the same lofty pitch Robert

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Plant finds at
minute 2:09 and 2:11

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in 'Communication Breakdown.'"
I like to imagine Howard Dean

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as Led Zeppelin hype man,
on stage in tight pants next

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to Plant, joining voices
for that raspy, "biyahhh!"

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Thanks, guys.

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Passarello's essay, "A Monstrous
Little Voice with T. Foley,"

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shows us a ventriloquist
dummy named

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Hector answering a
questionnaire in an effort

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to discover his voice.

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But who is the hype man
in that relationship--

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the dummy or the handler?

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In her new collection,
Animals Strike Curious Poses,

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a title referencing a
line from "When Doves Cry"

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by Prince, Passarello tells us
about Mozart and his hype man,

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the starling named Vogel Staar.

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She writes of how the
partnership began, quote,

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"So what kind of murmur began
that spring day in Vienna, when

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a 28-year-old Mozart,
jaunty in his garnet coat

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and gold-rimmed cap,
strolled into a shop

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to whistle at a
starling in a cage?

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That bird must have zeroed
in on Mozart's mouth

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as the man whistled
the 17-note opening

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phrase from his recent
piano concerto."

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Passarello adds that, "No matter
how the starling got the song,

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on May 27, 1784,
it spat that tune

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right back at the tunesmith."

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Perhaps like a hype man would.

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All the essays in
Passarello's modern bestiary,

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Animals Strike Curious Poses,
deal with the relationship

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between animal and
human, detailing

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animals named by people
dating back to 39,000 BP

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with the mammoth Yuka, all
the way to 2015 with Cecil

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the lion.

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With stirring description,
vigorous research,

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and illuminating
musings, she guides us

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through the lives, and often
demises, of these animals,

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ultimately allowing
us to consider

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our own post-industrialization
relationship with animals.

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As my time as this
evening's hype man

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ends, and we welcome
Passarello up here,

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I'll say that Passarello's
writing entertains, enthralls,

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and leaves me staring
into the middle distance,

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wondering what it means to
have a voice or to be human.

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She's a powerful writer
and magnificent reader.

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To borrow a phrase from
the hip-hop legend Rakim,

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Elena Passarello knows
how to "move the crowd,"

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and she knows how
to move the crowd.

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Let's bring the funk, bring
the noise for Elena Passarello.

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[APPLAUSE]