… And spoken word is the shit
but poems don’t buy big homes…
Poet Taalam Acey breaks down in his piece why selling out seems to be the prefer option for hip-hop artists. Give a listen. You might learn something. 
Tag Archive for 'spoken word'
This is an advertisement for Guinness Stout, a popular beer best known in the Caribbean. So, this ad is currently in airwaves over there. However, I’m bring this ad to the mainland, because this ad was done by International Spoken Word Artist Ainsly Burrows. I saw this ad and the mixture of animation and intensity in the eyes of Burrows, along with his movement shows that Spoken Word and Poetry is an art form. Even thought it’s short, it’s powerful and encourage you to “reach for greatness” (and a plug for the sponsor)! Check out the video and if you want to know more about this man, check out his MySpace page and his YouTube Channel.
Years ago… like a long time ago… when BET was… you know, relevant… there was a show called “Planet Groove”. It’s a music talk show, with celebrities and the whole 9. However, it did feature “out of the box” entertainment. In other words, poets.
Now, blurring spoken word with music is always tricky, especially when you never practice with the band. That’s what makes this piece so special. Jasiri (not to be confused with the rapper Jasiri X) was a poet who appeared on the show and did a spoken word piece with the band… after rarely practicing with them. He nailed the performance in one take, which can say a lot about his skill.
The poem itself is true to form. It’s an abstract piece that you have to listen to a few times before really understand it. Some may understand it the first time. Others may understand it after the fifth time. But he talks about the ghetto mentality in a way that you can visually see what he’s talking about. Pretty slick.
I had the clip in my hard drive for a while, but I figured to share it with you. So, I upload it and now showing it to you.
So, I hope you enjoy this performance like I have and still will.
Zora killed the 2006 Urban Word NYC Annual Teen Poetry Slam. I saw this poem while looking for poetry to feature that wasn’t “Def Poetry”. This one got my vote.
The performance got a little bit of everything. Comedy, historical references, and a bit of sass. This is one of those videos I can’t embed due to the video author’s request, so instead, I’ll just link you to it.
Bi-Rachial Hair by Zora (Via YouTube)
Also, I can’t seem to find the author/performer of the piece. Since her myspace site is personal, I’m not going to link it.
Tommy Bottoms – Basic Economics
So, are you having a hard time understanding economics? With all the talks of the economy, there is some people who don’t really understand it, especially those who didn’t make it through grade school. So, to break it down, I looked for someone who can break it down in rhyme. And Tommy Bottoms might be able to do the trick for ya.
This poet from Atlanta explains how the drug game and the Wall Street game is really the same. I think y’all better listen just a few times, because he does get a little tricky with his delivery. (But it sounds so fresh and clean!)
I try my best to stay away from featuring mainstream Def Poets, but since not everyone follows the poetry/spoken word/poetry slam/poets thing, I’ll try to cover both Def Poets as well as other artists following their hip-hop roots.
So, for now, peep the flow. Enjoy!