The Probable As To the Ws.

Although most of the context of this blog is all based on my opinion, I can assure you that I’ve done a lot of research. Starting from the very resourceful Youtube, to attending Wheaton’s spoken word group: iSpeak. I’ve Watched professionals do their thing live in color, I’ve had countless talks with artist and friends about it, which I very much regret not being able to include. But nonetheless, some of their knowledge was passed on to me and I’ve done my best to let their thoughts shape my understanding for the topic of Spoken Word.  With that said, here is my conclusion.

There are so many different types of art that surrounds and corners us on the daily basis. More likely than not, we as competitive individuals, don’t ever take the time to appreciate the artistic beauty that others have to offer.

Just like with paintings or songs, there’re really good ones and extremely horrible ones, in my opinion, this all depends on the taste of the receptor. As a man-in-the-making, I’ve gone through many ups and downs and experienced completely different things than most people I’ve meet; therefore I find my place in selected groups/forms/genres of expression. Spoken Word being one.  I’ve normally being just a part of the active listening audience, but through this research I was able to take a step further and realize I have and I’m capable of doing much more. The art of spoken word is in a lot more places than I’d imagined including in my own friends.

While choosing the specific questions I wanted to answer in my research, I hypothesized that inner city kids are better at spoken word, than small town ones. Now I can’t say that I came across many “small townies” while researching.  Based on ratio and percentage, I argue that inner city kids tend to be better based on the amount of fueled created by the things they are exposed to. However, there are several outstanding patterns in the types of poets. They are: race, social status and influences. For the most mart, if not entirely, spoken word artist come from having very little and the lower class, at least the ones that become professionals and try to make a living out of the art. That’s not to say this is just the way it is, it just so happen that I didn’t encounter otherwise.

To finalize my work in this blog, I feel like I owe it to the topic to finish off with a little something I wrote.

 

Probable Answer

Ask me why the chicken crossed the road

And I’ll tell you

Because

There was a bible and a gun on his side

But a golden coin and some bred on the other.

True Hip Hop minus the beat.

While in 2008, Hip-Hop has taken an image of money, cars, jewelry and barely dressed women, there was a time this wasn’t the case. Even more, this kind of Hip-Hop still exists underneath the radio sound waves and digital cable. As an individual who believes that beats and rhymes flow through my veins, I try giving all kinds of artist a chance before I label them as well-marketed rubbish. However I’m no expert, just a fan that uses music as medication.
One of my favorite rappers for sometime now is Kanye West, who was pronounced: best rapper of 2007, according to MTV. At the 2008 American Music Awards, he won “favorite rap/hip-hop male artist.” Kanye started out in the mainstream industry with bodies of work that had strong connections to that of spoken word. However, like the majority of the real popular rappers, his lyrics started focusing a lot on money and all the stereotypes of Hip-Hop.
As a fan of this music genre, I’ve noticed that the majority of rappers begin their professional carriers telling their stories and the things they’ve gone through, but eventually move on from that and stop at their new life style: being rich and famous. However, there are those who manage not to brag too much and keep their ties to spoken word, which in my opinion is where the pen and paper first take these artists.
Underneath are some legends of Hip Hop, who in the clips are introduced as, “not needing no introduction.”
List goes from youngest to oldest in the industry.
Kanye West:

DMX:

Erykah Baduh


Rakim:

You can do more than snaps.

This posting is somewhat of a critique towards the mainstream poets but more than anything, a sign of appreciation for their talent and level of creativity.

"If you’re going to tell people the truth, you better make them laugh; otherwise they’ll kill you.” – George Bernard Shaw

The industry and money plays a big role, as in most cases in regards to performing art, in spoken word. Mainstream anything pretty much means that is made to appeal to the masses and not to be kept underground.
Russell Simons, one of the most solid names in hip hop put together an HBO special, paying tribute to spoken word. He was able to gather the most known names in this field and in others. Amongst the line up of poets, there were hip-hop legends funny poets and even comedians.
Here is a little taste of the more entertaining side of spoken word:

Beau Sia:



Jamie Foxx:



Dante Basco:



Shihan:



Dave Chappelle




Spoken word is a very tricky and easily misunderstood title for the art. Breaking it down and first looking at spoken, which means saying something in order to convey a message. Word: a single distinct element of speech, in other words, everything. Now when combining the two, you get the art of speaking about “anything”, with a kick of attitude that is. Think of an open mic. night, usually opened to anything that people want to share. More or less, that is spoken word.

Citations:

I got the above videos from youtube, but they were originally recorded and aired by HBO.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fndMa0HHvVU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsEZw_KaUPk&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrXgGQaUtlE&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muNOyqhVjg8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C40EUMU3pFc

In Words We Passion: Some Struggle

Where you from Isaac?
New York City
New York City? You must find this place just like home than.
Ha yeah, just like it.

It’s Saturday night (Sunday morning if you want be technical), living the college life as a sophomore from New York City, making the best out of my situation in Norton, MA. It’s 3 am and I just finished spinning records for a house party at Wheaton. As my partner and I are packing our equipment, one of the house members comes over and begins small talk asking questions like “what are you doing tomorrow,” the usual polite stuff. Not too long from than we ended up outside the house talking about spoken word and what it meant to us. Too make a long story very short, I was told that in order for me to take that step into actually understanding this form of art, I had to try out myself.
Here’s my attempt at creating art with the simplest tools humanity has to offer:

I don’t even wanna talk about the specifics
I don’t even wanna get into it
I just wanna
I just wanna
I just wanna
Let it go for 30 seconds
Put it all aside for 30 seconds
Make it seem like nothing has ever happened, for 30 seconds
Make it seems like everything will be ok, for 30 seconds
Feel like my wings have finally been granted, for 30 seconds
Spit at the sky and not have it land on my face, for 30 seconds
Forget about everyone I know for, for 30 seconds
Have everyone forget about me, for 30 seconds
I just want 30 seconds where my mind is not connecting me to my conscious
30 seconds where all the light bulbs around me shatter in 360 pieces
Removing everything around me In One blink,
But keep the light on
30 seconds where being hard-in a tough guy kind of sense- is soft
But being soft- in a sensitive guy kind of sense- is not optional:
It’s just being
30 seconds where the lights of the world go off and freeze time
But heat up my emotions and pains
Freeing the rough diamond of thoughts
That stab me in the back as I sleep during the day
30 seconds where MY dream is MINE
And forget you if you’re not in it
But thank you for being here during the 30 seconds I actually get.


Isaac, where’d you get that scar from?
Don’t worry about it.

Little Brown Book: Connecting the dots

My senior year of high school, I was asked to give a speech by the mentors of a foundation called Summer Search. Summer Search had been a huge part of my growth and evolution throughout high school, so it was only right I’d say yes. The speech was meant to welcome the new batch of high school sophomores from around NYC, or convince those who still had their doubts with the foundation. I had never given a speech before in front of an audience and the intimidation of a college auditorium. With some help from a few of my mentors, I gathered my words, got on that stage, adjusted the mic and spoke about my trajectory.
When my legs stopped shaking and I was given the chance to sit back down, I was told there was a “very special gift” for me underneath my chair. I tore through the baby blue gift-wrap and came out with a little brown leather book with yellow pages. I went home and put it away until June 15, 2008.
Sometime in early June of 2008, I found myself in Central Park with one of my close friends talking about how life changes and unless you constantly remind yourself of the past you’ll loose yourself in the future. He asked me if he could read me something he wrote, I agreed. After he was done, he starred at his work and said, “man I’ve really been feeling speaking my words, lately.” That, and “see that’s me, that’s how I feel, it’s for me, and maybe you if you let it,” were the two lines I wrote down on my little brown book on June 15, 2008.
Now I don’t want to disrespect my friend’s privacy, so I’ll just say this: If experience and struggle put 25 cents in that man’s pocket-every time they flew in with the winds of life-right now he’d be rich. And I’m not talking about the stuff you see on shows like MTV’s “The Hills” or the overly hyped, mainstream hip-hop lyrics you hear on the radio. I’m talking about the stuff you don’t hear about, unless you find yourself ready to listen, and someone to listen to.
It was dark and a bit windy, there were about 10 benches going left and 10 going right from where we were sitting and one light post right in front. He took two steps left and two right, crisscrossing his legs with his back to the light. Bit his bottom lip, closed his eyes and let the words loose as they traveled from his mouth to my ear, being guided by the movement of his hands like an orchestra leader leading a hip hop beat for the first time.
He didn’t have much skills in the art, what he did have was passion, aggression and motivation. To me, that was a good piece.

Angel beat down

I staid at Wheaton, in the middle of nowhere Massachusetts for my birthday (September 9th), instead of going to New York City and celebrating with my best friends, one of whom I’ve been sharing the same day of birth with, for the past 19 years. Did not get any material things from anyone on this day or those that came after, but on October 17, 2008, I spent $20 on the homecoming COMMON concert ticket. To even make my long waited personal birthday celebration better, one of the best spoken-word artist that Brooklyn has fathered, Lemon, put on a “FREE” show and brought some younger talent from New York City with him. Happy Birthday To Me.

LEMON: Don't Forget About The POOR



Aja Monet: You Make Holy War



Common: For The People

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vqn5f2ISnvo

For those of you who don’t know Common, you are not living the right life, however it is perfectly understandable because the man still keeps connections to spoken word, which is not mainstream. But the real deal that although was looked as the entree, became the main coarse, Lemon, brought the house down and his team built it back up. With Lemon, came the 2007 NUYORICAN champion, who is by far, the best female performer I’ve had the pleasure of enjoying live. Now lemon is a TONY awards winning poet, 8 appearances on HOBs Def Jam, has sold out shows to the biggest and most respected urban theaters in the nation, along with serving time in prison, amongst other things. If he tells you someone has skills, you better believe it. While introducing Aja Monet, Lemon said that being a Nuyorican Slam champion is the hardest/ best title to obtain in the poetry world, which she holds as being the youngest poet to ever get it. Besides her—far beyond the intellectuality of even most college professors—lyrics and messages, a great thing about her style, was that she talked about her pieces before performing them. She was able to let people into her mindset before and while writing, making her work that much more powerful, but more importantly, allowing the average mind to comprehend the almightiness of her words. I was not able to talk to her after the show so I can’t share much more about her pieces and experiences, but I’ll work on it (FACEBOOK!).

Citation
I borrowed the three videos from youtube. Hope that doesn't offend the artists or anyone else.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2qqf09DOgQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BRSHcT2RmU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vqn5f2ISnvo

Squirrel

It’s Friday afternoon, eighty percent of the college population is gathering the necessary to last the long four-day weekend at home, or any location of choice. The majority of the people at my job have called in “sick,” some of the sincere ones just ask for a shift cover. I have no rush in getting on a bus and being stuck in traffic for an extra three hours, so I staid on campus, went to work and waited until the next day. At 2:30 pm, just like every other Friday, the silent Poet comes in smiling and in a rush. She tells me that she’s got a package and it’s going to be right back. She comes back, opened her package and shows me a black book, and starts telling me how nice those kinds of books are for writing. With no shame in my game, I deliver the question: “So, have you thought about my umm proposition if you will.” She asked me to explain my purpose again, but this time I make it more appealing and attractive based on the conversations we had before. I could almost see her saying yes, but I knew if I didn’t take advantage of this door opening, it could close forever. So I brought up the fact that the co-president of iSpeak said that the “before stuff sucks, and it’s about the feeling after permormind.” Her bottom jaw dropped in disagreement, landing on the keyboard, typing wow on the screen in caps. Squirrel, the silent poet, granted me permission to use her for my research.
Of course she put up conditions and regulations, but at that moment I could not have cared any less. I gathered myself back and gave her my respect; with that said, thank you “SQUIRRELL.” Although I’ve never read any pieces nor heard anything by squirrel, I have a feeling her talent is one worth being in the silent for.

Third friday

My first meeting at iSpeack, the on campus spoken words group, was meant for me to introduce myself and what my relationship to the group was going to be like over the next few weeks. Luckily I was able to make a lot more progress than that, and actually begin my “research.” The group had a big performance coming up; they were going to be one of the opening acts for the Homecoming performance. To my benefit, the artist chosen this year is COMMON, being one of the few artists, whose lyrics come close to resembling that of a spoken word poet. Common has been a performer at Russell Simmons’ “Def Jam,” which is a serious of HBO specials that give floor space to the best poets in the country. Even more so, COMMON is one of my favorite rappers, so this was a win win situation for me, yet again.
During the discussion of how their opening act was going to work out, I was able to get a good first impression of “who” some of these poets are. Starting with the first reader of the day, Dashawn. A 19 year old, Jamaican American male from the notorious Coney Island in Brooklyn New York, home to some of the finest talent in the country. His voice is soft but his words shoot at you real fast, keeping your attention very sharp, just like his message. “ART” a 19-year-old African American female from Boston Massachusetts, with a flow serious enough to resemble a young Erica Badu, but enough art to remain similar to none. J.G, an 18-year-old writer with a voice as powerful as his words, and stories that make his swagger and attitude look natural. Keni, a 19-year-old newly self found poet, whose appearance shows no pain or struggle, but body language will double slap your eyes wide open and inject reality. The last poet that caught my attention at this meeting was one of he co-presidents of ispeak, Melanie. Melanie did not perform a piece, but her words still managed to have an impression on me. What she said went something like this, “The before stuff sucks (the writing and the performing). It’s after the performance that it all feels good.” A looked around waiting for a reaction from anyone in the room, however, I found none. I left the room looking for one and I will.

My first day of research

I emailed and talked to the two co-presidents of the on-campus spoken word group (iSPEACK). I informed of my purpose in joining the group, to make sure they were ok with the idea. Furthermore, I had already established personal connections with some of the Artist who at the first sound of my idea, volunteered themselves for the research.
The first meeting I ended was on Friday September 26, 2008. It was a rainy, dark and dull day; All I wanted to do, is take my soaked behind home, watch “The Boondocks” and nap. But fortunately enough, I had to work till 4:30 pm and than run across campus to the ispeack meeting. At worked I watched “Gang Wars” which got me a bit fired up to attain the meeting. Being a work for four and a half hours isn’t usually a problem, but there’s something about the rain, that makes it one. To my luck right in that same room I was, there were two unknown variables to my research: an active member of ispeack and a “silent poet.” I didn’t take much interest in the guy from ispeak, since I figured I was going to spend some time with him later on, but the silent poet, oh that silent poet! I was popping questions left and right not getting many details, but the broad things let out were still juicy and very interesting. I let the silent poet know of my situation; the reason why I’m doing this and what my goal is. The silent poet did not give me a definite answer but did not sound too interested. I was told to wait for an answer, and so I will.
4:30 came around and I took my time double checking I had all my things with me. I walked as fast as I could making my way to the second floor of this lounge soaked and very tired. I wasn’t paid much attention to when I walked in since the poets were discussing their upcoming event and planning for it. I wanted to interrupt to let them know who I was and what I was doing just so that everyone was ok with it and there wouldn’t be any conflicts, but I didn’t. One poet read a piece he had put together 2 hours before the meeting. IT was very personal, the voice wasn’t angry, the words were calm but the message was a furious one; powerful as the image of the bullets being described to the listeners. After this I knew I couldn’t let anyone else go without me introducing myself first. So I did, and I let them know that I was ok if they did not feel comfortable with anything I was doing. Luckily I was given complete freedom to do whatever I wanted. I was in, and so it began.

The Ws in Spoken Word.

What makes a good spoken word artist?

Why are inner city kids better than small town kids at spoken word?

Why does spoken word remain underground?

What makes an individual want to do spoken word?

What are the motives behind poetry?

Who has the right to spoken word?

These are some of the many question I aim to answer in my quest underground, to the world of dope lyrics; meaningful messages; activism and individually obtained power. I plan to first become a part of iSpeak: Wheaton College's own spoken word group. I hope to gain knowledge on their past experiences and live their present; hopping that they'll take me to the next step in my research.