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