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The essence of these differences was
explored during the Harlem Renaissance when writers and poets authored pieces imitating
the natural poetics of urban speech or rap. From that developed a form of spoken word or
performance poetry that was constructed rapping. The Last Poets are spoken word poets
because they use poetic devices such as rhyme, metaphor, alliteration, simile and more in
combination with their natural speech or rap to create rhythmical performances. To
understand their poetry, it's important to hear or see it performed.
Before the first rappers recorded songs, The Last Poets and others released spoken word
albums. In many ways rap music's predecessor, these spoken word projects never received
the attention given to industry-released rap music from its inception because spoken word,
even when accompanied by instruments, was still poetry and rap was music. This distinction
created a rift between the two art forms.
Good spoken word poets are not only masters of dialect, but also masters of standard
language and linguistics. Their pieces are not only explorations of colloquialisms, but
also multi-layered investigations into the human condition, using dialect as a tool.
Understanding the meaning behind a spoken word piece, if it is good poetry, is more than
merely translating its language because the language of a spoken word piece is a poetic
construct, modifying and imitating speech to convey a message. This imitation has received
criticism from those being imitated who feel better represented by the voice of the MC.
Spoken word poets tend to separate themselves from the subject of their poetry to better
interpret what those they imitate cannot. But this separation causes spoken word poets to
perceptibly lose some authenticity in their pieces. Literal language is often sacrificed
for a poet's depth.
As much as the poet's poetry may remind us of the guy on the block, the spoken word poet
is nothing like the guy on the block. In many ways, rap or the art of MCing is the guy on
the block's response to the spoken word poet. After hearing a spoken word piece, the guy
on the block may reflect, "is that what the block is like?" Answering no, the
guy on the block doesn't feel represented by the spoken word poet. So, the guy on the
block tells his friends, "I'm tired of these poet cats livin' off us. They don't know
nothin' 'bout how we live. If folk want to know 'bout the block, we can tell 'em 'bout
that." Soon the guy's on the block are rapping and not long after, they turn their
rap into a music that's subsequently exploited into a popular music, exceeding the success
of spoken word poetry. This attention irritates the poet who says, "but they're just
talking, we make poetry, art."
This isn't necessarily what happened, but I believe the battle for "block
representative" underlies the existing tension between rap and spoken word poetry - a
tension that helps to inspire both forms. Recently, the spoken word community has fought
for recognition in a rap-dominated world. Spoken word poets have heated up the scene with
written works from heavy hitters like Jessica Care Moore, Sarah Jones, Saul Williams and
Reg E. Jones. In 1998, Saul Williams helped push spoken word into mainstream media with
Slam, the film based on his life. In addition to numerous recorded compilations capturing
the poetry slam feeling, poets like Reg E. Jones and Carl Hancock Rux have also released
poetry albums with musical accompaniment. Still, the exposure of spoken word poetry pales
in comparison to the rap industry. Thus, spoken word artists continue preaching to the
converted, while the audience that primarily needs to hear what they are saying continues
bobbing their head to rap's rhythms.
So what's my point? This is to serve as a warning. Rap is moving into the doldrums.
Suffering from overexposure, it has lost much of its poetics for hype because rap artists
have stopped competing with the spoken word community. But that may be about to change.
For the past year, Saul Williams has been putting together a band. Combining funk, soul
and a little bit of that hip-hop thing, Saul has found a way to mesh his in-your-face
poetry with an equally powerful musical sound. He and his band have spent the last year
working closely together and performing at small clubs all over the country to hone their
talents. Saul is a heavyweight on the spoken word scene and anyone who has heard him
perform will tell you he's deep. In preparing to release his album (scheduled for early
2001), Saul is taking time to ensure the music he creates is as deep as the poetry he
writes.
Although Saul may not feel he's in competition, his album may serve as a challenge to the
rap world. On the surface, the sound will be incomparable. But in essence, the battle for
the block has resumed. In the game of anything you can do I can do better, spoken word is
about to make the next move. The block may never be the same.
M
October 2000
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