Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Got Spit?

NOTE: THIS STORY WAS NOT EDITED PROPERLY

GOT SPIT?

By Victor Ortiz
Staff Writer


The Sacramento Slam Poetry scene is rising rapidly and on this night it just made a big mercury leap towards becoming one of the hottest things to do in town. Got Spit?
This particular Slam Poetry production was put on by Hip Hop Congress and put together by Lady Vex, a veteran of the underground hip hop scene in NorCal and her partner **Orlando**. It was one of the most intense and satisfying shows I have ever been to. I’ve been around many of the slam poets in the Northern California scene and the shows are great, but when you leave a show feeling like you’ve been schooled and churched, it really hits hard.

The show was set up as a two round battle between 10 poets, with the crowd and judges deciding on the winners. The poets were going at it for what seemed like more than just money, but spreading their word. I felt like even if the prize was a dime, these guys would have represented their message in the same way: strong, true, and intense.

Before I even start talking about anything I have to give the biggest props to one of the most beautiful people, inside and out, I have ever seen. Miss Ashleigh, a pin up doll by looks and spoken word Portuguese princess, was our host for the night. **A Sacramento Slam team member**, her words and calming, yet strong, and her in-your-face attitude was a soothing relief for any stresses that anyone may have been going through. There is something about sitting there in front of her, with her calling out all busters and punk ass men, knowing that I haven’t been living up to my potential in the relationship department. Ouch! Thanks **Miss**Ashleigh! This is what poetry is about: getting into peoples minds and changing not just one person, but the world.

Miss Ashleigh blessed us throughout the show with some of her works. The 1st was about relationships and fake ass men. Then, her street spit ** touched on how everything we go through lets us know it’s **still**beautiful here. Her next one got me a **little**riled up and heated as she was flirting with us guys. It made me want to shoot my number to her. What do I have to do to sign up for that fuck buddy list? She was a riot and very smooth and fluid with her presence and performance.

** The first round began with a close friend of mine, Van “–Go” of 3rd Eye Collective and AI Live TV show. He spit a poem about mothers. It really hit me in the heart, as it would anyone who is close with their mom.

The first round also included: Alex, a young cat from the UC Davis slam team represented with an intense word that showed why his team one of the hottest in Norcal. 3rd Eye’s **Glynda** went up and made us all laugh with her high energy performance. Simone, a.k.a. Simoetry, another poet from the UC Davis slam team, blessed us with a piece about fathers. With mine never having been in the picture it really hit deep. It was also a remembrance of how important our mothers are. Random Abilideze took the stage midway through the first set. As this grey hooded figure approached the stage I could tell that something big was going to happen, but I’ll get back to him later. **Maricyla** spit a poem about risky business. My girl Aria went up and sent a message to all self conscious women about not worrying about what people think of you and not giving a fuck of people’s perceptions of you. She really sent it to all the ladies and I commend her on her 1st round set. We also heard from Ike Torres, a veteran of the slam poetry scene and member of the Sacramento Slam team, who spit to us a set about change in society. He made me feel like no matter whom we vote for or who’s in charge, ultimately, it’s up to us to make a change in this world. *****. Nosakhore spit about the struggles in the streets and to all the survivors and warriors living amongst us. I really liked his shirt. It depicted the statue of liberty being gagged by a U.S. flag. Finally, Justice, a fine ass, strong, black woman spoke very sexually about how she and every other woman in the world **have** pussy power over all men. She truly was the baddest bitch as she had us all chanting her theme during her set.

Justice brought the first round to a close. Giving me a much needed an intermission to recoup and rest my brain.

Round 2 started off with a bang as Latika set the bar for the poets with a strong spit about being caged and locked down in this struggle. The other poets had their work cut out for them having to following her. Aria spit about closed-minded people. With her white pearls and beautiful personality, her words let us know that “we’re here, so do yours.” Glinda’s 2nd poem was called “Anxiety Closet” and touched on homosexuality among other things. As she was up on stage I could see her hands shaking, showing us how true and deep this poem was. –Go, spit about heritage, privacy, and the false news that we get along with several other topics. His delivery was flawless during this second round. Simoetry, took the stage talking about her soul mate and how true her love was for him. She made me want to be in love. Ike’s 2nd round blew the roof off the place as he registered a perfect score of 10 from all the judges talking in the point of view of money. **“Cha Ching”**, profit, and greed, he exposed the real meaning of money and how it pumps through our veins. Following Ike, Alex went up and dedicated his piece to a friend named Kate. His love for his friend is hardcore. He told the story of his friend, who got into prostitution and was beaten by men. He touched on pain, hurt and joy all in a span of 3 minutes. He ended it with, “Stop the Violence!” Nosakhore, spoke about the struggles in the streets, and as his dreads waved around he reminded me of a true street poet. I know for a fact that he touched some in the crowd with his words. Wow, what a thought, right?

Justice’s rap-style-poetry flow touched on relationships and a love we all carry.
Saving the best for last was Random Abilideze, mentioned earlier. His parents were listening to their son proudly, from the back of the room. You could see in on their faces that they know they have raised a prophet into this world and know that his words will make a difference on the world by inspiring and motivating others from the inside. His poem posed the questions, “What if America was Iraq ?” He reversed the war situation and made us think about bombs being dropped on innocent people here. What if it happened to us? I was drained mentally after Random’s spit.


As I let out a big sigh of enlightenment I realized this night was a special night in Sacramento . DJ Vanglorious was bumping old school new school and all kinds of great hip hop for our minds. Miss Ashleigh and Latika showed us their strength and prowess and why they are two of the best slam poets in NorCal. 10 great poets came from their heart and soul and showed us the meaning of communicating real emotions. Overall, after all the points and scores were totaled 3rd place went to Ike Torres winning $50 bucks with 58.5 points, 2nd place and $75 bucks went to Nosakhore with 58.8 points. This left the winner being Random Abilideze with a near perfect score of 59.8, taking home $150 dollars.

As mentioned before, the money wasn’t shit. These people do this for themselves and their lives, they live it, breathe it, be it, and do it.

It’s good to have shows like this to bring that spirit of competition to the forefront. I can’t wait until the next one and I commend Hip Hop Congress for putting together such a fabulous event.

Go check out all these poets on MySpace. For more info on the GotSpit? Poetry Slams contact: (916) 370-3846

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Spoken Word Feature: Supanova Album Review


Supanova
“First Movement: My Thoughts”

By Aaris A. Schroeder
Editor-In-Chief

Supanova, Sacramento, CA native who can be found in downtown Sacramento or in Oakpark, keeps it real with spoken word on his self-produced album, “First Movement: My Thoughts.”

True to his beliefs, this album is spoken word to the realest. The cover doesn’t do Supanova justice. When you hear his poetry, Supanova uses experience and knowledge to speak on societal duties such as politics, religion and family life.

Spoken word tracks such as “When Did Spoken Word Become a Competition?” and “Black Star Power” show deep-rooted emotion towards his personal empowerments.

Heart and soul poured into this artist’s word, listening can even find him singing at times on his album. Unsure if this artist performs spoken poetry somewhere or not but if he does, it would be a treat.

Check out Supanova at http://www.myspace.com/supanovasword to learn more about this talented spoken word artist and everything that makes him tick. Learn more about spoken word shows and outlets at http://www.malikspeaks.com, website courtesy by Supanova.