The Art of Spoken Word

Spoken Word Culture

Many things involving the art of Spoken word have been categorized into more common terms by different performers. Some people could refer to this art as; Rap, Poetry, Poetry Slam, or generally Spoken word poetry. Could there be a relation between all these terms? That’s usually left to the audience to decide.

Spoken Word as an art joins the oral literary tradition as a genre. It is one form of art where one uses words to speak poetically. The poetry itself, served in front of the audience becomes a Spoken Word. One may also talk about language, intonation, and body movement. All of this is important in the art of Spoken Word. For anyone that is still wondering about the difference between Spoken Word poetry and reading an actual poem, this might help you understand. “There is usually more performance in spoken word poetry readings and the poems are written to be understood by listeners who will not be able go back over the text. This means spoken word poetry is generally more accessible to an audience.”

Spoken Word and the Urban Community

In several cultures, stories have been told to entertain and connect communities. Since the mid-20th century, Spoken Word has risen and become the new way of keeping cultures alive. Spoken Word originally emerged from the jazz poetry of the 1920s. in the late 50s, the art found its way across Europe and by the 1960s, it had embraced its role as a popular voice for counter-culture across Europe and in the USA.

Throughout so many urban communities, poetry provided a powerful format for protests and artistic expressions. During the 1960s and 70s, political black poetry led the foundations of Hip-Hop in the USA. Spoken Word poetry now became a style and an influence across other European genres like Punk.

Earlier in 1984, the first poetry slam took place in Chicago. As this developed, Spoken Word became a melting point of influences for other art formations, including; Toasting, Comedy, Dub, Beat, Jazz, Reggae, Slam, and Hip-Hop. Since then, Spoken Word MC battles and slam poetry have spread across the world. Poets are now going viral, headlining festivals and keeping the activist tradition alive.

Spoken Word Stories

Spoken Word as the outlet that it is today has gone through so many phases over the years.

Without reproducing the latter, the Spoken Word movement was one of the forerunners in today’s diversity of this art. This multicultural literary movement with orality as a specific characteristic served people from American ghettos to express their own dissatisfaction with political decisions. This literary grew beyond its founding site in the 1960s and has now become the cornerstone of the poetry scene which has fluorinated especially in many cafes around urban towns and communities.

Already today, Spoken Word is growing and pushing across the music with its unique style of art. It has become part of events and is closely linked to the traditional art of poetry. This is the new reality behind the art.

When we visit the kinds of stories told through the art of Spoken Word, one may categorize each of them to lie within the four types of stories; Origin Story, Value story, Vulnerable story, or Personal story. All these types of stories carry a secret to either; educate, simplify, motivate, ignite one’s inner fire, or launch movements.

With;

1. Origin Story; Our origin in most cases carries the background of the art. With this type of story, the author is recalling some of the events that have led to the possible reasons why he is doing what he does. This is an informative kind of story used by spoken word artists to create a biography for their art.
2. Value Story; The author here is intending to share his values and shine a light on culture. This is a story of moral construction and usually drives change.
3. Vulnerable story; This type of story is about the human experience and allows the audience to relate and connect to the artist. It drives emotional impact by shedding light on something the author might not normally share with the world. Many times, the artist may narrate about their fear but often lead in the right direction.
4. Personal Story; This is a type of story with all intentions of resonating with the audience. Sharing personal stories about yourself or people in your life will allow the artist to create raving fans and a community that is one with their brand.

Spoken Word in Australia

Australia as a country has evolved in the art of Spoken Word. So many artists have flourished in different cities of Australia and so has slam poetry also become a thing across cities like Melbourne. Organisations such as; Melbourne Spoken Word have extended the art to so many audiences and have championed so many events in Melbourne. Other Australian organisations/events leading in this art include; Poets Out Loud, Word Hurl Anti-Slam, Girls On Key, Loose Leaf Literature, Poetica, Speak Up at Blue Fig Bar, Subbed In, The Sydney Poetry Lounge, and many others.

When you mention the popularity of Spoken Word in Australia, then you hit across performers such as; Huda the Goddess, Ren Alessandra, Wáni Le Frère, Fergus Clarkson, Jesse Oliver, and the young Solli Raphael, among others. All these and other Spoken Word artists have been featured before in the Australian Poetry Slam held each year to display some of the best talents in the game. Thousands of people usually flock Spoken Word events in Australia and they have come to love the art because as opposed to mainstream music, Spoken Word is a relatable kind of art that can be traded to all people from all walks of life.

For so many listeners and performers of Spoken Word, the art usually decodes their expectations from modern-day relationships, though it can border on the sentimental. In a fraternal view, every now and then one needs cheesiness in life. Whether you don’t understand what the art of Spoken Word is about, there is always time to learn a new thing. Find the next Spoken Word event in your town and be part of the audience!