Def Poetry
Def Poetry, also known as Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry or Def Poetry Jam, which was co-founded by Bruce George, Danny Simmons and Deborah Pointer, is an HBO television series produced by hip-hop music entrepreneur Russell Simmons. The series presents performances by established spoken word poets, as well as up-and-coming ones. Well-known actors and musicians will often surprise the audience by showing up to recite their own original poems. The show is hosted by Mos Def. Def Poetry is a spin-off of Def Comedy Jam. As he did on Def Comedy, Simmons appears at the end of every episode to thank the audience.
The series included historical legendary poets such as, The Last Poets, Nikki Giovanni, Amiri Baraka and Sonya Sanchez. It also featured poets, Saul Williams, Grammy Award Winning J. Ivy, Jessica Care-Moore and Lemon. Though technically not a poetry slam, Def Poetry has become heavily associated with the poetry slam movement, and utilizes many of poetry slam's best known poets, including National Poetry Slam champions such as Beau Sia, Taylor Mali, Big Poppa E, Mayda del Valle, Mike Mcgee, Alix Olson and Rives, among others. Even poets who are critical of the poetry slam, such as John S. Hall, have acknowledged slam's influence on the show. In a 2005 interview, Hall was quoted as saying,
| “ | It's true that I was on Def Poetry even though I've never slammed. I'm probably the only person to be on there who hasn't slammed. And I think most people on Def Poetry have won slams or done well in slams. And, all of them, except the special guest stars, the celebrities, are writing slam poems and performing slam poems on Def Poetry, so to me, Def Poetry is still extremely slam-informed, and I think it will probably always be. What they say about Def Poetry is that it wants to bring an urban feel. And to me, they don't mean black or Latino, or non-white. What they really mean is, a rhythm of poetry that comes out of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, that came out of the slams.[1] | ” |
In a 2005 interview, Bob Holman, who founded the Nuyorican Poets Cafe's poetry slam and appeared on Season 4 of the show, applauded Def Poetry, noting,
| “ | I'm real happy poetry is on television. My hat is off to Russell Simmons, who has found a way to get poems on HBO in a way that feeds his own business. It gives him the back credentials for his hip-hop label, and at the same time he's magnanimous towards the art of poetry, giving us a place like that. It's a great, great moment, just as Def Poetry Jam on Broadway was a great moment, too. Not since Ntozake Shange's For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf has a poem like that been on the stage.[2] | ” |
However, Marc Smith, the founder of the Poetry Slam movement, is more critical of the program. Smith decries the intense commercialization of the poetry slam, and refers to Def Poetry as "an exploitive entertainment [program that] diminished the value and aesthetic of performance poetry."[3]
In November 2002, a live stage production, Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam opened on Broadway. The show featured poets Beau Sia, Suheir Hammad, Staceyann Chin, Lemon, Mayda del Valle, Georgia Me, Black Ice, Poetri Smith and Steve Coleman. The show ran on Broadway until May 2003, and won a 2003 Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event.[4] The show subsequently toured both nationally and internationally.
Def Poetry premiered on HBO in 2002 and the latest season to air (Season 6) premiered in February 2007. As of summer 2008, there has been no word about the possibility of a Season 7. Starting in 2008, producers of Def Poetry (including Simmons, Stan Lathan, and Kamilah Forbes) developed and broadcast the HBO poetry show Brave New Voices, which is stylistically similar to Def Poetry, with teenage poets competing and backstage scenes.[5]
Episode Index
Season 1 (2002)
Episode 1
Steve Colman - I Wanna Hear a Poem
Georgia Me - Full Figure Potential
Benjamin Bratt - Lower East Side
Lemon - Shine
Nikki Giovanni - Talk to Me Poem, I Think I’ve Got the Blues
Black Ice - Bigger Than Mine?
Suheir Hammad - First Writing Since
Poetri Smith - Money
Episode 2
Taylor Mali - What Teachers Make
Yellow Rage - Listen Asshole
Jewel - Poem Song
Flow Mentalz - They Call Me Drama
Sonia Sanchez - Poem for Some Women
Shihan - This Type Love
Dawn Saylor - When I Was 14
Kayo - Who Am I?
Episode 3
Cedric the Entertainer - Untitled
Sarah Jones - Your Revolution
Beau Sia - Give Me a Chance
Willie Perdomo - How Beautiful We Really Are
Abyss - God Gave Me Grey Skies
The Last Poets - Take Your Time
INQ - When Hip-Hop Was Fun
J. Ivy - I Need To Write
Episode 4
Mayda del Valle - Descendancy
Poetri - Money
Jessica Care Moore - Warriors Walk Alone
Dave Chappelle - The Corner Store
Amiri Baraka - from Why is We Americans?
Liza Jessie Peterson - Ice Cream Fiend
Kevin Coval - Family Feud
Season 2 (2003)
Episode 1
Beau Sia - Asian Invasion
Jason Carney - Southern Heritage
Thea Monyee - Woman to Woman
Sekou Sundiata - Come on and Bring on the Reparations
Marty McConnell - Give Me One Good Reason to Die
Twin Poets - Dreams are Illegal in the Ghetto
Jamie Foxx - Off the Hizzle for Shizzle
Episode 2
Danny Hoch - Corner Talk, September
Patricia Smith - Skinhead
Dante Basco - Nikki
Maggie Estep - Emotional Idiot
Black Ice - Truth Is
Kent Foreman - Epiphany
Roger Bonair-Agard - How the Ghetto Loves Us Back
Erykah Badu - Friends, fans, and artists must meet
Episode 3
Lemon - Where I’m From and A Toast
Bassey Ikpi - Sometimes silence is the loudest kind of noise
Taylor Mali - Totally like whatever, you know?
Regie Cabico - What kind of guys are attracted to me
Haki R. Madhubuti - Beat Network
Rat Sack - I’m Losing You
Episode 4
Ishle Yi Park - All I have ever done is write you love poems
Shihan - Say What?
Suheir Hammad - Not Your Erotic, Not Your Exotic
Big Poppa E - Wussy Boy
La Bruja - WTC
Anthony Morales - Story Avenue Stuck
Amalia Ortiz - Some Days
Oscar Brown Jr. - I Apologize
Episode 5
Felipe Luciano - Jibaro, My Pretty Nigger
muMs - Ploylessness
Amanda Diva - Hot Shit
Malik Yusef - I Spit
Asha Bandele - Morning Was My Mentor
Malcolm Jamal Warner - I Love My Woman
Episode 6
Sekou the Misfit - I’m a Rapper
Steve Connell - Why Not Wine Coolers
Georgia Me - NigGods
Louis Reyes Rivera - Bullet Cry
Jessica Care Moore - I’m a Hip Hop Cheerleader
Keith Murray - Man Child.
Episode 7
Denizen Kane - Lost and Found
Staceyann Chin - If Only Out of Vanity
Big Rube - Alphabet Acrobat
Wood Harris - Night Song
Goldie - No title
Regie Gibson - For James Marshall Hendrix
Joy Harjo - A Poem to Get Rid of Fear
Linton Kwesi Johnson - If I Was a Top-notch Poet
Season 3 (2004)
Episode 1
Black Ice - Lone Soldier
Rives - Sign Language
Helena D. Lewis - Stank Breath
Poem-cees - Power
Mutabaruka - Dis Poem
Daniel Beaty - Duality Duel
Rupert Estanislao - Empress
Jill Scott - Nothing is for Nothing
Suheir Hammad - We Spent the 4th of July in Bed
Episode 2
Mayda del Valle and Lemon - Tito Puente
Flaco Navaja - Kids Don’t Play
Gemineye - Poetic Bloodline
Ursula Rucker - Get Ready
Michael Ellison - Light Skin-did
Ishle Park - Pussy
Ras Baraka - American Poem
Dana Gilmore - Wife, Woman, Friend
Common - God is Freedom
Episode 3
Poetri - Krispy Kreme
Emanuel Xavier - Tradiciones
Marc Bamuthi Joseph - For Pop
Richard Montoya - Miami
Vanessa Hidary - The Hebrew Mamita
Danny Hoch - PSA
Bassey Ikpi - Homeward
Lemon - Gangsta MCs
Steve Colman - Terrorist Threat
Episode 4
Black Ice & Staceyann Chin - Jammin
Rock Baby - Titty Man
Alix Olson - Women Before
Mike 360 - Twilight Zone
Cheryl “Salt” James - We Follow Your Lead
Shappy - I Am That Nerd
Jonzi D - 3000 Casualties of War
Amalia Ortiz - Cat Calls
Jimmy Santiago Baca - from Healing Earthquakes (“Twelve”)
Episode 5
Roger Bonair Agard - For Trent Lott
Frenchie - Fucking Ain’t Conscious
Geoff Trenchard - Of Copper Chipped Teeth
Chinaka Hodge - Barely Audible
Quincy Troupe - Forty One Seconds in June, in Salt Lake City, Utah (for Michael Jordan)
Dufflyn - Single Life
Mums - Brooklyn Queen
Kevin Coval - Jam Master J
Beau Sia - Love
Episode 6
Shihan - Sick and Tired
Jason Carney - Out Here
Gina Loring - Somewhere There Is a Poem
Kanye West - Self Conscious
Jamie Kennedy - Grim Fairy Tale
Bao Phi - You Bring Out the Vietnamese in Me
Roscoe P. Coldchain - Trouble
Mayda del Valle - Mami’s Makin’ Mambo
Buju Banton - How Long
Episode 7
Maggie Estep - Happy
Malak Salaam - Warrior’s Love
Joel Chmara - Sweet Tooth Tollbooth School Year
Flowmentalz - The Payphone
Saul Williams - Coded Language
Georgia Me - Hit Like a Man
Deb Young - Children of a Lesser God
Smokey Robinson - A Black American
Season 4 (2005)
Episode 1
Daniel Beaty - Knock, Knock
Rives - Kite
Nafessa Monroe - White
Mark Gonzales - As with Most Men
Zena Edwards - Laugh
Oscar Brown Jr. - Children of Children
Amalia Ortiz - Women of Juarez
Black Ice - Or Die
MC Lyte - I Was Born
Episode 2
Gemineye - What Are You Fighting For?
Bonnie - My Man
Javon Johnson - Elementary
Suheir Hammad - What I Will
Rachel and George McKibbons - Multi-tasking
Vanessa Hidary - Fling Gone Awry
Flowmentalz - Constipation
Nikki Patin - Sweat
Nikky Finney - Girlfriends Train
Kanye West - 18 years
Episode 3
Bassey Ikpi - Diallo
John S. Hall - America Kicks Ass
Tish Benson - Fifth Word Email
Kelly Tsai - Mao
Tracy Morgan - Feeling Fucked Up
Will Bell - So I Run
Morris Stegosaurus - Big Man II
Dawn Saylor - Take You To Brooklyn
Michael Eric Dyson - Intellectual MCs
KRS-One and Doug E. Fresh - 2nd Quarter
Episode 4
Poetri - Dating Myself
Julian Curry - Nigger, Niggas, Niggaz
Ishle Park - Open Letter to Soldier
Taylor Mali - Like Lily Like Wilson
Adelle Givens - That Shit Ain’t Funny
Kevin Coval - My g-dself Loose
Yolanda Kae Wilkinson - Circa Valentine's Day
Amir Sulaiman - Danger
Floetry - Everybody Heard
Episode 5
Lemon - Love Poem
Regie Cabico - You Bring Out the Writer in Me
Rafael Casal - Abortion
Kim Fields - How Come
Reg E. Gaines - I Don’t Feel Like Writing
Jon Goode - Barbara
Dana Gilmore - Wife, Woman, Friend, Pt. 2
Rita Dove - Black on a Saturday Night
Talib Kweli - Lonely People
Episode 6
Flaco Navaja - Revolution
Liza Jesse Peterson - Waitress
Robert Karimi - Get Down with Your Catholic Muslim Self
Triple Black - Love Poems
Bonafide Rojas - In front of the Class
Laura “Piece” Kelly - Central District
BessKepp - Rotten Pomegranates
Michael Franti - Rock the Nation
Ruby Dee - Tupac
Episode 7
Georgia Me - Bitch Ass Nigga
Jus Cus - Homeland Security
J. Ivy - Dear Father
Marlon Esquerra - Morning Papers
Marvin Tate - My Life to the Present
Martin Espada - Imagine the Angels of Bread
Alix Olson - America on Sale
Mos Def - Pornographic Content
Ani DiFranco - Coming Up
Mike Epps - I Love the Hood
Episode 8
Mayda del Valle - Hood Days
Andy Buck - *69
Faraji Salim - Star Spangled Banner
Bob Holman - Rock & Roll Mythology
Patrick Washington - Letter to the Editor
Tara Betts - Switch
Paul Flores - Brown Dreams
muMs - The Truth Parts I & II
Buttaflysoul - Queer Eye
Dead Prez - 4 the Hood
Episode 9
Beau Sia - I’m So Deep
Aysiha Knight - Until
Buddy Wakefield - Convenience Store
Shihan - The Auction Network
Miguel Algarin - Met Walking
Kendra Urdang - To Every Man Who Never Called Himself a Feminist
Speech - Night Time Demons
Red Storm - My Debut
Universes (poetic theatre ensemble) (Steven,Mildred & Gamal) - Don’t Front
Common - A Letter to the Law
Episode 10
Tommy Bottoms - Basic Economics
Staceyann Chin - Three Frenzied Days
Joe Hernandez-Kolski - Cool
Marc Batmuthi Joseph - Move
Denizen Kane - Love Song
Aya De Leon - Cellulite
Musiq - Pieces of this Life
Mos Def - My Life is Real
Yusef Kumunyaka - The Sure Beat
Beau Sia, Georgia Me, Suheir Hammad - First Taste
Season 5 (2006)
Episode 1
J. Ivy — Never Let Me Down
Dahlak Brathwaite — Just Another Routine Check
Claudia Alick — Employed Poor
Black Ice — Imagine
Gideon Grody-Patinkin — Touching
Avery Brooks — from Purlie Victorious (by Ossie Davis)
Lauryn Hill — Motives and Thoughts
Rachel McKibbens — After School Special
Dave Chappelle - Fuck Ashton Kutcher and How I Got the Lead On Jeopardy
Episode 2
Al Letson — The Ball the Rim and Him
Dan Sully and Tim Stafford — Death From Below
Georgia Me — For Your Protection
John Legend — Again
Caroline Harvey — Spoons
Bounty Killer — Look Into My Eyes;
Bassey Ikpi — I Want to Kiss You
Will “Da Real One” Bell — Diary of the Reformed
Alicia Keys — P.O.W.
Episode 3
Reg. E. Gains and Savion Glover — Pawn Shop
Tommy Chunn — Computer Wordplay
Scorpio Blues — Second Guessing
Gemineye — Penny For Your Thoughts
Emanuel Xavier — Nueva York
Mayda del Valle — To All the Boys I've Loved Before
Rev Run — Peter Piper
Aulelei Love — Same Cell, A poem for Women in Prison
Mike Booker — Hoodology
Smokey Robinson — Gang Bangin’
Episode 4
The Poem-cees — Cheatin'
Geoff Trenchard — Ode to my Bathroom
Marty McConnell — Instructions for a Body
Nikki Giovanni — Nikki-Rosa
Roger Bonair Agard — Calypso
Joaquin Zihuatanejo — This is a Suit
Ishle Park — Sa-I-Gu
Willie Perdoma — Nigger-Reecan Blues
Floetry x2 — Fantasize
Episode 5
Poetri — Driving
Sharrif Simmons— Fuck What You Heard
Michael Ellison — Mezeker Means to Remember
Phylicia Rashad — On Status (by Vivian Ayers)
Ratsack — Free the Toes
Abyss— She
Kevin Coval — Nothing Fight
Mollie Angelheart — Psychotic Bitch
Flomentalz — Talkin' to God
Thea Monyee and Gaknew — A Different World
Episode 6
Wyclef Jean — Immigrant
Nayeli Adorador-Knudsen — Priceless
Michael Cirelli — Love Song for Kelis
M'Reld — Ready for Love
Red Storm — Snake in the Grass
Kelly Tsai — Aftershocks
Paul Mabon — The Toothbrush
Kevin Derrig — Andrew
Mike McGee — Like
Narubi Selah — Uncle Benz
Ise Lyfe — Popular Dirt
Episode 7
Kanye West — Bitter Sweet
Ursula Rucker — What a Woman Must Do
Rafael Casal — Barbie and Ken 101
Terry Creech — Lost Bird
Thadra Sheridan — Bad Boyfriend
Beau Sia — Hip Hop
Shihan — In Response
Sonia Sanchez — Our Vision Is Our Voice
Amir Sulaiman — She Said, I Prefer A Broken Neck...
Lemon and Flaco — Boriquas
Episode 8
Preach — Cotton
Steve Connell and Sekou The Misfit — America Calls
Big Poppa E — Poem For A Friend
Amanda Diva — 40 Emcees
Al B. Back — Super Negro
Sista Queen — Try Being A Lady
Jerry Quickley — 3-Part Bitter X-girlfriend #167249-B
Oscar Brown, Jr., — This Beach
Staceyann Chin — A City In Tragedy
Brother J of X-Clan — Atlan
Common — Be Known
Episode 9
Suheir Hammad — Mike Check
Lemon — Poor People
Tamara Blue — Thick Chicks
Rives — Op-talk
Otep — Dedicated to my enemy
Heru Ptah — Why
Sharon Olds — Self Portrait, Rear View
Perre Shelton — Dandelion
Consequence — Friend Zone
Jason Carney — Our Soldiers
Black Thought from The Roots — Untitled
Episode 10
Gina Loring — You Move Me
Rock Baby — That Sweet That Funk
Chinaka Hodge — Cousin
Denizen Kane — Patriot Act
Sekou Sundiata — Amman
Kristiana Colon — From The Clay
Jimmy Tran — Mediocre Penis
Flaco Navaja — Dimple
Eve Ensler — My Father's House
Black Ice, Poetri and Shihan — We Are Men
Season 6 (2007)
Episode 1
DMX — The Industry
Big Mike — Sexy
Asia — The Waiting Hour
Dan Vaughn & Dasha Kelly — Six Million
Kelly Tsai — Grey Matter
Red Storm — Black Barbie Doll
Shanelle Gabriel — Why I Love You
Idris Goodwin — What is They Feedin' Our Kids
Jill Scott — Ain't a Ceiling
Episode 2
Dahlak Braithwaite — Peculiar Evolution
Skim — Your Eyes
Eamon Mahone & Paul Graham — Black Irish
Tahani Salah — Hate
George Watsky — V For Virgin
Caleb Mak — Slave
Shannon Leigh — Sudanese Children
Pat's Justice — Innocent Criminal
Lyfe Jennings — Rough Stuff
Matisyahu — Late Night In The Field
Talib Kweli — Hell
Episode 3
Sarah Kay — Hands
Riva & Sciryl — My Best Friend (Hip Hop)
Rafael Casal — First Week Of A Break-Up
Meilani Clay — Lost
Shihan — Father's Day
Shannon Matesky — My Space
Carlos Andres Gomez — What's Genocide
Carole King — Touchstone
Natalie Stewart — Her Story
Jamal Joseph — Ricky Do & The 4th Of July
Episode 4
Oveous Maximus — Salcedo's Breakdown
Sonya Renee — Connections
Anis Mojgani — For Those Who Can Still Ride an Airplane for the First Time
Rives — Dirty Talk
Mush — Next Wednesday
Joe Hernandez-Kolski — No Disclaimers
African-American Shakespear — Will You Be There
David Banner — What About Us
Sunni Patterson — We Made It
Episode 5
Big Poppa E — Propers
Bassey Ikpi — Apology To My Unborn
Alvin Lau — What Tiger Said
Saddi Kali — Goin' Platinum In 2 Days
Liza Garza — My Everything
Lamont Carey — I Can't Read
Brian Dykstra — Pushing Bush
Vanessa Hidary — Phd In Him
Basikknowledge — Numbers
George Clinton — Dope Dog
Episode 6
Black Ice - The Ugly Show
Mayda Del Valle - The Gift
Steve Colman - I Want To Eat Your Pu**y
Georgia Me - The Promiseland
Beau Sia - Back To The Now
Stacyann Chin - Nails
Poetri - Monsters In My Stomach
Suheir Hammad - Daddy's Song
Lemon - Experience
Nelly Furtado - Nevis
References
- ↑ Aptowicz, Cristin O'Keefe. (2008). Words in Your Face: A Guided Tour Through Twenty Years of the New York City Poetry Slam. Chapter 27: Slam's Biggest Non-Slamming Icon Speaks; John S. Hall Takes on Everything Rights But Mostly Wrong With the Slam. Soft Skull Press, 288. ISBN 1-933368-82-9.
- ↑ Aptowicz, Cristin O'Keefe. (2008). Words in Your Face: A Guided Tour Through Twenty Years of the New York City Poetry Slam. Chapter 26: What the Heck Is Going On Here; The Bowery Poetry Club Opens (Kinda) for Business. Soft Skull Press, 288. ISBN 1-933368-82-9.
- ↑ http://vocalo.org/explore/content/28448
- ↑ New York Times List of 2003 Tony Award Winners.
- ↑ http://www.hbo.com/bravenewvoices/crew/index.html
External links
- Official website
- Def Poetry at HBO.com
- Def Poetry Jam On Tour website
- Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry at the Internet Movie Database
- Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam at the Internet Broadway Database
- Is There A Future For Spoken Word? @ dropmagazine.com
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