As the lights are dimmed, audiences move to the edge of their seats, listening as words jump to life before them. They are listening to spoken word poetry. The Pit in Carleton’s Architecture Building, transforms into a stage for the city’s spoken word artists twice a month at the Urban Legends poetry slam, organised with the Carleton Race, Ethnicity and Culture Hall.
Spoken word is a form of free-verse poetry with no structural rhythm or rhyming scheme. Poetry slams are competitions where spoken word artists perform original work that are scored by judges chosen from the audience.
Jamaal Rogers, known as JustJamaal in the poetry community, hosts the Urban Legends poetry slams and has performed across Canada as a spoken word artist.
“Two years ago I went to a poetry competition where I saw these amazing artists performing and I thought this is where I need to be,” Rogers said.
Rogers made the Urban Legends team in 2011 and competed at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word. Surrounded by nationally-renowned poets, Rogers said this competition was what opened his eyes to the unique art of spoken word poetry.
“It’s free,” Rogers said. “The heart and mind can take you in so many different ways and emotions. And sometimes in art forms there’s restrictions, but in the actual act of writing spoken word, there are no restrictions.”
In November 2011, Rogers had the idea to launch a campaign to connect artists and promote spoken word poetry. “Make Spoken Word Go Viral” began with Rogers sharing a video of his spoken word poetry on Facebook and encouraging people to share it. A year later, this campaign has grown into a nation-wide movement, connecting about 800 spoken word artists and promoting spoken word poetry on various social networking sites.
“At first, it wasn’t cool to be a poet,” said Gavin Russell, a second-year Carleton communication student and spoken word artist. “Now I think that’s changing.”
A January 2012 spoken-word video, “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus” by Christian evangelist Jefferson Bethke, received 10.2 million views on YouTube within four days and gained worldwide attention. Since the video, and a growing number of campaigns such as Rogers’, spoken word is getting more public recognition.
“Poets are everywhere. It’s just they were all hiding because it wasn’t the cool thing to do,” Russell said.
Taylor Rae, an 18-year-old spoken word artist, believes its growing popularity is due to its unique form of expression, something our society now craves.
“Spoken word is something that is coming up from underground and people like that factor,” she said. “They want to do something and know about something that’s beyond what they’re used to.”
There is no doubt that spoken word poetry is becoming a more well-known art form in Canada. Rogers has high hopes for the campaign in upcoming months.
“I want it to become a program that supports artists and gives bursaries,” he said. “I hope that people would use the site to learn about what’s going on across Canada and learn about other artists.”
“Make Spoken Word Go Viral” has become more than an online campaign but a growing movement.
“It’s just gaining momentum,” Rogers said, “and it can’t be stopped.”
Russell, meanwhile, would like to see more everyday poets get out there.
“You will never write a bad poem because it’s a part of you on the page, therefore you’re saying you’re bad,” he said. “It may not be perfect but none of us are.”
