Spoken-word artists who helped define the genre, part 1

Spoken-word poetry got its start (at least according to some historians) with the American Beat Poetry movement in the 1940s and ’50s. Modern spoken word also draws on inspirations from the Black Arts Movement in the 1960s, which blossomed in part in response to the assassinations of leaders Malcolm X, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Medgar Evers.

“Poets in both the Beats Generation and the Black Arts Movement focused on the performance of their work. Performative poetry movements were consequential in political speech and powerful, revolutionary ideas,” writes the K20 Center in its informative History of Spoken Word Poetry.

It’s also worth noting that spoken word is pretty much in our human DNA. Storytelling is among our oldest art forms and can be found in every culture around the globe. Spoken-word poetry tends to fuse the performance of poetic pieces with rhythm and rhyme, giving them a musicality as well as an immediacy. Spoken word often — though certainly not always — focuses on topics of social justice and equity.

In this series, we’ll introduce spoken-word artists from many different generations and styles.

Allen Ginsberg

Writer and poet Allen Ginsberg, an iconic Beat Poet, is perhaps best known for his piece “Howl.” That poem challenged literary sensibilities by challenging societal norms and incorporating profanity. It was delivered in a distressed, pleading style.  

Ginsberg was an outspoken advocate for gay rights, human rights, and freedom of speech. He protested the Vietnam War, nuclear weapons, censorship, sexual repression, and harsh drug laws. Late in his career (and life) he continued to perform on college campuses, often accompanying his poems with bongos or harmonium.

“Ginsberg collaborated with, performed with, or was inspired by, a wide range of musicians, in a number of genres, among them David Amram, Bob Dylan, Patti Smith and Philip Glass,” reveals AllenGinsberg.org.

Gil Scott-Heron

Poet, singer, and musician Gil Scott-Heron described himself as a “bluesologist … a scientist who is concerned with the origin of the blues.” His poem / song “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” first recorded for the 1970 album Small Talk at 125th and Lenox, is considered to be an influence on hip-hop music of a decade later.  

Scott-Heron’s work also foreshadowed neo-soul. While a student at Lincoln University, Scott-Heron met musician Brian Jackson (a collaborator with NSD Podcast) and the two formed the band Black & Blues. For several years Scott-Heron taught literature and creative writing at Federal City College in Washington D.C. while also growing his musical career.

The Last Poets

The Last Poets, a collective of spoken-word artists and musicians, went through several different iterations and formations. According to the group’s website, “Abiodun Oyewole, David Nelson and Gylan Kain were born as The Last Poets on May 19, 1968 (the anniversary of Malcolm X’s birthday) in Mount Morris Park in Harlem, New York. They evolved from three poets and a drummer to seven young black and Hispanic poets: Umar bin Hassan, Abiodun Oyewole, David Nelson, Gylan Kain, Felipe Luciano, Jalal Mansur Nuruddin, Suliaman El-Hadi, and two drummers Nilaja Obabi and Baba Don.”

The group signed with jazz producer Alan Douglas to record two albums, The Last Poets (1970) and This Is Madness (1971). They had a profound influence on hip-hop and collaborated with artists such as Nas, Common, Erykah Badu, Styes P., and Dead Prez. According to the group’s website, Oyewole and Hassan continue to perform and record “for one reason only: To promote self-empowerment in the African American community through music and the spoken word.”

Umar bin Hassan’s collaboration with Saint Disruption, “Pain Storms,” was the impetus for the NSD Podcast project.

Andrea Gibson

Andrea Gibson creates deeply resonant work around themes of gender identity, queerness, relationships, healing, mental health, and self-acceptance. Originally from Maine, they moved to Boulder, Colorado, in 1999 and it’s there that they first performed at an open mic.

Gibson is the author of five full-length books of poetry, including Lord of the Butterflies (2018), which sold more than 20,000 copies worldwide. They are a three-time Goodreads Choice Awards Finalist and winner of Independent Publishers Award in 2019 and 2022. Their most recent book is You Better Be Lightning.

Gibson is a four-time Denver Grand Slam Champion, placed fourth in the 2004 National Poetry Slam and third in the 2006 and 2007 Individual World Poetry Slam. They were the first person to win the Women of the World Poetry Slam in 2008. They have also released seven spoken-word albums, most recently Hey Galaxy (2018). Gibson often tours with singer-songwriters and collaborates with them onstage and on their recordings.

Danez Smith

Danez Smith is a genderqueer poet, writer, and performer. They’ve won a number of awards such as a 2017 National Endowment for the Arts grant, the Forward Prize for best poetry collection (Don't Call Us Dead), and the 2021 Minnesota Book Award in Poetry for Homie. Twice they’ve been a finalist in the Individual World Poetry Slam.

Smith founded Dark Noise Collective with Fatimah Asghar, Franny Choi, Nate Marshall, Aaron Samuels, and Jamila Woods. With Choi, they co-hosted the poetry podcast VS from the Poetry Foundation (2017-2021).

Smith’s poetry “confronts race, police brutality and gender in their collection, Don’t Call Us Dead, as well as their HIV-positive diagnosis,” the Guardian wrote. “In its opening sequence, ‘summer, somewhere,’ Smith imagines an afterlife for black men shot dead by the police. In ‘dear white America,’ a poem that went viral on Youtube, Smith writes: ‘i can’t stand your ground. i’m sick of calling your recklessness the law. each night, i count my brothers. & in the morning, when some do not survive to be counted, i count the holes they leave.’”

Kae Tempest

Kae Tempest is a British-born poet, playwright, rapper, and recording artist. They first performed — at age 16 — at an open mic night in London’s West End. Later, they opened for artists such as John Cooper Clarke, Billy Bragg, and Benjamin Zephaniah. Tempest won the Ted Hughes Award for their spoken-word theatre show Brand New Ancients in 2013 and, in 2014, was named among the Poetry Book Society’s list of Next Generation poets. “The 20 new names … are expected to dominate the poetry landscape of the coming decade,” wrote The Guardian.

Tempest wrote a modern adaptation of Sophocles' Greek Classic Philoctetes, which premiered at the National Theatre in 2021. They’ve published six poetry collections, one novel, and five albums — most recently The Line is a Curve (2022).

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