Spoken-word artists who helped define the genre, part 2

As we discussed in 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.

“Spoken word or spoken word poetry is a poetic form that is meant for performance and incorporates the wordplay, alliteration, and intonation of ancient oral traditions,” explains PoemAnalysis. The website goes on to designate spoken word as “one of the most important modern art forms.” And though the genre’s traceable roots are in the American Beat movement, it continues to morph and grow.

The Airplane Poetry Movement, for example, is a project launched in 2013 by then-college students Nandini Varma and Shantanu Anand. “It aims to promote performance poetry in various cities of India through events such as slams and open mics,” reports The Reader. (More in Airplane Poetry in a future blog post.)

Here are six contemporary and recently active spoken-word artists who profoundly affected the art form.

Ocean Vuong

Ocean Vuong was “born in Saigon, Vietnam and raised in Hartford, Connecticut in a working class family of nail salon and factory laborers, he was educated at nearby Manchester Community College before transferring to Pace University to study International Marketing. Without completing his first term, he dropped out of Business school and enrolled at Brooklyn College, where he graduated with a BA in Nineteenth Century American Literature. He subsequently received his MFA in Poetry from NYU.”

He is “the author of The New York Times bestselling poetry collection, Time is a Mother (Penguin Press 2022), and The New York Times bestselling novel, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous (Penguin Press 2019), which has been translated into 37 languages.  A recipient of a 2019 MacArthur "Genius" Grant, he is also the author of the critically acclaimed poetry collection, Night Sky with Exit Wounds, a New York Times Top 10 Book of 2016, winner of the T.S. Eliot Prize, the Whiting Award, the Thom Gunn Award, and the Forward Prize for Best First Collection. 

Ursula Rucker

“Ursula Rucker is one of the premiere spoken word recording artists in the music industry today. As a poet and performance artist, Ursula has enchanted critics and fans across the globe with her diverse repertoire, captivating vocals and accessible poetic verse.

“Since 1994, Ursula has shared her songwriting talent and mesmerizing voice with an array of recording artists and producers including King Britt, 4 Hero, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Josh Wink and The Roots. Each was drawn to the soft spoken eloquence and undeterred honesty which have become Ursula’s signature.

“Born and raised in Philadelphia, Ursula began documenting her observations of the world when she was just a girl. A graduate of Temple University’s journalism program, she kept her creative writing as a prized, personal possession until she was prepared to share her gift with the world. In 1994, Ursula introduced an open-mic night audience at Philadelphia’s Zanzibar Blue to the beauty and urgency of her poetry.”

Henry Rollins

Singer and writer Henry Rollins fronted the hardcore band Black Flag from 1981 to 1986. After the group disbanded, Rollins launched his own publishing company to release his spoken word albums.

From his bio: “He released two solo records in 1987, Hot Animal Machine, a collaboration with guitarist Chris Haskett, and Drive by Shooting, recorded as "Henrietta Collins and the Wifebeating Childhaters"; Rollins also released his second spoken word album, Big Ugly Mouth in the same year. Along with Haskett, Rollins soon added Andrew Weiss and Sim Cain, both former members of Ginn's side-project Gone, and called the new group Rollins Band. The band toured relentlessly, and their 1987 debut album, Life Time, was quickly followed by the outtakes and live collection Do It. The band continued to tour throughout 1988; in 1989 another Rollins Band album, Hard Volume was released. Another live album, Turned On, and another spoken word release, Live at McCabe's, followed in 1990.”

Maggie Estep

“Maggie Estep grew up moving throughout the US and France with her nomadic horse trainer parents. She attended the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics in Boulder, Co. and received a B.A. in Literature from The State University of New York,” says the bio of the late poet.

As a poet, she emerged in the early 1990s when grunge was the height of fashion and her "direct, aggressive and uncompromisingly modern,” according the 2008 book Words in Your Face: A Guided Tour Through Twenty Years of the New York City Poetry Slam. She appeared at Lollapalooza in 1994, was featured on MTV's Spoken Word Unplugged, PBS's The United States of Poetry, and on Season 3 of HBO's Def Poetry.

Maggie died unexpectedly in 2014 at the age of 50.

Saul Williams

From Williams’ bio: “Saul Williams has been breaking ground since his debut album, Amethyst Rock Star, was released in 2001 and executive produced by Rick Rubin. After gaining global fame for his poetry and writings at the turn of the century, Williams has performed in over 30 countries and read in over 300 universities, with invitations that have spanned from the White House, the Sydney Opera House, Lincoln Center, The Louvre, The Getty Center, Queen Elizabeth Hall, to countless, villages, townships, community centers, and prisons across the world. The Newburgh, New York native gained a BA from Morehouse and an MFA from Tisch, and has gone on to record with Nine Inch Nails and Allen Ginsburg, as well as countless film and television appearances. Williams’ Encrypted & Vulnerable (July 2019), acts as the score to his directorial debut musical, Neptune Frost.

John Trudell

Native American author, poet, actor, musician, and political activist John Trudell was the spokesperson for the Indians of All Tribes' takeover of Alcatraz beginning in 1969, broadcasting as Radio Free Alcatraz. During most of the 1970s, he served as the chairman of the American Indian Movement, based in Minneapolis.

According to his bio, after his pregnant wife, three children and mother-in-law were killed in 1979 in a suspicious fire at the home of his parents-in-law on the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes Duck Valley Indian Reservation in Nevada, Trudell turned to writing, music and film as a second career. He acted in films in the 1990s. The documentary Trudell (2005) was made about him and his life as an activist and artist. His spoken word albums include AKA Grafitti (sic) Man (1986), Johnny Damas and Me (1994), Bone Days (2001), Tribal Voice (1983), Blue Indians (1999), and Through the Dust (2014).

John Trudell died in 2015.