Children Of Slam

Children Of Slam:

LA Poets Talk Hard

Ask people in LA who go to spoken word shows or poetry slams what makes them so special and they'll let you in on the secret: poets put on three-minute shows and spit the most thoughtful pop songs you've ever heard; they make music with their mouths and they preach like it's revival time. Lovers become superlovers; revolutionaries hop on the soapbox and scream, ‘cause they can’t take it anymore, at least for three solid minutes. In a poetry slam, men and women launch their thoughts, hopes and dreams out into the universe for approval, and someone gets to score it on a scale of 1 to 10. It's an art form that keeps the poet relatively humble and the audience, always urging for more.

I moved to L.A. in 1996 from the Midwest, as wide-eyed as the kid in every movie like that. And in this city, I found one of the most diverse group of people, loaded with drive and talent, countless numbers of them all heading in the same direction: Hollywood. But what happens when all these hard-working superstars-to-be stop being polite and start getting their verse on? What if gifted actors--musicians--emcees--found something in the re-emergence of the LA spoken word scene and wanted to do that too? LA poets have been accused of being heavy on style and light and substance, an attack that has been flung at Angelinos before as well. Be warned: The poets profiled in this series have got substance for days.