Graphic by DZ Media

Boston is not ready for City Winery’s “Poetry vs. Hip-Hop” live show happening on April 17th, hosted by Queen Sheba and Jamellow.

Queen Sheba, the founder of Poetry vs. Hip-Hop,is not only a Grammy-nominated spoken word artist, but also an author. Jamellow even interviewed her through his channel MellowVzn about the series of poetry vs hip-hop events.

Headlining the show, we have Amanda Shea, Najee Janey, and Corey Manning. Then we have the two teams of poets versus hip-hop artists (let the games begin). Currently the team names are “Team Poetry” and “Team Hip-Hop,” but there were talks of each team coming up with their own team name. 

Some options were ‘The Lyrical Miracles’ and ‘The Original Lyricists’, so stay tuned. “Team Poetry” includes D Ruff, Anita D, and Cloudy, and “Team Hip-Hop” has Brandie Blaze, Kng Dvd, and Milkshaw Benedict. 

“All the people who are part of this amazing event are multidimensional and no one does one thing,” states Amanada Shea matter-of-factly. Brandie Blaze is also an actress and composer. D Ruff is a teaching artist, creative director, and author of a book. Anita D is a slam poet, a mother, and a spoken word artist. Najee Janey is a producer, entrepreneur, and educator. Amanda Shea is an artivist, educator, and poet. And that’s not even half of what they’ve done.

Both poetry and hip-hop among other art forms are ways for artists to convey their experiences, empower themselves, and build communities.  D Ruff says it best: “Poetry and hip-hop are writing with no rules. You’re writing for yourself. You decide the structure, the form, whether it rhymes. No one can tell you otherwise; it is the first form of freedom you should ever have and can ever own, and no one should be able to take it away from you.” 

 Najee Janey continues this thread, explaining hip-hop’s roots and importance in Black culture. “Hip-hop has always been a transformative art form, especially for the melanated community. It was our way of expressing messages to protect ourselves and to further expose the harsh realities of racism. It was our way of putting ourselves back in power and the world needs to know that hip-hop is here to stay and it can change the world. Hip-hop is the shit, we’re the shit.” 

Fun fact: many hip-hop artists started off as poets, including Brandie Blaze and Najee Janey. Amanda Shea even referred to hip-hop artists as the lost poets. Though Brandie started with poetry, she feels hip-hop and poetry call for different skill sets. “Hip-hop is more constrained than poetry because you have to focus on much more than the words and the delivery — everything has to meld together in a different way that’s more constraining.” On the other hand, Najee Janey says he sees rap as poetry with rhythm, and though spoken word and poetry pieces often have snapping, he sees poetry as raps without a beat. D Ruff took more of a practical POV and says that you’ve already decided before you write if your piece is going to lean more towards hip-hop or poetry. But, Anita D bridged the gap between hip-hop and poetry with her statement that “At the core of both art forms, the best poets and hip-hop artists are storytelling.” 

Since these artists have been performing for 10+ years, they’ve seen the changes and growth in the hip-hop and poetry scene. There was an overall agreement that though they are better now,  the pandemic impacted the number of spaces where artists could perform. At the same time, the growth of platforms like Button and TikTok have helped in terms of access and reach. “Hip-hop is at its best right now — the quality and quantity of artists is getting better,” reflects Najee Janey. “The youth are insanely good. They’re about to kill it, but as a community we need more spaces for them to feel safe in,” says Anita D, emphasizing the importance of accessibility within poetry and performances. 

The growth of younger poetry and rappers has especially been aided by the educators who empower youth in a variety of ways, including youth organizations, open mics, and workshops. 

Amanda Shea brought up an important point: “We need to acknowledge that many artists (especially on this bill) are also educators who are teaching, leading, and coaching these kids. For young Black and Brown people, it’s important that they see examples of what they can do and become and see you on a platform.” She continued, “Poetry is coming back, so I think it’s really important we not only create space in Boston but also opportunities outside of Boston where other youth can co-collaborate with each other. Other youth need to see other youth being brave.”

In fact, all the artists talked about the importance of the youth when thinking about the future of the hip-hop and poetry realms. “The youth is on fucking fire and they’re going off in such a way that displays a level of bravery and confidence that I wish I had at their age,” said D Ruff after declaring that on the poetry side, the future looks GOOD. Kng Dvd on Team Hip-Hop is actually part of the younger generation, so it’s exciting to see that the youth are becoming a part of these spaces and are sharing their art in a more public way.

The content of poetry and hip-hop pieces is also changing in a way that will empower artists more.

Najee Janey says he could see storytelling taking on more progressive, uplifting, and empowering narratives and that the youth will create stories that break generational curses. Amanda Shea continued that she sees the future of the industry incorporating more power and bravery and wanting to tell your individual story as well as collective stories. “Not everyone is going to feel joy and free and liberated 24/7. We need to talk about the other emotions we experience as Black and Brown people and what causes those emotions, and that’s where we’re going;  people want to hear more about real-life experiences.” Brandie Blaze chimed in with a hip-hop perspective: “All of it is just as valid and just as revolutionary, and not everything has to be so heavy to be taken seriously. To think that Black joy is just as radical and the things that make us amazing and beautiful as Black people should be celebrated; not just our trauma and sadness.”

Since the future of hip-hop and poetry is so bright, the artists had some advice for the younger generation who are already in the hip-hop/poetry space or who are looking to make their debut, including the following:

“Keep fucking going!!! Keep not being afraid, continue to be brave, continue to be creative, continue to innovate. If you can feel it, you can speak it.” — D Ruff

“Self-love is key; focus on yourself and how you want to build your spirit and what makes you happy. Don’t hesitate to mess up. Keep creating. We’re all natural-born creators and we create every. single. day. Think outside the box; YOU are the box.” — Najee Janey

“Write to yourself and regardless of the path you take with this artistry, you gotta stay true to yourself. If ever, someone were to try to silence you, just scream louder.”  — Anita D

The artists expressed that creativity has no bounds and that, though they have some preferences in terms of their performance mediums, they are open and can venture into other art forms. Amanda Shea says it in the simplest way: “There are NO bounds, bro! Why not do everything?! There are preferred mediums — if you can do it, fuck it why not? If you can do both, do it all!” The other artists echoed this sentiment. “There are no limits to my creativity. My lyrics are very poetic — there’s no separation for me for the poetry to the music to the songwriting,” says Najee Janey. He is releasing a 7-track project next month and has a headlining show coming up, so you can experience his creativity in person. “I did a 16 once for a competition and that was my whole rap career,” shared Anita D. Brandie Blaze, who went on to say that she 100% prefers being a rapper, and that the constraints of rapping force more creativity out of her. D Ruff added that he wouldn’t jump to hip-hop per se, but he dabbles in it for the art and message of it.

Though hip-hop and poetry are two different art forms, the basis is the same: using words and experiences to express yourself. One thing we can do as supporters of both hip-hop and poetry is to listen to everyone’s stories and continue to advocate for safer and more spaces for artists to perform. Moreover, the younger generation is the future of this industry so let’s continue to empower them. 

Sharing your art in any way takes a lot of work, courage, and passion. So, come out to City Winery on April 17th @ 7:30 pm to celebrate and uplift these hip-hop artists and poets.