Taalam Acey is known as The Godfather of Spoken Word. Acey returns to his Newark roots when he presents the Spoken Word Apex at NJPAC on Saturday, August 24 at 8pm. The concert features 12 performers from across the region and the nation.
Poet/Curator Taalam Acey spoke to WBGO's Doug Doyle about the event, his career, and his love of jazz.
"The last book I recently read again was Amiri Baraka's Blues People. Jazz has been my thing forever. I'm a Hard Bop jazz fan which is funny because in the book Blues People he's not a fan of that era of jazz. He liked Bebop. He liked the big band before. Almost anyone you can name I've probably read their biography, including George Wein an anyone who put together shows."
Acey grew up surrounded by all aspects of Black culture and was particularly influenced by Gil Scot-Heron, The Last Poets and the work of Amiri Baraka. His parents were members of the organization, The Committee for Unified Newark (CFUN).
Taalam would eventually performed at events with Baraka and has produced tributes to the late Newark poet.
"I didn't realize I had a level of significance to him. When he passed and I first saw his article about where he was criticizing Angels in America and he mentioned me. He mentioned a list of poets that should have been in the book and he said my name."
Spoken Word Apex, an illuminating night of poetry, visual arts and music, is part of NJPAC’s Dodge Poetry series. No stranger to producing, Acey presented Spoken Word Apex last year at NJPAC and in April at Atlanta’s High Museum.
Acey attended Rutgers University, where he later became a finance and accounting lecturer. But it was the wins of slam poet Jessica Care Moore at The Apollo Theater in the mid 90s and the movie Love Jones that inspired Acey to become a full-time poet. He took to performance poetry at a club called Bogies East Orange and was presenting his work at the Nuyorican Cafe in Manhattan in the late 1990’s.
He's excited about Saturday's performance at NJPAC.
"Coming back to the place that was a big deal and still is a big deal that I think is one of most prestigious theaters and rooms in the world. I believe in putting the best show possible, putting together an evening that people will never forget.
Here's the list of performers for Spoken Word Apex:
Chicago poet motivational speaker K-Love, who performed with Jesse Jackson, Angela Davis, Common and The Last Poets, wrote “Million Dollar Melanin,” a poem about colorism in Black families, authored the books Poster Girl and For Smart Mouth Girls, a children’s book of affirmations, and is currently traveling with her Art of Sistahood Tour.
Trenton-born MC Narubi Selah has starred, written and co-directed in many off-Broadway productions, won the first NJ Poetry Slam grand championship, was featured on HBO’s Def Poetry Jam, New Jersey Network (NJN) and the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans. Her recordings include I Am Living Math and Architect: Sacred Geometry.
Los Angeles-based Ed Mabrey is an Emmy-nominated poet/actor and the most successful poet in the history of poetry slam with 500 wins, including four world championships and six regional championships. Mabrey was an NAACP Image Award nominee, 2019 APCA Spoken Word Artist of the Year, and has been featured on ABC, FOX, HBO, CNN and TV One. His recordings include The Black Pearl Sessions and Undressed. This year, Mabrey won the second annual Jaki Shelton Green Performance Poetry Competition.
Los Angeles based O’Shea Luja, AKA MrFood4Thought, is a poet, spoken word artist, author and cultural architect. He’s paid tribute to The Last Poets, Sonia Sanchez, Amiri Baraka and Kamau Daáood, and is the founder of the Stillwaters Network. Luja’s publications include Internal Balance: Who Would Marry You?, Purple People Who Dance Barefoot and A New Day’s Resolution: An Anthology.
RADI is an East Orange, New Jersey-based writer and spoken word/slam poetry artist. Her subjects include body and sex positivity, Civil Rights, obesity, colorism, sexism and LGBTQIA issues. RADI reigns as the 4-time Poetry Slam Champion, and she coaches the New Jeru Slam Team, one of the top-ranked poetry slam teams in the nation.
Newark’s Kween Moore is a poet, interdisciplinary artist, educator, curator and self-described “artsypreneur,” who leads a life dedicated to the arts and its communal impact. A graduate of the Cooperative Arts & Humanities Magnet High School and of Albertus Magnus College with a B.A. in Art Therapy Psychology, Moore serves Newark and surrounding communities through creative arts programming, poetry, performance art and visual arts with specific content for all creatives.
Edward Wilson, AKA Obbie West, is an international spoken word artist, advocate, and author originally from Los Angeles, California. A retired Army veteran, West started writing in 2011 and later published his first acclaimed book of poetry entitled Blossom. He uses poetry to tackle sexual violence, prevention and awareness traveling around the world as an educator, trainer, and speaker.
Atlanta’s Tamika “Georgia Me” Harper is a proud “Ghetto Belle,” who starred in Russell Simmons’ Tony Award-winning, Def Poetry Jam on Broadway, and appeared in Tyler Perry’s film, Madea Goes to Jail. Her poetry subjects include love, social justice and self-discovery.
Newark native Positive Gunter, a graduate of Essex County College, is a spoken word poet, mentor, liaison, blogger, event curator, mother, actress, and author. Gunter’s book, Positive’s Reflections, is a poetic rumination on how to turn negative experiences into positive ones.
Baltimore’s Jacob Mayberry AKA Black Chakra, is a critically acclaimed, spoken word/hip-hop artist/MC. Inspired by Gil Scot- Heron, Nikki Giovanni, The Last Poets and Taalam Acey, Chakra has won numerous poetry slam completions across the United States. He is also a youth poetry teacher.
New Jersey-born poet James C. Ellerbe is a graduate of Hackensack High School and Gibbs College, where he earned an Associate Degree in Computer Network Administration. He is also the owner of Not Enough Words LLC, founded in 2014. He wrote a three-act play, A Dream Preserved, penned his first book, Beyond the Event Horizon in 2015 and released Pulsar, his first spoken word record in 2018. Ellerbe’s work is included in the 2020 anthology On the Verge: Poets of the Palisades III.
Newark native and Fairleigh Dickinson graduate DJ Doughboy provides the music for the evening’s show. He worked with many hip-hop stars including Queen Latifah, Joe Budden and The Refugee Camp (Lauryn Hill and Wycliffe Jean). Doughboy currently DJs for Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and the cable music channel Music Choice.
You can SEE Doug Doyle's entire interview with Taalam Acey here.
