Slam ~ going mainstream, going soft?

[bixaorellana]

CHICAGO — Slam poetry was invited into the White House last month and it is also the focus of the recent HBO documentary series “Brave New Voices.” So you might think that the originator of the poetry slam, a raucous live competition that is more likely to take place in a bar than in a bookstore, would be feeling rather pleased these days.

But from his base here at the Green Mill Cocktail Lounge, Marc Kelly Smith expresses mixed feelings about the growing popularity and respectability of the art form that he created almost 25 years ago. From the start, he envisioned slam poetry as a subversive, thumb-your-nose-at-authority movement, and he wants to ensure it stays true to those origins.

Read the full article, with several audio, visual, and related links here: www.nytimes.com/2009/06/03/books/03slam.html?th&emc=th

[Deleted]

Slam has gone mostly soft in France, just as rap did. That is a normal evolution. Think about how turbulent early rock music was and how tranquil most of it has become.

[tigronette]

Rap definitely hasn't gone soft in France, just look at how hard it is for any promoter to put on a 'grass roots' type rap concert or club night (people will mumble stuff about it attracting the wrong type of crowd which is ridiculous as there are lots of 30 or 40 something rap fans around nowadays, the music's been around since the 80s). Hip hop still scares a lot of people here.

Slam hasn't gone that respectable either. I was at the, ahem, national championships in Bobigny 2 months ago and what they have lost in street credibility, they have gained in political vehemence (sometimes detrimental to the artistic qualities it must be said).

[bixaorellana]

Aug 3, 2009 9:16:38 GMT tigronette said:

..... I was at the, ahem, national championships in Bobigny 2 months ago .....

Tigronette, can we infer from the "ahem" that you were a participant there?

I am impressed! Thanks for telling about this.

Several people on Any Port speak French, so they should enjoy some of these: www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Slam+Bobigny+2009&search_type=&aq=f.

Can you recommend some in particular?

[Deleted]

Tigronette, I agree that 'pure' slam has not gone soft, but look at who is making money -- Grand Corps Malade. His slam is warm and fuzzy and sentimental. Even when he performed at 'my' café, he stood out as being a gentle person, while most of the slammers were in a creative, tough rage.

[tigronette]

Nope, I do have an 'artistic' hobby (DJing, so there you go, the tiger is out of the bag), but I was at the slam stuff with my bf to support people from our local artsy café (Big up Belleville!). The 'ahem' was for the national championship tag as though the event, fun as it was, involved a few hundred latter day hippies who all knew each other anyway. As I said above, I do feel slam is less streetwise and more political nowadays which could be interpreted by some as going soft I guess.