"If you have a voice, it needs to be heard," writes the slam poet Abyss. Abyss appears on HBO's "Russell Simmons presents Def Poetry," a late-night staple that spawned a Broadway show (the aptly named "Russell Simmons presents Def Poetry Jam on Broadway") currently on tour, hitting Chapel Hill tonight.
Def Poetry? Poetry Jam? Russell Simmons? What's it all about? Russell Simmons is co-founder of Def Jam Records, a hip-hop hit factory credited for mainstreaming hip-hop and rap. Seeking to diversify his interests and further disseminate and legitimize black culture, he partnered with HBO and in the 1990s produced "Russell Simmons presents Def Comedy Jam," a late-night series featuring then little-known black comedians such as Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence, Steve Harvey and Bernie Mac. Inspired by the series' success but looking for a more spiritual theme, Simmons tapped into the world of slam poetry, a fast evolving and involving art form embraced especially by minorities, and "Def Poetry Jam" was born.
Simmons says he created "Def Poetry Jam" to "give a voice to the voiceless." Those "voiceless" include minority poets and activists, but also poets in general--while slam poetry has a growing following, it also has limited venues and exposure. The phrase, however, is not entirely accurate, as the poets of "Def Poetry Jam" are hardly voiceless--they spit into their microphones and stare directly into their audiences. They speak about identity, racism, family and love with words popping out of their pages and off of their tongues.
Seth Weitberg ('03) recalled seeing "Def Poetry Jam" on HBO and feeling impressed at their open agendas. "When [they] make such strong choices, you have no choice but to respect that," he said. "People respond to the energy [the poets] are willing to commit on stage." Once "Def Poetry Jam" made it on HBO, it forced the question: if these poets could forge such an audience connection through television, a relatively impersonal medium, why not live, on stage? And not just in a coffeehouse, but a thousand-seat proscenium?
"Def Poetry Jam on Broadway," which in its abridged version comes tonight to Chapel Hill, went into production amidst heavy doubts. The show has no script, no plot and no actors--just a DJ (the tour has a musician), a bunch of poets and a microphone. When senior Jessica Fuller saw "Def Poetry Jam on Broadway" while on the Duke in New York program, her teacher warned that the show probably wouldn't be around that long because of its stark differences from other shows. "It wasn't big money or a big show, or going to speak to the typical Broadway audience--white and upper-middle-class." she said. Despite this, Fuller found the show to be incredible.
And audiences shared her sentiment. "Def Poetry Jam" on Broadway drew a far more diverse audience than a typical Broadway show and amazed the theater world by pulling a profit. Audience reaction was overwhelmingly positive' it won a Tony and tri-state residents practically had to wipe the enthusiastic spittle off its newspaper reviews. Fuller recalled, "I felt like the people were so responsive to the artists on stage. It wasn't the usual kind of polite clapping when people are finished--people were yelling... it was so cool that the performers had written the work and were obviously very invested in what they were performing." Out of the 40-odd performances she saw that semester, "Def Poetry Jam" was one of her favorites, "the most energizing and [the one that] stuck with me the longest."
As "Def Poetry's" notoriety expands, so has the Def Poetry brand. The show, featuring Stacyann Chin, Ishle Yi Park, Roger Bonair Agard and musician Doria Roberts, now tours the country and plays tonight in Hill Hall on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus.
Tickets can be purchased at the Carolina Union Box Office at (919) 962-1449. Watch and hear them slam it down.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.