Browsing Tag

Spoken Word Poetry

Queen LaBelle played with fire in her boundary-transcending spoken-word hip-hop release, Risky Behaviour

Posted on 18 October 2023

Poetry may have been a dying artform before the release of Queen LaBelle’s LP, For the Kings and Queens Spoken Word; following the drop, you can consider the format viscerally reincarnated.

The standout single, Risky Behaviour, featuring bars from Jarren Benton which flow as smoothly as the conviction that bleeds from Nas’ verses, is the perfect introduction to Queen LaBelle’s wordplay which fuses to the exotic instrumentals and snappy hip-hop beats to deliver a striking blow of mesmerism with every spoken word declaration.

Throughout her artistic journey, Queen Labelle has performed alongside icons including Dr Cornel West, inspired courage in trauma survivors by sharing her own stories and providing positive healing affirmations, published collections of poetry, and, on this album, worked with Grammy Award-winning producers, including My Guy Mars (Snoop Dogg, Jay-Z, Nipsey). While some pioneers are worth following for their artistry alone, others inspire devotion through dedication to bettering an increasingly bitter world in the same creative breath. Consider LaBelle an icon of the latter camp.

Risky Behaviour was officially released on October 6; stream it on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

LÌONADH delivered poetry in orchestral motion in their single, European Man

Posted on 26 October 2022

Taken from the debut EP, I Cannot Go on Reaching, LÌONADH’s achingly artful lead single, European Man, consumed us with the emotion it was eloquently constructed through. The poet-fronted Glaswegian ensemble with a classical string section at their disposal may be fresh from their inception, but they are already garnering critical acclaim and causing catholic outcries.

Before the launch of their debut EP, the poet, Sean Lìonadh, shared his viral poem, Time for Love, which has amassed over 16 million streams, been published by BBC Scotland and driven the petulantly pious to frenzy by speaking for the LGBTQ+ community. Anyone that upsets the archaically moralistic applecart is instantly venerable in my book. There’s no taste quite like the salty tears of zealots.

As for the single, with the chill-imparting spoken word verses, around Nick Cave-Esque keys and operatic vocal grace, LÌONADH delivered pure art. If you thought that Arab Strap’s comeback album was something, delve into the hymnal sanctity of European Man.

European Man is now available to stream on Spotify and SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Sonorous spoken words unravel in Untold Poet’s acoustic ambient single ‘Have You Heard It’

Posted on 27 December 2020

Untold Poet has joined Scroobius Pip in the ranks of Essex-hailing mind-blowing spoken word Hip Hop artists with the release of their latest single ‘Have You Heard It’.

In the acoustic version of their popular track, the meditatively Jazzy instrumentals trickle away, emitting ambience as the Untold Poet’s canter finds perfect synergy with the tentative keys which aurally paint a picture of still-life. There’s always the assumption that successful people don’t know adversity. It is all so easy to believe that everything comes easy to those who take roadblocks in their stride. As the Untold Poet consolingly points out, the key is resilience.

Any fans of George the Poet, Argh Kid, Kae Tempest and The King Blues will undoubtedly want to get acquainted with Untold Poet sooner rather than later.

You can check out Have You Heard It for yourselves by heading over to SoundCloud now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast