How to Become a Spoken Word Artist

To become a spoken word artist, you will need something to say and an ear for the music hidden inside everyday language. Clear your mind and forget about looking cool for a moment. These are the facts on becoming a spoken word artist.

Instructions

Difficulty: Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• Pen
• Pencil
• Paper
• Word Processor
• Voice Recorder

1. Know what a spoken word artist is. A spoken word artist is a person who stands on a stage with nothing but his clothes and speaks musically. You do not have to be a specific race. You do not have to change your accent or dress a certain way. You do not have to talk about the same things other spoken word artists talk about. You only need to have something to say, a musical way of saying it, and your precious guts, to be a spoken word artist.
2. Think, feel, observe. Observe, feel, think. When you wake up in the morning, when you do whatever it is you do all day, when you go to bed, when you dream.
3. Participate in life. Just because you are a poet does not mean you should be a hermit. Get out there and get dirty. Try to accomplish something, and actually accomplish it, and also fail big. Every minute of every day, you are gathering material to become a spoken word artist.
4. Listen to spoken word artists you know and love. Analyze one poem by someone else until you have memorized it and could do a cover of it in a live setting.
5. Write. Try writing quickly, without pause, without premeditation. Then try writing slowly and methodically. Speak the words aloud to see how they feel in your mouth.
6. Write many disparate lines over time, and eventually try to compose a whole poem. A poem is just a string of words with a few rhymes and some conscious attention paid to the meter. If there is no steady beat to the poem, it must contain some polyrhythms. (I define polyrhythm as the "memory" or "ghost" of a steady beat.) Try to make the poem about one specific thing.
7. Practice speaking that poem. Commit it to memory no matter how difficult that seems. Allow yourself to fall in love with it. Many writers warn against loving your own writing right off the bat. I disagree. If you do not sometimes love your own writing, I defy you to give me one valid reason for writing at all.
8. Be critical of your writing. You should always try to improve.
9. Find a place to perform your one poem (or many poems, if you are prodigiously prolific). A poetry open mic night is the best place to start. If it costs a few bucks to get in, politely ask if performers get in free. Do not quibble with the doorman, the host, emcee, or anyone else. Be a good sport.
10. When it is your turn to go up and perform, you can either bring your written poem with you or you can do it from memory. Try it with paper the first time. Try it without paper the next time you perform.
11. If the audience likes your poem, you might be struck with a sickening, exciting realization: You need to write another poem for next week. At this point, you have already become a spoken word artist. Congratulations.
12. Now that you are a spoken word artist, teach someone else how to do it. Pass it on.

Tips & Warnings

• You can find open mic listings in the local newspapers and other venues. Talk to your friends and family if they know of any place you could perform locally.
• Try different open mic venues. One might be better than another, and you should not get overly comfortable with just one venue. Expand your behavior.
• Record yourself at home with a cheap mic and some basic musical backup and share it with your friends and family.
• If anyone ever offers to pay you for your services as a spoken word artist, great! Take the gig!
• If you talk about race issues, remember: white people should never say the n-word. You are not required to understand why; you just need to respect it.
• If you expect to get rich doing spoken word and marketing yourself like crazy, better stock up on the happy pills. You're in for an involuntary reality check.