“Rhyme & Reason: A Hip-Hop and Spoken Word Showcase” will bring together two distinctive poetry communities Wednesday night at The Library at Northgate.
Co-host Joseph Coleman, a Baton Rouge producer and organizer, has been operating under the name Creative C.A.M.P. — “Connecting Arts Music and Poetry” — for a year.
Coleman organizes a monthly event called Champion Sound out of Club Culture on Oklahoma Street, which he described as a mixture of instrumental battles between local producers and an open mic night for up-and-coming emcees. Champion Sound also features an artist from the Baton Rouge and New Orleans area every month.
“I’m just a facilitator for the events I host. … The goal is to give everyone an outlet to express themselves and put something together for the Baton Rouge hip-hop community, which is growing every day,” Coleman said.
Coleman said he looks up to local spoken word poet and organizer Donney Rose, who took him under his wing almost two years ago.
Rose, Coleman’s co-host, has been going by the name Soul by Demand since 2005, a name he says explains his motivation.
“There’s a demand of events that encompass a lot of creativity and energy … something that you feel good about coming to,” he said.
Rose, who has been writing for 14 years, said he started while studying marketing at Southern University. Without any formal education in poetry, he perfected his craft through participating in the local scene.
Among other spoken word events, like writing workshops, open mic nights and poetry slams, Rose hosts weekly spoken word events called “Soul’d Out Sundays,” at Gathering Bohemia on Government Street.
The connecting thread between the hip-hop and spoken word communities, Rose said, allows Coleman and him to merge old and young audiences and better serve the community at large.
“It seems like a natural union, seeing as emcees and spoken word artists have many similarities when it comes to performances. I love the idea, and I can’t wait to see it go down,” performer Travis Pickett said of the event.
Pickett is using the event as a comeback from a three-year hiatus from writing and performing. Pickett has been writing since 2008, and a burst of creativity at the beginning of the year proved he is ready to delve into the spoken word scene once more.
He said spoken word and hip-hop performers share wordplay techniques like alliteration and onomatopoeia. Pickett said he would call both emcees and spoken word artists poets.
“Rhyme & Reason: A Hip-Hop and Spoken Word Showcase” is the first event of its kind, and it starts at 9 p.m. Wednesday. Admission is $7.
“Rhyme & Reason: A Hip Hop and Spoken Word Showcase”
Where: The Library @ Northgate
When: March 27, 9.pm.
Admission: $7
