Louder Than A Bomb: The Badass Poets
Poetry slam! Slam Poetry! Whatever you wanna call it! It’s an upgrade from Shakespeare-fans
trying to emulate the old masters and a step below rap-inspired young buhls trying to release
their first track.
If you're not familiar, poetry slams are just dramatic recitals of poems judged by an array of
judges or audience members who have their own experience in the industry.
A Chicago-original poetry festival called “Louder Than A Bomb” starting bringing Slam
poetry to the entertainment industry by storm. Now I’m aware this festival started in
2001 so before any comments and tells me I wrote this review a good 18 years too late,
well not my fault because I was 3 years old at the time…
Anyway, “Louder Than A Bomb”; even that name sounds like an epic festival where loud
bald bearded guys brag about the weapon grade of their assault rifles and trying to
arm-wrestle about it. That’s not what it is but I’m just trying to say that it sounds badass.
And that’s because it is, because poetry is not to be underestimate as well, and don’t let
anybody tell you differently! Shakespeare is the most influential writer in all of history, the
poet Lord Byron fought off the Ottoman empire, T.S. Eliot won a nobel prize, and I haven’t
even mentioned the greatest poet of them all - Dante Alighieri who damned 3 different popes
to hell, declared himself a holy apostle, started his own revolutionary faction in Italy, and
was exiled from Florence for being too badass. Don’t underestimate poets.
I know Slam Poetry kinda became a joke when Jonah Hill got up and let us know Cynthia
was dead in “22 Jump Street”, but it’s not a joke really, since people take it to heart as
any musician would with their respective musical talents and as any author would with
their respective writing capabilities. Imagine the allure of rap battle culture in tandem
with the literary geekdom of bookworms. It’s that subtle mix of music and literature
combined with the emotion of the poet behind the spoken words. That’s what makes these
festivals popular, and I believe that is eventually why festivals like “Louder Than A Bomb”
are due for greater fame ahead.
There’s a really well-made documentary on the festival that was introduced to me at one of
my college classes and is actually what inspired me to write this review in the first place,
because not only is the documentary incredibly well done, but it’s also incredibly
emotional, considering how the film highlights the lives of the different contestants
(who are high-schoolers by the way!) which leads to the inspiration behind the poems
they perform. You should give it a chance, you might not even be inspired to write poems
but just be inspired to pursue your dreams in general. It was that kind of story.
The documentary included a memorable insider look at contenders like The Steinmenauts,
which featured powerful, heavy performances from several black poets hungry for a chance at
victory. A powerful quartet mixing singing and slam together in a piece about violence and
young black kids losing their lives early due to crime and bad upbringings, as well as
individual pieces drawing out the souls of common people who feel the pressure and added
weight of having the odds stacked against you.
Nova Venerable who had the most emotional story surrounding her individual performances
which centered around her younger brother who has autism, she gladly takes care of and fears that in
trying to pursue her college education and career that she may not be able to take care of him
like she used to. Her Alicia Keys-like appearance and Emi Mahmoud-style of delivery was able
to provide a heart-breakingly passionate series of poems.
And of course, the likeable underdog and charismatic personality in Adam Gottlieb with the
incredible pieces on finding inspiration, what it means to mature into a poet, and what it means
to understand your origins as he comes from a Jewish background and understands the context
behind the upbringings of a minority, which had been a theme throughout the documentary.
LTAB went on to host poets like Lamar Jorden, the Parkland Poets, and Nate Marshall. And by
simply watching the LTAB documentary, you become immersed in the world of slam poetry and
to performers like Shane Koyczan, who performed on TEDTalk, and Emi Mahmoud, who
performed before the UN and United States President Obama. There's an untapped world of
poetry out there and is teething with life and bombastic new arts that bring the deepest, toughest
messages out of the soul of the poet and into the spoken, recorded word, in order to both share a
story as well as call out society. Love, heartbreak, bullying, acceptance, family, disease, minorities,
every possible emotion. It's something to behold.
Robert Ebert from the Chicago Sun-Times reviewed the documentary saying it's "inspiring and
electrifying. Here are real performers with real feelings and important things to say."
However hard to discover slam poets may be, once you find them, you've already been caught,
mesmerized by the talent, but captured by the message.
trying to emulate the old masters and a step below rap-inspired young buhls trying to release
their first track.
If you're not familiar, poetry slams are just dramatic recitals of poems judged by an array of
judges or audience members who have their own experience in the industry.
A Chicago-original poetry festival called “Louder Than A Bomb” starting bringing Slam
poetry to the entertainment industry by storm. Now I’m aware this festival started in
2001 so before any comments and tells me I wrote this review a good 18 years too late,
well not my fault because I was 3 years old at the time…
Anyway, “Louder Than A Bomb”; even that name sounds like an epic festival where loud
bald bearded guys brag about the weapon grade of their assault rifles and trying to
arm-wrestle about it. That’s not what it is but I’m just trying to say that it sounds badass.
And that’s because it is, because poetry is not to be underestimate as well, and don’t let
anybody tell you differently! Shakespeare is the most influential writer in all of history, the
poet Lord Byron fought off the Ottoman empire, T.S. Eliot won a nobel prize, and I haven’t
even mentioned the greatest poet of them all - Dante Alighieri who damned 3 different popes
to hell, declared himself a holy apostle, started his own revolutionary faction in Italy, and
was exiled from Florence for being too badass. Don’t underestimate poets.
I know Slam Poetry kinda became a joke when Jonah Hill got up and let us know Cynthia
was dead in “22 Jump Street”, but it’s not a joke really, since people take it to heart as
any musician would with their respective musical talents and as any author would with
their respective writing capabilities. Imagine the allure of rap battle culture in tandem
with the literary geekdom of bookworms. It’s that subtle mix of music and literature
combined with the emotion of the poet behind the spoken words. That’s what makes these
festivals popular, and I believe that is eventually why festivals like “Louder Than A Bomb”
are due for greater fame ahead.
There’s a really well-made documentary on the festival that was introduced to me at one of
my college classes and is actually what inspired me to write this review in the first place,
because not only is the documentary incredibly well done, but it’s also incredibly
emotional, considering how the film highlights the lives of the different contestants
(who are high-schoolers by the way!) which leads to the inspiration behind the poems
they perform. You should give it a chance, you might not even be inspired to write poems
but just be inspired to pursue your dreams in general. It was that kind of story.
The documentary included a memorable insider look at contenders like The Steinmenauts,
which featured powerful, heavy performances from several black poets hungry for a chance at
victory. A powerful quartet mixing singing and slam together in a piece about violence and
young black kids losing their lives early due to crime and bad upbringings, as well as
individual pieces drawing out the souls of common people who feel the pressure and added
weight of having the odds stacked against you.
Nova Venerable who had the most emotional story surrounding her individual performances
which centered around her younger brother who has autism, she gladly takes care of and fears that in
trying to pursue her college education and career that she may not be able to take care of him
like she used to. Her Alicia Keys-like appearance and Emi Mahmoud-style of delivery was able
to provide a heart-breakingly passionate series of poems.
And of course, the likeable underdog and charismatic personality in Adam Gottlieb with the
incredible pieces on finding inspiration, what it means to mature into a poet, and what it means
to understand your origins as he comes from a Jewish background and understands the context
behind the upbringings of a minority, which had been a theme throughout the documentary.
LTAB went on to host poets like Lamar Jorden, the Parkland Poets, and Nate Marshall. And by
simply watching the LTAB documentary, you become immersed in the world of slam poetry and
to performers like Shane Koyczan, who performed on TEDTalk, and Emi Mahmoud, who
performed before the UN and United States President Obama. There's an untapped world of
poetry out there and is teething with life and bombastic new arts that bring the deepest, toughest
messages out of the soul of the poet and into the spoken, recorded word, in order to both share a
story as well as call out society. Love, heartbreak, bullying, acceptance, family, disease, minorities,
every possible emotion. It's something to behold.
Robert Ebert from the Chicago Sun-Times reviewed the documentary saying it's "inspiring and
electrifying. Here are real performers with real feelings and important things to say."
However hard to discover slam poets may be, once you find them, you've already been caught,
mesmerized by the talent, but captured by the message.
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