An Interview with Spoken Word Recording Artist Taalam Acey

Taalam Acey is a rising poet who pays homage to literary greats such as Maya Angelou and Langston Hughes. But as a seasoned poet himself, Acey has a voice and sound that will inspire a new generation of poetry enthusiasts to take notice of his passion to educate and inform the masses on his views of politics, romance and spirituality, among other things.

Taalam Acey is an international spoken word recording artist who is educating minds while entertaining and uplifting the spirit, according to livepoets.com. As a poet myself, I've come to know of Taalam Acey through social networking. I have heard and seen his work on YouTube and MySpace, and being impressed I exchanged emails asking for an interview so that other poets and non poets alike could get a chance to know who Taalam Acey is.

In a lot of the promotional materials you use to promote your work, you use the word change a lot. What and where are you trying to cause change?

I'm trying to cause change in the minds of the oppressed. My job is to change lives by making people see their own potential and pointing out opportunities to improve themselves and their community.

Why do you feel there is a need for change?

Anyone who doesn't feel the need for change isn't paying attention. In these times of questionable wars, unconstitutional policies, unilateral foreign policy and economic downturn, the need for change could not be more obvious.

Do you feel that you are accomplishing what you want to accomplish with your poetry as a Spoken Word artist, and how do you define success?

Definitely. I am among the most successful Spoken Word artists of my generation. Still greater success is the type of status that Ms. Maya Angelou or Mr. Amiri Baraka have. It'll require many more years of hard work before I can see that. Frankly, my definition of success is Langston Hughes.

Who do you consider to be your target audience, and for the people who are unfamiliar with your work, how would you describe what it is you do and represent?

My audience comes from all walks of life. Different pieces reverberate with different groups. It's become hard to narrow my target to one demographic. I will say that it is generally the working class that I write for. My target market consists of truth seekers. I represent creative and interesting ways of speaking truth to power.

Do you feel that poetry has a place in the Entertainment industry to become a mass appeal and what kind of problems have you encountered with your career this far?

I think that when poetry is done right, nothing is more entertaining. It's the purest art form and requires neither accompaniment nor dance moves. It catches on as more and more people become exposed to it.

I've been extremely fortunate in that I haven't faced any insurmountable problems. They say, "the harder you work, the luckier you get." I keep my nose to the grindstone. There have always been plenty of shows and my products remain popular enough to keep me comfortable.

Do you feel that poetry has become a movement, and if so.. what kind of effect have you had on this movement?

It is certainly a movement and there are thousands of Spoken Word poets doing open mics, slams and/or showcases, all over the globe. I've traveled more frequently than perhaps anyone in my generation. I've been many people's introduction to Spoken Word. When I began making CDs in 1999, no one even considered that it could be a viable living. At that point, full time poets only came from our parents' generation. I played a part in inspiring a lot of people to pursue this lifestyle. It's also flattering that my poetry style has been imitated so often.

What kind of poetry do you do, and what would you tell someone who might be interested in buying your products but are not sure how your products could benefit them?

I do political, social, love, erotic, spiritual and any other kind of poetry I can think of. My products entertain, reinforce, educate and induce colors, textures and insight. In addition, they also tend to inspire.

When people say the name Taalam Acey, what is it that you want them to think about?

I want them to think about a gifted artist who works extremely hard on and off stage to add value to people's lives.

Has poetry brought you fame, and if so do you think it has or will compromise the integrity of your work the more demanding it has or will become?

I believe fame is when millions of people know exactly who you are. Maybe a million or so have seen me on television, but most still have only a vague sense of who I am. I believe that television and You Tube have made me popular, but not famous. As for compromising my integrity, there's no motivation for me to do that. Needy people make those moves. I'm already comfortable as is. All I'm about is being an increasingly better artist.