Taken Hostage by Street Poet Monte Smith

Whether it be watching him perform live, listening to him do an interview on the radio, talking to him over the phone or just reading his poetry or writings...street poet Monte Smith takes you hostage.

Though Smith may be the number one common name in the US, Monte Smith is the furthest thing from being common. He is an extraordinary talent as well as an exceptional human being and an indispensable force within the struggle. That, is to say the least.

I met Monte Smith face to face for the first time on Saturday February 11, 2006 in downtown Greensboro, North Carolina at the Carolina Theatre, 310 South Greene Street. The location where the biggest poetry slam in the world was taking place. The Red Bull Word Clash. Now I knew of Monte already. I had dealt with him over the phone before that evening in Greensboro but it was that night that we were formally introduced by a mutual friend. Everything I knew about Monte Smith, everything I had heard and read about him did not prepare me for this encounter.

After a brief introduction Monte moved on, but I watched him as he handled his business as organizer and host for the evenings event. I remember clearly at one point him speaking to a line up of poets as if he were a general talking to his troops before going to battle. He warned the poets of the dangers they would encounter if they attempted to bring anything less than raw uncensored revolutionary calls to war to the stage. He was fired up and taking no prisoners this evening.

There was a lot of great talent on the stage that night without a doubt but for me personally they were bullets to the bomb that Mr. Smith dropped at the events opening. I was literally blown away as he detonated, spraying words like shrapnel at the crowd with a piece he calls, "The Art Of Killing Children". Mother f#@kers want to talk about keeping it real? Let me tell you, this brotha not only kept it real, he is the real deal through and through. He was raw and uncut like Columbian fishscale. At that moment in time I was a fiend for knowledge, wisdom, and for truth and justice. I was a fiend for action and Monte Smith was the fix that cured me.

After the event was over, we got to chill and build some before the after hours party. We exchanged information and have kept in contact ever since. I have had the opportunity to chill with Monte a number of times and even had the honor to open up for him at the Arts Garage in Philadelphia in 2008. I recently purchased a hard copy of his latest book "Don't Shoot The Hostage" (Poetry And Social Commentary For The New World Survivalist). I was blown away yet again. I decided to reach out to Monte and asked if he would be willing to do an interview and here we are.
Ladies and gentlemen...I bring to you the one whose poems according to INSOMNIAC MAGAZINE "read like testimonies of a person going through detox! You feel the extreme pain crawling inside, like worms trying to eat through your rib cage." The one described as "a fire-brand... a true revolutionary, I mean raw!" by Bruce George, co-creator of HBO'S Def Poetry Jam. The one promoters fear, yet the one the revolution reveres and loves, Street Poet Monte Smith.

Q. Let's start it off like this. Who is Monte Smith?

A. I'm an internationally acclaimed street poet, community based educator, Hip-Hop journalist and anti-racism activist. I am also the creator and producer of the now defunct Red Bull Word Clash. In the four years I produced it (2004-2007) it became the largest street poetry competition in the world. A documentary about the Word Clash won the Audience Award at the 2006 NYC Independent Film Festival.

I was an activist years before I thought of myself as a poet. When I was younger I wrote anti-racist literature for organizations such as A.R.A (Anti-Racist Action) and S.H.A.R.P. (Skin Heads Against Racial Prejudice). While most kids were playing football and watching cartoons I was out protesting Klan marches.

Please take note -- real skin heads are not Nazis, racist or anti-semitic. The first skin heads were born when Jamaican rude boys and Mods in the UK fused socially under the banners of multi-culturalism and Ska/Reggae music. Know "our-story" not "his-story"!

My poetry has been reviewed in Elemental and Insomniac Magazines, and has been featured on Guerrilla Underground.com and DefPoetryJam.com. I've been interviewed by NPR, Amnesty International and the Source Magazine. To view my full press kit please visit www.streetpoetmontesmith.com

Q. I know you have a background in Hip-Hop. Can you take us from where Hip-Hop started for you, and where it turned into what you do now with the poetry?

A. I started listing to rap (pre Hip-Hop & the mind state of Four Elements) in the early eighties. Then in the early nineties I started writing for Hip-Hop publications such as Urb, Subculture and Headz
Magazines. Around the same time some friends and I created the award-winning Hip-Hop collective Third World Citizens, which went on to spawn the careers of DJs Faust, Craze and Klever. I was always writing rhymes and freestyling, and due to my efforts in fighting racism with S.H.A.R.P and A.R.A, I've always approached writing with a militant mind state. Street poetry was just a natural progression.

Q. Hip-Hop, 4 or 5 elements?

A. 4

Q. Favorite Hip-Hop artist?

A. KRS-ONE. I believe his album Sex & Violence is the most intelligent Hip-Hop record ever made.

Q. I see you advocate for J-Dee of Da Lench Mob who is serving 29 to life. Can you tell us a little about that?

A. To make a long story of injustice short, J-Dee is serving a life sentence for not snitching on his homeboy. The details in the case are very clear. The police interviewed J-Dee about a murder his friend committed; J-Dee would not cooperate with the investigation. So J-Dee was hit with conspiracy, then life. To read more about J-Dee and his struggle please visit: http://www.myspace.com/freejdee. Please write him and show your solidarity. Address all mail to:

Mr. D. Cooper # J52728
CMC - E RM. 3201
PO BOX 8101
San Luis Obispo CA, 93409

I'm sure some people can't believe or don't believe the judicial system could do this. I also believe these same people don't realize how close they are to jail. Especially with the current economic factors, a lot of people who have never had to do without now may be finding themselves doing desperate things just to keep food on the table. I call it, "How the rest of us live!" People of privilege have no clue that you can go to jail for six months and end up doing life. S#@t happens. Someone tries to rape you or beat you down and in the process of protecting yourself, the other guy ends up dead. Now six months has just become Life.

Q. Rapper Cool-C is sitting on PA's death row. What's your take on the death penalty?

A. I believe Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking said it best: "Government...can't be trusted to control its own bureaucrats or collect taxes equitably or fill a pothole, much less decide which of its citizens to kill."

Amerikkka is the only industrialized nation in the world that still enforces the death penalty. And as you will soon read, no one is safe until it is abolished. Under the right circumstances anyone (especially minorities and the poor) can find themselves downtown on the wrong side of a 4:00am line up. And to prove this, since 1973 one hundred and thirty nine people have been released from death row due to...(drumroll)...new evidence which has proved them innocent. For more info on their names and cases please visit the Death Penalty Information Center: http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/innocence-list-those-freed-death-row.

Q. How do you feel about the present state of Hip-Hop?

A. I'll let my new poem "Kill The Art" answer that.

I believe in creating poetry and music from the heart, f#@k the charts but pop culture ain't that smart, it just wants to...KILL THE ART!

That's why promoters are afraid to put me on, cause if they do they may lose their sponsors.
I said promoters are afraid to put me on the bill because they know I don't give a f#@k how the mainstream feels and for that, they've labeled me a monster. I'll tell radio, press and any crowd to their face, I'm here to expand your mind socially not reflect BET, MTV and popular radio with the non-creative, anti-intellectual, anti-human, thought process they embrace.

I'm tired of corporate radio bred sheep catching name and doing tours, you know, supportin' Babylon, killin' the message and fu@#ing the poor, but that's what the consumer is told to want - right? And even though sheep may be sheep, what about the fact the album sucked and the show wasn't tight, or what about the fact that most acts today, are no talent hacks who pay to play? I believe in creating poetry and music from the heart, f#@k the charts but pop culture ain't that smart, it just wants to...KILL THE ART!

The days of "being on point" are over; the non-haters security commissions are armed with payola, labels and 'Lacs with suicide doors, they're known to attack at night blasting corporate slaughter at the poor. The systematic effects of FM are creating mental defects within the youth so they can't hate, I mean think for themselves when they download or walk into a music store. The corporations have created a market of bought clowns, who trade art for checks, now, the only way to get on, is to be marketable, Uncle Tom'ish and do a lil' jig, only THEN, will the majors let you in, that's why people freak if you critique, it's so bad, you can't even speak of the days when music was about talent and passion in public. Seriously, that type of talk will leave you with your spirit bashed in and quite possibly, your head and stomach.

I believe in creating poetry and music from the heart, f#@k the charts but pop culture ain't that smart, it just wants to... Stop killing the art then justifying it by claiming babies and home: 'I got seeds to feed son!' Well then get a job, don't kill the music, now everybody thinks they can do it, turn on the radio... I'll prove it!

Let's stop kidding ourselves; black people in the United States of Advertising have never had their own pop category when it comes to radio formatting. That's why everything you hear is labeled Hip-Hop or R&B, when in fact 90% percent of what you hear on Power, JAMZ or KISS radio is pop music. When you hear Lil Wayne, Souljah Boy or Kanye, you need to think corporate pop formula, not Hip-Hop. When you hear Jeremih, Beyonce, or Keyshia Cole, you should think corporate pop formula, not R&B!

Q. Do you think spoken word should be considered one of the elements of Hip-Hop? I'm saying considering that the Last Poets have been cited as one of the earliest influences on what would become Hip-Hop music; critic Jason Ankeny went as far as stating, "With their (The Last Poets) politically charged raps, taut rhythms, and dedication to raising African-American consciousness, they almost single-handily laid the groundwork for the emergence of Hip-Hop". Let's not forget that nowadays, a lot of rappers spit a capellas. Thoughts on all this?

A. No.

I agree street poetry helped define the "rap" in rappin' but on the subject of spoken word being
the fifth element...I see spoken word and rappin'/rhymin' as two different mediums, or two different branches on the same tree. And as far as rappers spitting a capellas, it's always been popular and important for emcees to put out a capellas on wax (now mp3s) so DJs can use them for blends and remixes.

Q. Can you name 5 people who have influenced you as a man and as an artist?

A. Man: My father, my mother, Alva Hartly, Chuck Fowler and Alex Hawkins (RIP)

Artist: Jack Abbot, Chuck D, Bill Hicks, John Coltrane, Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

Q. You recently worked with Chuck D., or Chuck recorded one of your written pieces, right? Who else would you like to work with in the future?

A. Chuck D recorded my poem "The Deal Is Done" for the audio version of The Bandana Republic: A Literary Anthology of Gang Members & Their Affiliates (Soft Skull Press). I would love to work with Herbie Hancock. The score he produced for Sam Greenlee's The Spook Who Sat By The Door was genius. I would also like to work with Gil Scott Heron and Ras Kass.

Q. Favorite poet?

A. Gil Scott Heron

Q. Favorite revolutionary?

A. Robert F. Williams

Q. Do you think change is possible in the USA without bloodshed?

A. No, a class war is the only way to get truly even. But I'm afraid the change we're so desperately seeking will always be delayed due to the plastic comfort zone poor people have created for themselves. It's easier to slave then risk the unknown.

Q. Capitalism, socialism, communism, anarchy or none of the following?

A. Sorry, none of the above. Throughout some point in time all of these 'ism's or systems you've mentioned have been used or is being used and we're still living in a primitive state. And I say
this because we still can't feed, house and clothe the poor of the world, so what is that really saying? Those who have are starving and killing those who don't have or can't contribute -- it's called population control. We don't need to create or name another useless system that's going
to pussyfoot around this knowledge. We need to be asking what we can do to combat it.

Q. What do you wish to accomplish with your art? With you life's work, what would you like see manifest?

A. I want my art to be a weapon in the war on poverty. I want my words to inspire poor people to action, internally and socially. As far as my life's work, I just hope my words continue to inspire and remind people that love, truth and solidarity is the only way to upset the setup!

Q. You turned me on to Bill Hicks...words on Bill?

A. I believe he's the only critical thinker/comedian that surpassed the genius of Richard Pryor.

Q. Have any advice for the young ones coming up that may read this Monte?

A. Turn off the PS3, TV and the radio (especially the radio) and pick up a book. Preferably Don't Shoot The Hostages: Poetry And Social Commentary For The New World Survivalist. Sadly reading is becoming a lost art. The resistance will need future writers, scholars and educators. I'm constantly wondering after talking with the youth where our future voices and leaders are coming from.

Q. The Black Panthers once said that art is an indispensable weapon in revolution. Do you agree? If so can you elaborate?

A. Yes, because the spirit of struggle can be transferred into song and poem and in return, spark people to action. I don't know about you but music and poetry moves me in a way nothing else can. Then add a social message or a "call to action" on top...s#@t, that's a powder keg! For example, the first time I heard Ice T rhyme, "Slavery has been abolished except for the convicted felon!" I was blown away. Hearing that one rhyme motivated me to educate myself on the law and how it works differently for those with and without privilege. So in the process what did Ice T really do? He not only shared knowledge that became power for me but most importantly, he created another weapon, or in the eyes of the system, another threat.

Q. You are very well known for the Red Bull Word Clash, will there ever be such an event again?

A. I hope so... it's hard to get companies and people with money to sponsor events that openly discuss white guilt, police brutality, the prison industrial complex, the death penalty, racism, sexism, reparations, multi-death corporations, class war, etc.

Q. Now I know you just dropped a book Don't Shoot The Hostages: Poetry And Social Commentary For The New World Survivalist but you have another High Protein Tongue Arrangements: Poetry for the Urban Survivalists correct?

A. Yes, High Protein Tongue Arrangements: Poetry for the Urban Survivalist was self published and released in 2005. I sold out of two runs, eventually selling more than 5,000 copies. Currently it's out of print.

Q. Can you tell everybody where they can get their hands on these weapons of mass instruction.

A. Don't Shoot The Hostages: Poetry And Social Commentary For The New World Survivalist is available at www.streetpoetmontesmith.com. The paperback is $12.00 plus S&H or you can purchase an E Book for $5.00.

Q. What can we expect from Monte Smith in the next year?

A. In 2010 it's all about finding a publishing house with the guts to put out Don't Shoot The Hostages: Poetry And Social Commentary For The New World Survivalist.

Right now people can go to www.streetpoetmontesmith.com and download the following for free:

Monte Smith vs. DJ Premier, In the Raw with Monte Smith vol. 1 featuring Bro Earl, Celena Glenn, Malcom X, Mumia and more, In the Raw with Monte Smith vol. 2 featuring Adam Corwin, Mad Rabbi, Billie Holiday and more.

I also have a poem titled "Talk The Talk" being released on Awkword's World View Project, the world's first 100% non-profit global Hip-Hop project. For more info please visit: http://awkwordrap.com

Q. Monte, I am a big fan and a comrade for life you know it. I wish you the best in all you do. You have any closing words for the people? Shout outs?

A. Why is the sound of rebellion seldom heard? Because our silence is too loud!

Shout outs to: Black Betty, Andrew Davis, U.G.C. (Atlanta Stand Up!), A.I.M., Speaker Head, Sam Greenlee, Capital X, the Mad Rabbi, dhamlett.com, Caktuz 13?, J-Dee, T La Rock, Awkword and The World View Project, DJ Perfection and Mark Armstrong.