A duo that has taken the spoken word and poetry community by storm is performing at The Tiger Den tonight at 8 p.m.
The Student Activities Committee is sponsoring a poetry slam with Steve Connell and Sekou (tha misfit).
"We wanted them to come to The University of Memphis because we knew that they could bring a diverse crowd," said SAC entertainment chairperson Brittany Crume. "Their show is great because they are such different performers."
Connell and Sekou have been performing at colleges across the United States this year, but their love for spoken word and poetry began long before they began receiving popularity.
"Pretty much since I was able to say 'mama,' I was hooked," Sekou said.
They each have won several poetry slam competitions separately and won the National Poetry Slam Championship together with their team from Los Angeles in 2003.
"Through all of our work, our goal has been to get the spoken word industry out there in the main stream," Sekou said. "We want people to walk away from one of our shows thinking 'wow, if this is poetry, then I do like it.'"
Earlier this year they participated in the prestigious Ojai Playwrights Conference in which they unveiled their new play called The Word Begins.
Sekou's latest album Afrodeezyackz / The Mumblings of a Madman, a double CD of spoken word, has earned him awards including Best Spoken Word Album, Best Hip-Hop Album and Best Producer from Just Plain Folks, the largest music organization in the nation.
Connell's first album is called The Intimate Nature of Knife Fights. His work has been published in an anthology on America called Why Freedom Matters. He pulls inspiration from all sorts of artists.
"My favorite poets are Tupac Shakur, Langston Hughes, Bill Cosby, Mos Def, Maya Angelou, Shakespeare, Richard Pryor and the list goes on," Connell said. "I consider all of these artists because they all have a skill - whether it be writing or performing with words - that I admire."
They both have been featured on "ABC World News," "Good Morning America," MSNBC's "Hardball," HBO's "Def Poetry," Oprah Winfrey's celebration of Maya Angelou's 75th birthday, several national commercial spots and two national spoken word tours.
One of their tours was "Declare Yourself" - the voting initiative founded by TV/Filmmaker Norman Lear, which traveled with an original print of the Declaration of Independence and registered over 1 million new voters.
Sekou wants anyone who thinks of poetry as "a bunch of dead guys that you can't relate to" or "a coffee house full of beatniks contemplating suicide" to come to the show.
"Throw all of your preconceived notions about poetry out the window because we will change your mind," he said. "If you like any of the artists that Steve (Connell) mentioned, then you will love our show."
