Spoken word poetry is the latest trend taking over London right now. When I say trend, I don’t mean a small fad, or phase (like owling for instance?!) that’s hitting up Twitter’s trending topics right now, but in about 4 hours it’ll be peeing everyone off and in the words of Hov, we’ll be on to the next one. Describing spoken word poetry as a trend, I mean that if you’re not on it, into it, watching it or hearing it – not only are you losing out on an enchanting, edutaining, creative and artistic form of entertainment, but you’ll be kicking yourself in a few months time as the pioneers of the performance poetry scene start to take the world by storm.

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One of these pioneers is a young man from London by the name of James Massiah. Spine TV hooked up with the poet last month for the 20th issue of their Stolen Moments feature. Set in a picturesque, outdoors setting James speaks on a both common and controversial subject, in a rather surprising fashion, I won’t ruin it for you as I want you guys to be both equally surprised and inspired.

I really enjoyed this poem and will definitely be looking out for some more James Massiah material in the future! I found the structure of his lyrics complex, yet comprehensive, his rhymes witty, intelligent and easily-identifiable to London life, his style and tone is eloquent and enjoyable to listen to. If you enjoyed this piece like me, James Massiah will be holding his 4th performance poetry and live music event: ‘The Poet & The Beat IV’ on the 25th August at the Concrete venue on Shoreditch High Street. The evening will feature performances from everyone’s favourite rapper Mikill Pane, United Vibrations, James Massiah himself and legend on the poetry circuit, Deanna Rodger. Entry is £5 and there is also an after party hosted by the Work It family. If this sounds like you cup of tea, head over to the Facebook event page to check it out!