The show subsequently toured both nationally and internationally.ĭef Poetry premiered on HBO in 2002 and the latest season to air (Season 6) premiered in February 2007. The show ran on Broadway until May 2003, and won a 2003 Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event. Directed by Stan Lathan, the show featured poets Beau Sia, Suheir Hammad, Staceyann Chin, Lemon, Mayda del Valle, Georgia Me, Black Ice, Poetri Smith, and Steve Coleman. In November 2002, a live stage production, Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam, opened on Broadway. ![]() Smith decries the intense commercialization of the poetry slam, and refers to Def Poetry as "an exploitive entertainment diminished the value and aesthetic of performance poetry." However, Marc Smith, the founder of the Poetry Slam movement, is more critical of the program. Not since Ntozake Shange's For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf has a poem like that been on the stage. It's a great, great moment, just as Def Poetry Jam on Broadway was a great moment, too. It gives him the back credentials for his hip-hop label, and at the same time he's magnanimous towards the art of poetry, giving us a place like that. ![]() My hat is off to Russell Simmons, who has found a way to get poems on HBO in a way that feeds his own business. In a 2005 interview, Bob Holman, who founded the Nuyorican Poets Cafe's poetry slam and appeared on Season 4 of the show, applauded Def Poetry, noting: What they really mean is, a rhythm of poetry that comes out of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, that came out of the slams. And to me, they don't mean black or Latino, or non-white. What they say about Def Poetry is that it wants to bring an urban feel. And, all of them, except the special guest stars, the celebrities, are writing slam poems and performing slam poems on Def Poetry, so to me, Def Poetry is still extremely slam-informed, and I think it will probably always be. And I think most people on Def Poetry have won slams or done well in slams. I'm probably the only person to be on there who hasn't slammed. It's true that I was on Def Poetry even though I've never slammed. In a 2005 interview, Hall was quoted as saying: Hall, have acknowledged slam's influence on the show. Even poets who are critical of the poetry slam, such as John S. Though technically not a poetry slam, Def Poetry has become heavily associated with the poetry slam movement, and utilizes many of poetry slam's best-known poets, including National Poetry Slam champions such as Beau Sia, Taylor Mali, Big Poppa E, Mayda del Valle, Mike Mcgee, Alix Olson and Rives, among others. It also featured poets, Saul Williams, J. The series included historical legendary poets such as The Last Poets, Nikki Giovanni, Amiri Baraka, and Sonya Sanchez. ![]() As with Def Comedy, Simmons appears at the end of every episode to thank the audience. Co-created by Bruce George, Danny Simmons, Deborah Pointer, Stan Lathan, and Russell Simmons, the show is a spin-off of the popular Def Comedy Jam which began airing on HBO in the 1990s. Performances also include special appearances by well-known actors and musicians, as well as occasional performances by Mos Def himself. The series features performances by established and up-and-coming spoken word poets. Russell Simmons presents Def Poetry, better known as simply Def Poetry Jam or Def Poetry, is a spoken word poetry television series hosted by Mos Def and airing on HBO between 20. American TV series or program Def Poetry Jam
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