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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, August 20, 2002 – Minneapolis, MN

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HBO Def Poet Sekou (tha misfit) is crowned the Individual Champion of the 2002 National Poetry Slam!

Los Angeles based spoken word poet Sekou (tha misfit) returns from the 2002 National Poetry Slam Competition (held this year in Minneapolis) as the number one ranking slam poet in the nation. Following the airing of his recent spoken word performances on the BET’s “The Way We Do It” and the critically acclaimed HBO series “Def Poetry” this local poet can now add the title National Slam Champion to his credits, bringing a collective sense of pride to the L.A. and Southern California poetry scene.

Sekou’s art is the manifestation of the inevitable marriage between hip-hop and poetry. A graduate of the prestigious Claremont College system, just two months ago Sekou (tha misfit) was a 5th grade elementary school teacher in South Central Los Angeles. He had been performing heavily on the hip-hop and spoken word scene for over a decade. He has already released two critically acclaimed, independent hip-hop CDs, as well as “Seven: A Kwanzaa Soundtrack” - an award-winning holiday compilation CD celebrating the popular African-American holiday Kwanzaa. Now a full-time performer and recording artist, Sekou (tha misfit) has just released a new, spoken word double CD. Side 1: “Afrodeezyackz” is an intense journey through relationships, passionately touching on all dynamics from love to pain to erotica; and Side 2: “The Mumblings of a Madman” is an emotional, spiritual, and often dark yet inspirational tour through the multiple perspectives of life, struggle, and triumph that he affectionately calls “the sanitarium.”

The National Poetry Slam, a world-renowned performance poetry competition, was created in 1986 by Marc Smith. (http://www.poetryslam.com/ ) After 8 months of cut-throat qualifying competitions, 55 teams of 4 poets each emerge from official slam venues across the country. Sekou (tha misfit) attended this year’s National Competition as a member of Team Hollywood. His scores were so high in his team bouts that he qualified for the individual semi-final competition, which is comprised of the ten top scoring individual poets out of 250 poets from across the nation. Sekou took first place at the semi-finals and went on to dominate the final competition in an exciting and moving bout before a crowd of thousands at the historic Orpheum Theater in downtown Minneapolis. (http://www.startribune.com/stories/389/3173145.html )

Now that Sekou (tha misfit) has conquered the National Poetry Slam, he is preparing for college shows across the country as well the “Underground Poets Railroad” - a national poetry tour and documentary produced by acclaimed directors Kip and Kern Konwiser. Sekou will be headlining alongside other talented poets, benefiting the families of the Black firefighters who lost their lives on September 11, 2001. The tour follows the Underground Railroad, stopping for community performances at firehouses and safe houses, and culminating in New York for a final performance at the Knitting Factory on September 11, 2002.
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Congrats Sekou! That's a great follow up to your HBO appearance! Looks like going full time with your music and poetry was a good move! I bet your former 3rd Grade School students are cheering you on?

Keep kicking butt!

Brian

thanks brian.
(and actually it was 5th grade)
thanks for the support, and for repping me to tha fullest about HBO! i just read the discussion and was cracking up! very funny.
it's so interesting how quick people are to chastise under the pretense of some self -proclaimed notion of expertise. (until somebody doesn't get or appreciate THEIR work) but hey, it's poetry. most people are powerfully moved by that piece, but if it only got good comments i'd be scared. cause, to me ,the best work invokes a spectrum of emotions, interpretations and perspectives from listeners. i love that my work conjured up such discussion. if it didn't then it would probably be just lukewarm and then i'd be worried! regardless, i'm feeling very blessed right now. but i appreciate your defense and appreciation for the piece - the "delivery and content" as well as the message. be safe.
-kou