The Poetry Society

KILLA KELA SHOWS HIS SUPPORT 
AT THE 
RISE LONDONWIDE YOUTH SLAM CHAMPIONSHIP 2007
SEMI-FINALS

Leading Light of the Music world Killa Kela has shown his support for the Rise Londonwide Youth Slam Championship 2007.

The GLA hosted two outstanding semi-finals this week where forty young people from all over London rapped, chanted, spat and sang with passion and intensity about what it means to be a young Londoner today.

What shone through from these performances was just how much all of the performers had grown and improved since the earlier heats thanks to the workshops and mentoring that they had been given from leading performance poets Joelle Taylor, Dorothea Smartt, Jay Bernard and Steve Tasane.

The raw talent of these young performers has been nurtured and built on through one to one workshops, assisting them with their timing, confidence, communication and overall performance. Sic Sense (above) a poly vocal group from Wanstead High School, who were mentored by Joelle Taylor, felt their perfomance had become more co-ordinated, confident and well-timed. Steve Tasane had helped Teon Blake (below) with his delivery and emphasis as he directly challenged the audience about… and Jamal Msebele (below) felt that Dorothea Smartt had helped to make his performance much more dynamic as he learnt to punctuate his startling words with dramatic actions that mirrored the violence of the crimes he spoke about.

In fact all the performers agreed that this mentoring experience had not only improved their confidence in their performances but also in general day to day decisions. This was encouraged by Killa Kela, the multi-vocalist one-man orchestra and master of beatboxing who has stunned audiences all over the world, who, as well as giving messages of encouragement and belief, has offered the overall winner of the 2007 Rise londonwide Youth Slam Championship a day in his studio to record with him.

Don't take our word for it - hear it for yourself!

Here are the poems by all the artists who made it through to the final showcase

Danielle Miller - Independent Artist

South East Saints - Eltham Technology College

Kane Marcell & Ben Tulloch-Long - Ernest Bevin College

Fahri Frances Tudor - Independent Artist

Tom Donovan - Independent Artist

Chinedum Nwokonkor - Independent Artist

Ricardo de Costa and Ambrose Yenge - Park View Academy

Positive Life - Kori Arts Club

Teon Blake - Independent Artist

Jamal Msebele - Independent Artist

Crescendo - Greenford High School

Daze Osuide - Skinners School

Sic Sense - Wanstead High School

Jermaine Smith and Blaire Barrett - Kingsmead School

Muazzin Aziz, Joseph John Baptiste, Navide Sheikh & Jabedul Islam - Oaklands School

Eleanor Jackson - Wanstead High School

These sixteen acts were chosen by a panel of professional judges to go on to the final which will be held at the Rise Festival in Finsbury Park on Sunday 15 July 2007.

We also interviewed a few poets about their lives, their poetry, their experiences of working with professional poets during the slam and their views on gun crime...

George Ttoouli talks to Jamal Msebele about being a young poet and MC

George Ttoouli interviews Bianca Terry and Hollie Johnson about their love of poetry and rap

And we interviewed some of the mentors who guided these rising stars through the slam...

Joelle Taylor with Tom 'The Don' Donovan, on the roof of the Poetry Society

Steve Tasane talks to George Ttoouli about masterclass training, performance skills, tips for teachers and slammers alike...

Make sure you perform in your school assembly or to your youth group while you're rehearsing. It might be the biggest crowd you'll play to outside of rise, so it's the best preparation you can get before you get up in front of the live audience at the heats.