What is "spoken word"?

“Spoken word is a form of literary art or artistic performance in which lyrics, poetry, or stories are spoken rather than sung.” That’s what Wikipedia says. But it must be more than that.

Eric Borden, a local Christian spoken word artist, quotes the Newark Youth Slam Team in their poem entitled Save Somebody’s Life:

 ”Spoken word is more than just cliche phrases and teenage phases… it’s about making changes.”

That’s the point: to change. Spoken word has become this form of spoken advocacy used by urban youth all over the country to spark emotions or feelings amongst a crowd. Ultimately, spoken word has become the voice of a generation known to most as Generation X; a generation the world thought would never make it. We are drenched with titles  such as It Rained Last Night (Abortion Poem), Coded Language and Imagine. Or even screamed at by artists like Yellow Rage and Georgia Me. For most, even the average person sitting on a park bench, pen in hand with a chewed top and a tattered notebook, poetry is an outlet. Spoken word has just found a way to bring the notebook to the stage and open it to allow everyone to read.

Poetry has been recited, read, analyzed and assigned in 12th grade classrooms for papers but how often have you had the priviledge of getting the authors exact emotion portrayed in the reading? Spoken word is the art of a poet ripping out his heart and merging it with yours.