Year of writing 81. The Poetry Slam DJ

3/22/12

I've been the DJ for poetry slams for a long time now, ten years of finding the perfect song to go with a poem, and only having the duration of the poem to do so.  It is by far my favorite type of show to DJ, I don't have to take any requests, I get to interact with a crowd through music, and basically play EXACTLY what I want to play.  Since I've been doing this for so long, I definitely have go-to songs for poems that are um, cliche -  here they are.

Boy dumped by girl poem:


White hip hop poem:


Girl dumped by boy poem:


Poem that nobody understands:


Sex poem:


There are many more, but I can't give away all my secrets all at once.  That being said, there are always a few times in a night where I get surprised by a poem, maybe it defies a genre, has a twist, or heaven forbid, is just a good poem.  This means there is a song out there (and hopefully I have it in my library) that fits exactly.  Sometimes it's a word or phrase that I play off of, sometimes it's just a mood evoked by the poem.  These are my favorite moments.  Tonight at the Oakland Slam they were:  1 - a poem about no longer going to church =  "losing my religion" by R.E.M.  2 - A poem about a horrible slum apartment = "Our House" by Crosby Stills, Nash and Young.  If I didn't continue to be surprised by poems, this job would really suck - so thanks all you poets who keep changing it up on me.  And, if you hear Ice Ice Baby, it's pretty safe to say that I pretty much wish you would stop reading poems.  Forever.