Domino Affect Spoken Word hits new charts, new levels and new budgets while staying grounded. Queen Sheba, a leader in Spoken Word; Without Question

"Domino Affect"
Spoken Word-The Remix
Queen Sheba a leader in Spoken Word;
Without Question

Another highly anticipated album from her highness! On the tails of her 4th album Get Familiar which earned SW Album of the Year 2006 from the CD Baby sponsored Just Plain Folks Award Ceremony in LA, early Nov. This new project will be Produced by world re nown producer Nick Namaste, moti vated by his years at the famous Tree Sounds Studio, Nick; lead singer of his own award winning band, takes on his first Spoken Word project with the Queen. Domino Affect is said to have such celebrity cameos from July Dexter, Tabi Bonney, Def Poets Black Ice, Malik Salaam and world class multi lingual singer Fisiwe who's work has appeared on the Les Nubian's album. Queen Sheba masters fusing HipHop, folk music, and Spoken Word.

"Calling me a Spoken Word artist, is dwarfing my range. I'm an artist that happens to do Spoken Word" Her new campaign, "Below the Radar - Too good for mainstream" highlighting Domino Affect and three new music videos: How I feel (which initially appeared on Get Familiar but has been remixed for the new album) Natural and Da Bidness a tribute to the history of exotic dancers will kick off this summer with her first album release party in Atlanta since her move from Norfolk, VA in August 2005. "Atlanta has been a blessing in so many ways. The art and artists here are in credible and keep me motivated. It is a privileged to be surrounded by artists, not just cookie cutter performers." The Below the Radar, sources say, is said to have the largest budget Oya Xclusive, Queen Sheba's 7yearrunning company, has ever alloted for an artist. "There is nothing wrong with closet recording. My first 4 albums were cre ated by geniuses in their: bedrooms, closets, basements and living rooms. Everything has it's season and it is time that Spoken Word artist allow them selves to experience a worldclass recording studio, with amenities that you can't get at your homebois house. With this project, I'd like to bring my homebois/gurls to this wonderful stu dio that is taking a huge chance with me. We can kick it and relax while re cording. It is like a mini resort. We de serve this move, we all deserve. Trust me, I know hits can be made in the closet and a flop can be made in the high class studios. I have confidence that with my range of work and creativ ity, coupled with Nick and the artists I'm bringing on this project it is going to be amazing! And hey, if it doesn't work we can't say it is from a lack of effort. Nothing beats a failure but a try."

Other sources say that Nick "researched" Queen Sheba before giving her a call. "We are extremely particular about who we work with here. We want to work with artists that are challenging the norm, and Queen Sheba motivates me and keeps me thinking. This is a new venture for us too, we have never embarked on a Spoken Word project but have commit ted to championing all of our efforts to, not only, make Sheba's project stellar but to ensure the success of, at least, this campaign." To keep up with Queen Sheba's adventures as Domino Affect and the Below the Radar Tour and Campaign emerge, log onto her myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/thequeensheba

Make sure to check out her tour schedule!

"Only hard political poems allowed in this revolution;
The Red Bull Word Clash"
by Jordan Green

Monte Smith, a 31year old poetry host from WinstonSalem a white man in a black hoody wearing Cokebottle glasses and wisps of facial hair stares into a sea of mostly black faces in the audience on the second floor of the Kress Building for the Red Bull Word Clash.

He delivers an angry, expletiveladen warning to the 20 poets battling for $500 of prize money, as well the multitudes packed into folding chairs and settled on the floor.

"The flower, mountain and comedy routine doesn't fly here," he said. "Don't bring that bulls***. Anybody here who doesn't like that, get the f*** out of here now. Tonight is to celebrate the revolutionary those who know that the white power structure is killing black people."

Although some audience members in the back of the room bristle at the censoriousness of Smith's approach, by the end of his speech the crowd erupts in wild cheering.

An unwitting Saturday night reveler who wandered into the Kress Building from South Elm Street on March 5 might be forgiven for wondering if she'd stumbled into a Black Panther conference circa 1969.

The Afros, raised fists and militant rhetoric about slave ships, unemployment lines, European land grabs and indigenous genocide combine to create the aesthetics of a revolutionary organization. Except that the revolution is actually a stage with a microphone, a battle between 20 cashstrapped poets for prestige and lucre.

The US military understands that the war in Iraq in not just about bullets and guns; it's also about winning hearts and minds. And so, conversely, Smith is focusing mightily on the hearts and minds side of the ledger. There is no nascent guerilla warfare happening here in the United States much less the actual grassroots organization to successfully contend for power.

Smith is aware that there is hyperbolic aspect to the revolutionary rhetoric.

"The masses aren't ready to fully unite and organize," he says. "There has to be a surge in events like this one. Then we can speak about how we can strike and how we can mass demonstrate." (By strike, he means collectively withhold labor, not fire off artillery.)

Woe to the unwitting poet who comes to the stage without righteous political fire.

One of the contestants, a local poet named Clement Mallory, performs a poem that expresses the schizophrenia of romantic codependency. "I can love you and hate you," he says. The poem devolves into a back and forth of "I love you I hate you," Mallory's face switching between soft pleading and screwedup frustration for comedic effect.

Although four accomplished judges will ultimately decide whether Mallory makes it to the second round, Smith makes it clear he's not above issuing an executive order.

"Leave that relationship at home," he says in an angry denunciation. "He almost got cut." Smith also threatens to have security escort anyone caught with a ringing cell phone from the building.

Queen Sheba, AKA Bathsheba Rem, a 30year old AfricanAmerican poet from Norfolk, Va. who wears an Angela Davisstyle Afro and a long skirt sewed from patches of camouflage and black leather, wins Smith's approval and rapturous, footstomping support from the audience.

With arms waving in the air, she sends up a scathing indictment of selfcentered, materialistic rap stars who flaunt their power but turn out to have little in the way of inner resources.

"Your soul goes broke" and "They're more nervous than bigots in a church service" are two of the lines that punctuate "The Countdown."

Chunky, a poet from south Florida who wears dreads, glasses and a respectable brown silk shirt raises the temperature a couple degrees higher.

"I'm telling you I'm bringing problems," she declares. "I'm locked, loaded and armed with a badassed speaking gift."

This def poetry, which like hip hop is an essentially AfricanAmerican form that makes space for performers of all races who demonstrate street cred, often relies on a rhetorical style that resembles a wounded and angry latenight lovers' quarrel, with sociopolitical historical slights substituted for personal accusations. The poem builds to an emotional climax with vocal cords stretched raw with anger.

Typical of the delivery style is a poem by Amaris Howard, a 22year old Hampton, Va. native who now lives in Greensboro, which begins: "I will never stop writing black power poems."

The poem builds with an apocalyptic fire insistent, stinging, devastating:

"I won't stop until you understand that we don't want a pity party; we want changeÉ Our black boys and men are still considered Emmett Tills when it comes to the policeÉ My song will be sung with a busted lipÉ Until we stop talking about revolution and start one, this poem will go on."

A stylistic exception is Mr. Rozzi, also of Greensboro, whose poems sometimes use a kind of shambling minstrel style to sneak in messages of political topicality. Beginning with the enduring issue of tension between the black community and the police, the poem wildly surveys a laundry list of leftist articles of faith on world economics and politics. The total effect of the message is that black people and other poor people are under siege by forces marshaled under a system in which human welfare is not a priority.

"The police are coming run," Mr. Rozzi's poem begins. "They got bullets and guns."

Then, in rapid succession, the poet expresses viewpoints on a whole range of issues: 1) international trade US policymakers could care less about manufacturing jobs exported overseas, jobs blacks once depended upon for economic survival; 2) the war in Iraq Congress cut Bush a blank check to wage unending war; 3) domestic social programs because of the war, there's no money left over for the poor; and 4) the election Bush stole it, again.

Queen Sheba, Amaris Howard and Mr. Rozzi make it to the second round, along with seven other poets. Clement Mallory and Chunky don't.

The 20 poets vying for the pot of cash donated by Red Bull were selected by Monte Smith and other organizers through a combination of merit, incumbency and random lottery.

Carlos Andr}s G mez, last year's champion, received an automatic invitation, along with two other handselected poets. Ten other poets submitted their performances by video, and were selected by Smith and other organizers based on their talent. Another seven poets, who registered the day of the event, were randomly selected.

The judges, who had rolled in their seats with laughter, sat up with stunned attention or nodded in agreement during the performances, tallied their scores during intermission. All four judges are talented cultural producers: Bruce George, an anthologist and cofounder of HBO's ***Russell Simmons Presents, Def Poetry***; Cherryl Aldave, a Triadarea freelance music journalist who started ***Headz***, North Carolina's first hip hop magazine; Thomasi McDonald, a poet, actor and musician who works as a reporter for the Raleigh ***News & Observer***; and Wesley Elam, who produces a hip hop show for WQFS 90.9 FM, Guilford College's campus station.