N.I.C of iLL-Lit: "Welcome to the Jungle"

Nico of iLL-Literacy spits passionately about the beautiful struggle that is Oakland, CA to a passive crowd in Vermont. I think from here on out iLL-Lit's slogan should be: Bringin' The Town to a less cool town near you!

In any case, though Nico, Dahlak and Drizz just touched back down in Cali, they will be bringing The Bay to NYC when they make the move later this year. I'm eagerly awaiting their forthcoming EP and will let yall know when it arrives.

Poetry for the People Tonight at La Peña!

Via Oakbook

When June Jordan created the Poetry for the People program at UC Berkeley in 1991, she envisioned a world where everyone read and wrote verse. Where construction workers and policemen shared sestinas and haiku’s with schoolteachers and priests, and Pablo Neruda was as well known as Britney Spears. Well maybe not Britney.

Over the years the program has produced some of the most impressive poets in the area and even after Jordan’s death in 2002, the continues to inspire. For Black History Month the latest incantation of P4P, now under the direction of spoken word/actor/professor Aya de Leon, presents this “multi-generational poetry conversation” between National Poetry Series prizewinner Tyehimba Jess, Slam Champion Chinaka Hodge and Nico Cary of Ill-Literacy.

Poetry in the Community: A multi-generational poetry con(verse)ation

$10/$5 students/yth/sr/disabled
7:30pm
La Peña Cultural Center
3105 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley
www.myspace.com/poetryforthepeople

The Yay’s iLL-Lit Crash the Mansion in NYC

I’m running a bit late, but I caught a dope show by Oakland based spoken word/ hip-hop collective iLL-Literacy this past weekend out in NYC. iLL-Lit’s Dahlak Braithwaite, Nico Cary, Ruby Veridiano-Ching, Adriel Luis and their band The Hi-Lifes tore down Manhattan’s Crash Mansion with a vaudevillian fusion of poetry, hip-hop, comedy, rock, oratory and soul. If you’re familiar with the Bay’s performance scene, think of their Natural Electricity Tour as one part poetry slam, one part Tourrettes Without Regrets, one part Ashkenaz jam session and one part La Peña hip-hop showcase. Put it all together and you have an amazing bouillabaisse of underground Bay splendor.

The foursome transitioned easily between Ruby’s searching soliloquies, Dahlak’s riffs on race, Nico’s witty musings, Adriel’s poignant social commentary and the Hi-Life’s versatile musicianship. That said, they also came together for rumbling jam sessions, cuts off Dahlak’s new mixtape Commencement (available for free download!) and group pieces like the scroll unraveling crowd favorite “Fuck You List.”

iLL-Lit is one of a few up-and-coming crews that have grown out of Youth Speaks’ farm system of dynamic young writers and performers. All four of them are extremely accomplished and their iLL-Literate empire encompasses albums, mixtapes, books, plays, and much more. Though this leg of their tour has just ended, I just received word that they will hit the road again in the spring to help thaw yall out with a little hotness.

Below is a little promotional appetizer of iLL-Lit's solo stylings.

Reviews of Ruby's new book Miss Universe by Oh Dang! & Venuszine

Venuszine review of NYC show by the esteemed Niema Jordan