From spitting on the corner under dim street lights to rhyming in smoke-filled coffee houses with beautiful black faces snapping their fingers to the beat, spoken word artists can call any place their home. Just give them a mic, an audience, a spot for them to stand and watch how they unleash their soul and puzzle ya mind with their metaphorical thoughts. But now Hip-Hop’s lyrical cousin is taking it to the stage with the off Broadway Hip-Hop play Slanguage- The Evolution of Tongue in Time.

Performed by the members of the Universes, Slanguage is a sharp and unique play with a New York style. Blending spoken word, rap, the blues, and a taste of Spanish soul, this five-member crew fuses traditional sound of poetry and art with the hardness and raw essence of Hip-Hop culture. And though it’s packed with so much flavor and live antics, Slanguage keeps it real and simple-never clownish or too theatrical. With sketches that go from serious issues like Hurricane Katrina to other comical poems that talk about choking ya chicken, each piece in the play is so fresh and uncensored that ya mouth will be on the floor wondering, “Can they really say that?” 

Yet with Hip-Hop movies like Hustle and Flow or 50’s Get Rich or Die Trying making a lot of noise, are Hip-Hop heads ready to trade in their movie stubs and kick it at the theater to listen to some poetry? The only times one may actually chill in the theater is to see Madea going nuts or to get a good laugh at a comedy show. People who want to enjoy a poetry cipher either hit up that weekly poetry slam at the local bar or turn to Def Poetry Jam on television.

Although it’s been around for years, spoken word seemed to have always been kept underground and so secluded. If you weren’t a free-spirited Bob Marley type than a spoken word cipher probably wasn’t ya thing back then. But now as Hip-Hop is growing so is poetry and more crowds are getting down with it. Poets are even getting record deals and appearing on rap albums. And now with the lyrical gumbo recipe of Slanguage, spoken word is about to have a major growth spurt so get ya rulers ready for this worldwide movement.