Spoken Word: A Refreshing Look

When I first stumbled upon this picture of Mutombo Da Poet on facebook, my initial reaction was to pause and stare at his face and the emotions etched into it. I just wanted to close my eyes for a moment and try to imagine what exactly was going through his mind, what exactly his thoughts were, that gave him such an expression. I have known Percy ever since I was a little girl and I am sure he knows one too many embarrassing stories about me. I recently reconnected with him, however on facebook and Twitter. I am sure he was surprised at how the quiet, reserved little girl he knew years back had changed and was a chatterbox now. But I think the bigger surprise was in store for me. In the course of our discussion, he asked me, "What are you up to now?" I simply replied, "I am in College, you know, studying Anthropology". then I asked what he was doing himself. He was very vague. Being a curious thing, I went through his facebook pictures for any clues (stalker much?) and I finally got an answer! SPOKEN WORD!! Imagine my shock! I have heard spoken word from various people out here in the United States but I didn't know about it's existence in Ghana or how long it had been there so I realized a little research was in order! Did you know all problems can be solved by Google and/or Youtube?? Well I realized that my first year in college and I sure took advantage of Youtube this time. After watching some videos, I can say with no doubt that "Mutombo Da Poet is a refreshing drink that we have been thirsting for". Spoken word seems to be the next new thing after hip hop. If you have no idea by now what spoken word entails, please refer to YouTube or Google and search for "Mutombo Spoken Word". I cannot explain to you what it is, other than say it is poetry. That in itself sounds bland, but trust me it is far from that. Spoken word entails emotions..... Emotions of awe, comfort, desire.... Emotions that soothe and sound like music to the heart. Spoken word can only be understood better if experienced, not explained. As the days go by, I come into contact with more and more Ghanaian Spoken Word artistes/performers. I am very proud of them all and especially of Mutombo, because I know there is a revolution that is about to hit and turn everything inside-out and topsy-turvy in a really good way and with him being in the center of it all. I take my hat off to you, Percy, and I say KUDOS for going after a dream and pushing it through all the ignorance to the recognition it has now!