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As an English major, it only makes sense that I love poetry, but slam poetry takes it to a whole new level. The emotion and passion in the voices of those who perform their poetry for an audience continue to amaze me, especially since most of their stories are very personal. I could spend hours scrolling through YouTube for slam poetry, and although I do have my favorites, which I will list here, I’m always on the lookout for new poetry and voices that I have yet to hear. Nevertheless, here are my five favorite slam poets of all time:
1. Neil Hilborn
Every time I listen to “OCD,” my heart breaks a little bit. He details the events of his struggle with OCD before he meets the girl of his dreams and after she leaves, because she is the only one who can make his OCD behaviors less intense. The emotion in his voice is so raw, and he connects to his audience so much so that it’s almost as though I can feel the power of his pain. In nearly all of his poems, he writes about mental health awareness and tries to de-stigmatize the stereotypes of mental heath. In my opinion, he’s nothing short of a poetic genius.
2. Jeanann Verlee
I just recently discovered her slam poetry, but I was immediately captured and she has already become one of my favorite slam poets. Her poem, “40 Love Letters” is so personal and relatable, and her courage both in writing that poem and performing it aloud is extremely apparent to me. I admire her for the honesty in her writing and her animation and humorous tone makes her all that much more exciting to listen to.
3. Sabrina Benaim
What I love most about this slam poet is that she doesn’t hold back. The changes in her tone and voice throughout her poems match perfectly with what she’s saying, and she truly relives the experience of each poem when she performs. Her poem, “Explaining My Depression to My Mother” is incredibly powerful, not only because of her discussion of depression, but because of her mother’s role in the poem. It’s one of those poems that inspires me and makes me want to sit down with a pen and a piece of paper and write.
4. Shane Koyzan
He was my favorite slam poet in high school and he still tops the list, because he writes about what we’re all thinking. He can put everything into words in a way that no one else can, and to this day, I’m still astounded by his talent. His poem, “Instructions for a Bad Day” was one of the first slam poems I ever listened to, and so it will always hold a place in my heart. In fact, his poetry was what turned me onto slam poetry in the first place, so in a way, I owe him quite a bit of gratitude.
5. Jesse Parent
The language that he incorporates into his poetry denotes a kind of dialogue, and there is definitely an element of the everyday conversations we have with others in each of his poems. This element of his poetry makes his words both relatable and funny, and the subjects of many of his poems are his family members, which make them so realistic. His poem, “To the Boys Who May One Day Date My Daughter” plays into the role of that protective father, but his word choice and his performance of the poem make me laugh, especially as a daughter.
These poets are definitely worth checking out, and if you have the time, my advice is to go to Button Poetry, Speakeasy NYC, etc… and you’ll discover hundreds of brilliant and gifted slam poets.
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