“Hi guys this is …. and they’re a virgin to the mic, and you know what we say about them virgins, right? They’re always tight,” says president Ama Agyepong when someone that has never performed before decides to step out of their box. This is president Ama Agyepong’s favorite part of Poetic Justice, “It’s an icebreaker for new people who come to perform. It only ever happens to the performer once so I think it’s a cool experience. It’s almost like a cool initiation into the community and PJ family.”
UNT Poetic Justice has been an organization on campus since 2011. The organization caused a stir back in 2014 on Twitter because of their 2013 Cypher reached 2,000 views on Youtube in less than a week. The video “UNT Poetic Justice Cypher 2K13” features rappers that attended UNT. A cypher, popular in the hip hop culture, is an informal meetup between rappers where they rap over a similar beat, showcasing their bars.
UNT Poetic Justice consists of artists from different platforms coming together to collaborate.
“Poetic Justice means to be the voice of the creative. It is the space and the community of other like-minded people that just want to create and produce beautiful content,” said Agyepong.
At about 8:50 pm on Tuesday the seats in Wooten 222 start to fill with many students.
The performers crowd on the stairs at the edge of the room.
One by one they perform.
The crowd snaps their fingers in between performances while throwing in a few ad-libs and uplifting words.
Behind the scenes with some of the artists:
“Freshman year is when one of my friends invited me to attend PJ and I needed somewhere to blow off steam and meet interesting people. My ideas for my poems come from my personal experiences, thoughts, and emotions,” said sophomore Nicolas Taliaferro. “My writing process is sporadic. Sometimes I won’t write anything for weeks. Sometimes I write 2-3 poems in a day. But I usually have something new in time for the next PJ.”
“I’m motivated by my need for self-expression and my desire to get closer to the people who see me perform,” said Taliaferro.
(Pictured is PJ Ambassador Malachi Ball.)
“I derive my ideas and inspiration from my own life. The things I want, what I see throughout life, what I have and what I want to achieve. I like to cover the spectrum when it comes to my thought process and writing,” said sophomore ambassador Malachi Ball. “I exercise my skills in freestyling a lot while writing often. I might jot down a few lines that come to mind every once in a while, or if I think of some more lines to add to another song I’ll write them down. Any idea I have I try to get it out my head and onto something solid. Most times I write it on my phone.”
“I feel that I have a message and a gift that was meant to be shown to the world. I’ve been silent all my life until recently, and I’m tired of being quiet and unnoticed,” said Ball. “I want people to know who I am. I want to make amazing music that will influence the next generation to be filled with change and open up to more positivity.”
“I actually saw them randomly on Twitter and I was looking for a place to share my art. I’m an actor so I perform monologues and skits most of the time. Majority of pieces I perform at Poetic Justice are actually improv. Unless the material is a bit more serious. I joined because I wanted to better the environment in which artist cannot only better their craft but also learn how to collaborate on future projects.” said sophomore vice president Julian Bell. “The biggest motivation for me to perform is understanding that I may be speaking on something that someone else can relate with. That’s why all art is so powerful. We experience things that we can’t already put into words but they somehow manage to be spot on.”
UNT PJ is inclusive to all students and performing is about sharing your experiences and thoughts. The two statements that PJ consistently stands by is “Speak your Truth” and “Respect the Mic”.
Essentially, speak your truth just means to be yourself and speak what comes to your heart. Respect the Mic is a phrase to express that everyone’s voice matters when they are on the stage. The audience doesn’t have to agree with what the person has to say but PJ is an open space and the executive board and ambassadors encourage everyone to listen with an open mind.
A message to those who are afraid of the mic:
“Be proud of your work. Don’t compare it to anyone else’s and don’t do anything that doesn’t feel like you,” said Taliaferro. “Just go up there. Everyone who goes is scared, but if you don’t go, you’re robbing the world of your gift.”
“Poetic Justice is the freedom to not only be a creative but to embrace it. To be willing to share your art at the risk that no one will understand it. It’s a freedom from the fear of failure that every creative is constantly reminded of whenever working on any piece,” said Bell. “Start off small by performing for yourself in the mirror. Use this because you’ll have to focus on yourself and see exactly what it is that you enjoy. Then notice things that you’d like to fix. You’ll become comfortable before you know it.”
“Be patient and love your work. Your work is your baby and you’re going to have to learn what works and flows,” said Agyepong. “The work that you are the most critical of is the work that people really want to see because it is the raw parts of you so just be open and put yourself out there.”
“Stepping up to the mic already makes you twice as strong as anyone else because you’re putting yourself out there for people to see who you are,” said Ball. “Just know that the people in the crowd are the ones that wish they could get over their fears and do what you’re doing”
The UNT PJ community invites anyone and everyone to perform. “We are more than an org or club, we are a family. We share connections and help each other network,” said Ama Agyepong.
Tuesday. 9:00 pm. Wooten 222. See you there.