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Excellently Exposed:
The Taalam Acey Interview
Part I
Written by: Renee BlackStar
What can I say about Taalam Acey? He was one of my very first introductions into the realm of Spoken Word poetry. Well, outside of the socially accepted and monopolizing representation of the art form by “Russell Simmon’s Def Poetry Jam”, of course. But, strangely enough, I can’t remember exactly how I was introduced to his particular brand of artistry. However, I can vividly remember watching a YouTube video of him performing his poem “Metaphysix” and systematically being blown away by the sheer power of his words. He spoke so firmly—his wording so precise and such a tremendous passion—that it touched the truth in me, and I couldn’t help but listen intently and then, subsequently through my excitement, share his poem with other of my friends who aren’t too familiar with Spoken Word. Needless to say, they too were impressed. It was the very first of his pieces that I’d become acquainted with, and it still remains to be my favorite.
I quickly came to enjoy concentrating on the thoughtfulness of this man’s words and I appreciated the honesty in his tone and the passion and strength reverberating in his voice. And his stage presence… well, if you’ve ever been in the room when Taalam stepped to the mic, you know as I do that your soul just can’t help but tune into the rhythm and conviction of his messages. He makes it look so effortless, but I wouldn’t trade places with the man for a minute. It’s a hard life and it takes a serious kind of love for the arts to willingly live the life of a full-time traveling artist.
My first opinions of Taalam were that of admiration, respect, and intrigue, to say the least. And that intrigue more than anything is what prompted me to want to delve even further into the person versus the persona. And I must say I was not disappointed. On the contrary, after reading his new book Excellent Exposure: an admission of indiscretions and manifesto of beliefs, I was happily surprised to know that he is very grounded, humorous, and just an all around cool person. And he’s not afraid to share the fact that he isn’t the object of picture-perfect perfection. He’s a man like all men on this planet… trying to make the best out of what he has. Having the opportunity to interview this man will forever be an indelible memory for me and one that I will cherish for many years to come.
At Ruby Tuesday’s Fusion of Soul, a new open mic venue here in San Diego, and in front of an impromptu audience of about six or so patrons that Taalam likened to having a talk show audience, he and I shared a few laughs, and chatted about his new book, life on the road, and fatherhood…
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Excellent Exposure, your new book… what motivated you to write this book?
Um, I wanted to write it a while ago and I started putting up blogs back when MySpace was fresh. And I was just testing it out. Just putting like drafts of some of these essays. And that was like starting from two years back. And like thirty thousand people read them, without solicitation, without me saying, “Hey, read my essays!” So, I was like, “I must be on to something.” Then, after a while, I didn’t want to put it out. Then, recently, I guess about 6 months ago, I was like, “I got to put it out!” I’m always thinking when I put out something, “What if I die tomorrow and that was inside of me and nobody would ever know?” So, I had to… I felt like I had to put it out. It’s my thoughts. And the book is alive. It’s like taking a piece of your soul and spreading it out to the masses. It’s a lot! It’s killing me actually. [laughs]
“I believe in what I’m doing. I really want to make Spoken Word as compelling as possible. I think there are a lot
of experiments that needs to occur in order to bring Spoken Word to a level where the average person can appreciate it…”
You’ve been traveling the US and abroad since 1999 and here it is 2009. Fifty cities and many countries abroad… a flight every 3.5 days…
On average, yeah.
What keeps you going?
I believe in what I’m doing. I really want to make Spoken Word as compelling as possible. I think there are a lot of experiments that needs to occur in order to bring Spoken Word to a level where the average person can appreciate it. Not everybody is going to appreciate it, but I think that the majority of people that could appreciate it, or still haven’t found like a door, or an entrance to understanding it, [could be] able to. So, it’s all about experiments. It’s trying different things. And I feel like I need to be a part of that. I’ve done so much already. If I were to stop, things would have to start back from a lower stage just to escalate back up to what I’ve done, and what some of the other people in my generation have done. So, I feel like I owe it to my art form to push… push… to make it more compelling. You never give up, you never say die! You just continuously learn lessons.
What’s your favorite destination, out of all the places you’ve ever traveled in the world?
My favorite spot in the world is Chicago. It’s my favorite place in the world. It’s no question. Out of all the countries, and all the cities, there’s no fresher place.
Oh, yeah? Now… You know I’m from Chicago! That’s my city. Chi-Town stand up! What’s so cool to you about Chicago? What keeps you coming back?
In Chicago, you can have it anyway you want. If you want to be in the hood, you go to the Southside up on 79th and hang out at the bars with the O.G.’s. You can go to the Westside and chill. Even the West suburb is O.G. If your bourgeoisie, you can go to Wicker Park and chill. If you wanna be super bourgeoisie like you’re rich and hang out in the Gold Coast and go to the Kenneth Cole shop and all that stuff. And the skyline is incredible! So, going driving up Lake Shore Drive and looking at the skyline is one of the most spiritual experiences you can have. The fact that there are beaches lining that city is crazy! I lived in Lincoln Park at one point for a summer. And, man, I used to put my clothes in the laundromat and then walk over to the beach and watch the sun rise and all that. I used to say that Chicago was a mixture between New York and Jamaica. And then the festivals, like in Grant Park… The Taste of Chicago. Beautiful women and brothas that care more about dressing than any other place in the world…
How do you handle being a full-time poet, writer, and father?
It’s a lot of pressure. I wonder if I would do it this hard if I didn’t have this pressure, though. I mean, the fact that you have to provide for multiple responsibilities. I mean, I have a house, I have a place in Baltimore that I hardly ever see, I got my children... My daughters are in Atlanta, my son is in L.A. I gotta provide resources in that direction. My monthly budget is out of this world. But, I do wonder if it were otherwise, if I could live off of $800 bucks or something. I wonder if I would push so hard. But, because I have to come up with a plethora of funds every month, I push a lot harder than I would have to otherwise. And it’s got to be done. We gotta keep it moving, right? That’s what we say: we got to keep it moving, don’t we? [For the children] That’s the most important thing.
How has fatherhood influenced your craft?
I wouldn’t want to do anything that would embarrass my kids, so, I mean, you wouldn’t see me on some crazy ass reality show or some goofy ass commercial. I don’t want to do anything that my kids are going to look at later on in life and be embarrassed by. And I push hard! I know what my responsibilities are and I know they have to be met regardless and don’t nobody wanna hear nothing! It’s one thing to not pay some credit bill or something like that. But, you don’t get to not pay for your kids! That’s not even an option.
The job you held before your venture into becoming a Spoken Word artist was in the field of finance, correct?
I was a business consultant. I helped people put together business plans, loans, and marketing plans. And I filled out documents to help them start their business and grow their businesses.
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Why did you give up that career stability to become a Spoken Word artist?
I got bored. That turned out to be something that seemed to be a little less challenging. The SPA was coming to my firm for everything. I was twenty-something years-old. I was teaching at Rutgers. And I had just graduated Rutgers University, so now I’m teaching at Rutgers. And I had a consulting firm, with an office with showers and a copy room, and a computer lab, and kids working there doing plans. We had a little board room… and art. I mean, everything was fresh, but it was boring. We had a commercial on television. The SPA would come to me all the time to do business plan seminars for small business administration. So, everything I could possibly want, I had it. But, it wasn’t a challenge. It wasn’t sexy to me. Then, when I did this, I felt like this was something that, if I could make it work, I could be proud of myself for doing so.
“Everything I could possibly want, I had it. But, it wasn’t a challenge. It wasn’t sexy to me. Then, when I did this,
I felt like this was something that, if I could make it work, I could be proud of myself for doing so…”
What direction would you like to see Spoken Word take in the future?
I just would like it to permeate more minds. I think that I don’t think Spoken Word has gotten to 10% of the population that it could get to, probably not even 1%. I mean, there are a lot of people who just don’t have any idea of what it is. And I think that “Def Poetry” did a somewhat decent job of showing people it wasn’t what they thought it was, but it did a terrible job at showing people what it actually could be and what it really is.
Do you ever get nervous still, after performing so many times?
Sometimes I feel anxiety and that’s when I feel the best about things. Nate King Cole said when you can feel that, it means that what you’re going to bring is going to be really authentic. And when you show up and you don’t feel anything, a lot of times you’re stale as hell. One of the worst things you can do, poem-wise, is just stand on stage and regurgitate without feeling.
What is in the future for Taalam Acey?
More books! I want to go back to teaching. Like I said, I want to teach literature, though. I don’t want to go back and teach finance and accounting again. I want to teach something that I’m more excited about. But, a lot more books in between now and then. I don’t know about recordings because recordings are free these days. They say 99% of anything you might like can be found for free on the internet. And in addition to that, I mean, who wants to carry around a big ass CD generally! I mean, when you can put it on a flash drive this big, or on an iPod that big, or dozens of CDs worth of material. I don’t know. But, more books. I definitely want to write some more. I want to experiment with some live shows. I want to do some things that people have never seen before…
Get your copy of Taalam Acey’s new book Excellent Exposure here: http://www.taalamacey.tv/store
***“Metaphysix”***
***“Market 4 Niggas”***
***“G*D's Work (What if this is)”***
