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"The
Poet"
Know me,
meet me, then call me Goddess
Call me ghost face killer
with no gold teeth’ or fine
minks
Call me the Hip Hop urban griot
with culture on my lips
Lyrics in my wounds and
wounds on my heart
Be
intrigued by me,
but
don’t
call me Picasso
Because my two step tango is simple,
but difficult to follow
Call me an artist w/o a project
Be trapped in my sign language
Cause these hands hide truths
that are easy to see,
but hard to swallow
Unplug
your ears and talk to me spiritually
Lets dance lyrically to songs we
haven’t even wrote yet
My pen and pad make music.
My words dance in bars like old drunks
in cold cars running to a high
captured in mirage
I’ma
pop rock lollipop
That pop locks to body rock
Until the dj stops me from dying-
Beating down my dreams
Don’t you dare call me stupid
Cause I want to go places
no artist has been before
Knock on my door,
But don’t you dare open it
I got potential on the floor,
aspiration in my closet
And ambition hanging from my windows
I got drums in my ears
and
yall fools can’t understand why
my tongue won’t stop dancing
Rhythmically romancing these poems
With a full set of felt tips
That decorate ten fingers that
Bleed ink in the dark
You
don’t know me player,
I’m a brown poet
With black words trapped between
Blue lines on a white page
that has been red-lined and marginalized
I
eat dilapidated kings for breakfast
Chew them up,
spit them out,
and then you call them president
I am a spiritual messenger turned arrogant
I got five paragraphs of ammunition
Trapped inside nine millimeters of intuition
When
I start mic rippin’
It’s hard to tell that
Head nods aren’t contagious
I leave gout on stages,
So after three minutes every person standing
is stuck between my lines and spaces
I will work for music,
but my inner voices
have garnished my wages
So when I speak,
I’m letting a beast out,
that yall haven’t seen in ages
I’be speaking so fast
That even the ancestors got their hands waving
I’m raging against a machine
That my alter ego is operating
Cause my mind be vibrating
Every time I’m forced to be hand shaken
Cause Babylon expects me to be
personality faking in order to be accepted
I’ve
put down my weapons
So I need everybody to come out
With their hands up
Put a little change in my cup
and my thoughts
Will start jamming to iambic pentameters
That redefine the parameters of performance prose
It’s “like whoa”
But even Black Rob don’t know it
I’m challenging the hardest emcees
to try living one day in the life of a poet.
"The
Poet"
© 2005, Naima
All rights reserved.
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BLACK
ON BLACK RHYME
ARTIST FEATURE SERIES
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-
Spoken Word Artist whose work represents
a revolution in thought,
artistry and spiritual awareness.
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BIOGRAPHY
Naima
Jahmaal is an artist motivated by the art of change.
In a time where boundless leaps are being made
in communication, Naima is evidence that old
school concepts can meld with new school energy
and be delivered with rhythm and power.
Naima's poetry represents a revolution in thought, artistry
and spiritual awareness. Redefining the parameters of
performance poetry, her work bounces flawlessly between
prose, hip hop, jazz and soul. Her original, multifaceted
stage show includes live instrumentation and turntable
mixing. Naima is a new breed of the spoken word artist;
one with a natural fearlessness in approaching other
artistic expressions like emceeing, singing and acting.
Naima's first self-published collection of poetry, When
Silence Speaks, explores her lessons of pain, love, and
sacrifice. When Silence Speaks sold over 200 copies at
her standing room only book release/signing at Cada Vez
club/restaurant in Washington DC. The book's title captures
the raw truth that is Naima: lost child found lingering
in the corridors of emotional conflict and personal retreat.
She hopes readers will view this work as a part of her
artistic resolution for absent love and open wounds.
Naima's
recent first place wins in the Hip Hop Theatre Festival's
Slam and The Poetry Fix's Women's Words Slam;
quickly put her in the spotlight as a poetic force to
reckon with. After headlining her first national tour,
critics and opponents alike have described Naima's presence
and delivery as deafening, fiery and unassuming. As a
matter of fact, Brother Abiodun Oyewole, of the Last
Poets, described Naima as "pure fire."
She
has shared the stage with (Actor/Activist) Danny Glover,
(Poet) Sonia Sanchez, (Vocalist) Ayanna Gregory, Dead
Prez, (Poet) Patrick Washington, (Vocalist) Tamara Wellons,
(Emcee) Priest Da Nomad and (Vocalist/Poet) Mark Evans
captivating audiences at University of Detroit Mercy,
Shippensburg University, J. Sergeant Reynolds College,
Virginia Commonwealth University, and University of District
of Columbia. In addition, she has made radio appearances
on WPGC, 95.5, WHUR 96.3, WPFW 89.3 and WOL1450.
"I'm
a brown poet with black words trapped between blue
lines on a white page that has been redlined and marginalized."
from The
Poet
Currently,
Naima is in the studio recording her first album "Truth Don't Make Cents" which
features dynamic producers such as Kokayi (Opus Akoben)
whose
has worked with vocalists Vinia Mojica and Wayna, Poemcees,
and Storm The Unpredictable. Naima says she wants her
album to be entertaining yet a key for socio-political
change.
CURRENT BODY OF
WORKS
Albums
“Spoken
Silence'-Naima, 2005
“ Tammie in Wonderland”-Tamara Wellons, 2005
“ I Dare You” Campaign-PSA, Words Beat And Life, 2005
Featured on “Free Radio” Mix Tape- Jared Ball, 2004
“ Mind Over Spirit”-Culture Freedom, 2003
Books
When
Silence Speaks, 2003
College
Bookings:
Tracy Wiggins,
Just Wiggin Entertainment
301.870.7511
Local Bookings:
Seshat Walker
202.388.4578
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"Naima
Jahmaal"
All rights reserved. © 2006
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