A powerful new video from Eyewitness, of Senegal's Wagëblë, with Cameroon / Switzerland based hip hop and gospel singer and social activist Olivier Cheuwa.

Putos Inmortales, a spoken word video developed from the album Sinergia by Capitan Humano, featuring the voice of Al Kronstadt (Pipas de Coco).

French emcee Pumpkin performs her Rose Combat piece acapella. Bastien Burger’s chiaroscuro film brings it all back to the elemental, the voice and the face and the energy.

Ivana Akotowaa Ofori is Akotowaa, out of Ghana, 18 years old and wise as wise is. Spoken word artist and writer, the self-coined "lexivist" - word activist - she describes this poetic song as "a fresco of riffs and picks, claps and voice tricks, and of course, #SpokenWordOnBeat." 

It feels good to be writing about two Australian spoken word long-play releases in the same week. And particularly good to be writing about a release from a storyteller who  tells the heart of this country, and who is taking storytelling to a whole new level.

The first time I saw Joel McKerrow perform live he was onstage alone belting out the poem Ugly Words, which features as the coda of this new long-play album, Welcome Home, with an urgency that surged and waned multiple times, from a tongue-in-cheek slyly self-knowing beginning to climactic shouting torrents of words that made it seem he might leap from the stage headlong into the audience, gather them all up and lead them on a poetic revolution through the streets. 

Here’s a snapshot of now, in Melbourne’s vibrant live spoken word scene.

This beautiful poet, beautiful voice, critically important story, captured with a very light touch by Luka Lesson on Kabalko Island …

Aja Monet’s new EP is a courageous collection coming from deep within the living art of storytelling.

Released in September this year, a full concept spoken word album from Bologna’s Matteo Buratti.

Back in February, Anthony Joseph released Time, a collaboration with bassist and singer Meshell Ndegeocello, and for me, the spoken word album of the year so far, by far. Since then he’s been touring that collection of spoken word funk, jazz, roots, far and wide. And this month, three remixes take three tracks into new territories of sound.

Say Sumthin - released in June - is a beautiful mix of spoken word deeply rooted in soul.

Drawn from linguistics studies of the 1960s, the title creole continuum refers to the degrees of language shift between speakers from the dominant language to Creole. Kaie explores from this point, the social and racial distinctions brought about through colonialism of person and language. Reaching far back to his African origins, he draws out the drums of voice.

Woke up to some nice news this morning (in the south) as spoken word maestro Ken Nordine posted (in the evening of the north) this message:

“Guess what? A 94 years old guy called me (who doesn’t know better yet) has had a big fun of putting together a new CD called “bits & pieces”... Your Honor, forgive me. I confess… I am guilty again of having committed Word Jazz. I couldn’t help myself… I had to do it. And the woman I’ve been married to for nearly 70 years told me I’d better do it… Playing the age card, silly”

The art of the storyteller is to stop the chatter, focus the listener, bypass the propaganda and the politics and reveal the story of the heart.