Need an Intro to Slam and Spoken Word Poetry?

Following Hopkins' lavish fascination with the musicality of language, I was disappointed because the majority of recordings of his poetry is by old English people, which ruins it.  I personally think Hopkins' would be better read by modern slam poets and rappers because of the avalanche of melody be packs into such close lines.  Often slam poets are known for their aggressive and even bellicose character, but this comes out of the emphatic in spoken word poetry.  These poets mean what they mean and what sometimes manifests itself as anger always stems from spoken word's essnece of sincerity.  To use Hopkinsian language the emphasis is to convey the instress and so that you might see the inscape.

From this check out some of my favorite spoken word poets who make their living in this emphasis.  This is Anis Mogjani doing "Shake the Dust" which was my first introduction to modern spoken word poetry.  His reverence, emphasis and playfulness are always compelling . . .

One of the most impressive parts of spoken word poetry is the momentum that is built in its performance.  The stanzas in a poem become movements in a symphony.  In this video, Anis pairs his poetry with the music of The Album Leaf's song "The Outer Banks" which brings the momentum and fervor of Anis and the atmosphere of The Album Leaf all to an HNL ('hole 'nutha level) . . .

I just got into the poetry of Sarah Kay last week and I am moved by the marriage of her poetry's sensuality and sincerity.  Her ability to make you feel the emptiness she describes comes in her word choice and her voice in a way that reminds me of the first time I read Rilke . . .

With spoken word poetry you might notice the blurring between poetry as a literary genre and rap as a musical genre.  What really is the difference between Hopkins strolling in the woods and writing in absolute alliterative delight the opening lines of "The Windhover," "I caught this morning morning’s minion, king-/ dom of daylight’s dauphin, dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon, in his riding"and any no-name guy freezing his fingers on a Detroit sidewalk as he spits rhymes and trips over his words with his friends?  Think about that while listening to Aesop Rock's attention to language's music in "None Shall Pass."