L-R The winner of the inaugural PoeTree Barbados Buss Ah Rhyme Battle is Malachi Hope. Here he is pictured with the 1st runner-up up Jeremiah The Prophet Toussaint.
There is a new champ in town!
Malachi Hope, became the inaugural winner of the PoeTree Barbados Buss Ah Rhyme Battle , which was held on April 26 th , 2024, by PoeTree Barbados, at their signal event PoeTree- A Celebration of Spoken Word, at Cricket Legends of Barbados, Fontabelle, St. Michael.
Around 10:15pm, after a round of deliberation, judge, Akeem Stonedwithcupid Chandler-Prescod announced that Malachi Hope had won the inaugural battle scoring 83.5 points, to The Prophet’s 74.5 points.
In the battle, Barbadian Malachi Hope and his challenger, Antiguan Poet, Jeremiah The Prophet Toussaint had to use the word PoeTree and freestyle for two mins. They were judged by Founder of the League of Extraordinary Poets (LXP), Katherine Tafari, Poet of The Year, Akeem Stonedwithcupid Chandler-Prescod, NIFCA Silver Awardee Damani Re and International Freestyle Champion,Ruby Tech.
Performing first The Prophet gave a solid performance of his poem which had the over 100-member audience in awe with his lyricism. Following his performance, Malachi Hope did his presentation and members of the audience, jumped and screamed as he did his performance.
Upon receiving the award Hope said that “I am pleased to win this trophy. I think this is the first time I have won a trophy. I gave this performance my all and I am pleased to have won. I also could not have gone against a more formidable poet, The Prophet who also brought his A game tonight,”.
The PoeTree Barbados Buss Ah Rhyme Battle was a new component oftheir PoeTree Barbados events, Organizer of PoeTree Barbados, La Shawna Griffith said that the goal of PoeTree Barbados is to continue to showcase various formats of Spoken Word.
“What occurred here tonight, was nothing short of spectacular. The battle was keenly contested and both poets brought their A game. Our goal at PoeTree Barbados is to provide opportunities for poets to flourish and the Ah Rhyme Battle is one such way to do so,” she said.
(PR)