Gine on People’s Choice Award Spoken Word Artiste of the Year StonedwithCupid delivered lyrical mastery as he performed his two award-winning poems Family Affair and In The Summer.
Cricket Legends of Barbados Inc. was transformed into an amphitheatre as PoeTree Barbados hosted its 4th show dubbed PoeTree- A Celebration of Spoken Word on May 30th 2024.
The show had a cast of 18 performers which included: Deo The Poet, StonedwithCupid, Safiyyah, Rae, EDN, Ayana John, Samsounds, Raquon Hinds, Bless Brit, Malachi Hope, Cher Antoinette, Ashley Serieux, Taitu Heron, Carmen, Boston Slam Poet Michael Warrior Bonds, La Shawna Griffith, Ariel Hamilton, Timon Howard, enthralled over 170 patrons for over 3 hours with their diverse talent.
The tone for the show was set with NIFCA Bronze Medalist La Shawna Griffith who gave a riveting performance of her original poem Society Likes To Police Women. The powerful poem examines how women are policed in society to meet male societal standards. The audience well received her poem.
But it was the performance by the Featured Performer of the Night StonedwithCupid that stole the show, as persons clapped and cheered as they listened to his award-winning poems Family Affair and In The Summer.
Reflecting on his performance to the packed audience, StonedwithCupid said that he was pleased to have performed just a few weeks after winning his Gine on People’s Choice Award Spoken Word Artiste of The Year.
“I thoroughly enjoyed performing at PoeTree Barbados tonight. I think that seeing so many persons here in their numbers just goes to show that persons do love poetry and it does have a place in the Crop Over Festival. I am pleased to have had such a great response to my work and for this organization to decide to celebrate my achievement and spoken word in this way, as this is the most performers they have had at their shows, so I am truly honoured to be a part of history,” he said.
Another standout of the night was Boston Slam Poet Michael Warrior Bonds who showcased his versatility as he performed his poem I Met God which was followed by his poem My Mission . The first poem he did was a tribute to his late mother, about how when he looked at her he saw the face of god due to the attributes she possessed. But it was his latter poem that made the crowd roar as he showcased his lyricism. Reflecting on his performance Warrior as he is called in performance circles said he truly is amazed by the level of poetic talent in Barbados. “These poets are fire. I mean I am just floored by the amount of talent seen here tonight. Everyone was amazing and gave their all to the stage. I cannot wait to see what relationships can be fostered between Poems Boston and PoeTree Barbados to see how we can have some Barbadian poets in Boston to showcase their work and vice versa,” he said.
The poets in the lineup were not the only ones who stood out in the show’s proceedings throughout the night as EDN’s acoustic performance of her original songs Ice Water and Insomnia had the audience grooving along in their seats. She was backed by her guitarist Sam and percussionist Marley Kirton.
International recording artiste Ayana John also made the audience move from their seats as she gave the packed audience a sense of nostalgia as she performed her hit song Guns and Roses.
When the Master of Ceremonies of the evening Zoe Sunshine asked the audience if they wanted to hear more, the crowd gave a roaring ‘yes’, leading Ayana to return to the stage to sing her new release Do Bad which resulted in some of the audience members dancing with Ayana as she danced on stage.
Also riveting in their performance was Samsounds who performed his newly released song Fully Dunce . Members of the audience sang along and cheered as he performed his song which touches on many societal issues plaguing the youth.
Also highlighting youth social issues was Deo The Poet who performed his poem Youth Have Been Struggling which spoke to the mental challenges some members of the youth are facing. The audience cheered and responded to his poem as he delivered his hard-hitting punchlines.
Executive Member of PoeTree Barbados Theo Greenidge said he was pleased with the turnout of the event and believes that the shows will continue to grow from strength to strength.“We had 175 persons here tonight and this just goes to show that the public do love spoken word and are interested in hearing what poets have to say. What we are seeking to do at PoeTree Barbados is to foster the development of spoken word and the inclusion of spoken word into the performing arts culture. And with every show, it is evident that we are achieving the mission. We had the biggest cast thus far, for this show and all of the performers were excellent and we are truly proud of the way that this organization is developing in such a short space of time,” he said. At the show, PoeTree Barbados presented Katherine Tafari as the 6th recipient of their PoeTree Barbados Griot Award for her development to spoken word by establishing the League of Extraordinary Poets (LXP) which would have fostered many notable spoken word artiste such as Cher Antoinette, Damani Re, Passion Poet, Adrian Greene, DJ Simmons and Empress Zingha just to name a few. For more information on the next PoeTree Barbados event follow them on Instagram@poetreebarbados.
(PR)