Poetry has been around for as long as language has been communicated. From Homer and Dante to Virginia Woolf and Robert Frost, poets have transcended time with their lyrics. Unfortunately after the Beat Generation died off, so did many American’s love for the art. The poet of our generation is not as clear as it was for our parents, but this hasn’t stopped a select few from trying to be that voice. Through a newer form of spoken word poetry (or more commonly referred to as slam poetry), our generation is finding our poetic roots again. This specific type of poetry revolves around the performance of an individual on stage reciting his/her poems often in a theatrical manner. They are usually performed in Cafes or other intimate places, but recently have become much more popular through traveling teams of poets, conventions and social media accounts. To understand and truly appreciate the form, those who recently discovered spoken word should start by listening to some good poems and watch some talented artists perform them. The list that follows are the greatest spoken word artists of our generation and why they made the cut.

*WARNING: These poems contain adult themes and language, watch at your own risk*
Andrea Gibson

“Forests may be gorgeous but there is nothing more alive than a tree that learns how to grow in a cemetery.”

The mother of slam poetry, Andrea Gibson paved the way for young artists to speak their minds on stage. Coming from Maine, Gibson started her career almost incidentally by going to an open mic in Denver, Colorado with her then girlfriend. Gibson has quite the résumé; she is a four-time Denver Grand Slam Champion, finished fourth at the 2004 National Poetry Slam and became the first poet ever to win the Women of the World Poetry Slam (WOWps). She also has authored six poetry books and is a noted activist for women’s rights, sexual abuse prevention and global equality.

Gibson’s poetry often centers around the LGBTQ community and the struggles she faced growing up as a lesbian. Her style is all her own; she uses crisp metaphors and bold language to catch the listener’s attention and often fills her poems with humor even when they’re about serious topics. Her best poems include “I Do,” which is a passionate testimony on gay marriage, “How It Ends,”which focuses on a long term relationship and the expectations that come with it and “Maybe I Need You” a tale of a lost love presumably the girl who first showed Gibson poetry. Her performances are very crowd involved, and she often stops mid-poem just to say a side note.

Slam poetry would not be the same if it weren’t for Gibson, and leaving her off the list would be impossible.

Rudy Francisco

“I swear that when our lips touch, I can taste the next 60 years of my life”

Rudy Francisco is a young man who won the city of San Francisco over with a microphone. Born and raised in the city, Francisco dedicated himself from a young age to helping struggling artists. With a Masters degree in Organizational Leadership, Francisco opened workshops around the city to help voice the struggles of those who couldn’t use their own, all the while still performing at underground night clubs. Francisco won the 2009 National Underground Poetry Slam, the 2010 San Diego Grand Slam, the 2010 San Francisco Grand Slam and the 2010 Individual World Poetry Slam.

Francisco’ s brutally honest word choice creates tragical stories spun beautifully that will make you feel like collapsing on the floor. The most popular Francisco poem is “Scars (To The New Boyfriend).” In it, Francisco uses a mix of elegant imagery and short choppy sentences that remind the listener of their first heartbreak. Another very well known Francisco poem is “Love Poem Medley,” where he describes his experience of seeing a beautiful girl in a StarBucks window and needing to know more about her. Through a series of incredibly clever one liners and hilarious imagery, Francisco paints a picture of the modern relationship beautifully and surely hits home with his audience.

His use of modern references mixed with traditional styling makes Francisco incredibly fun to watch. He also performs with such a laid back style and smile on his face it makes you feel as though you’re in the room with him. Somehow, he found a way to connect all of us with his idea of love, and the words he used to describe it. Anyone can relate with what he says on stage, and the way those words strike emotions remind the listener why they’re called spoken word: artists.

Neil Hilborn

“Love how you hate yourself sometimes because goddamn, at least there’s still something to hate”

Neil Hilborn fits the (often true) stereotype of the damaged poet like a glove. Diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Bipolar Disorder at a young age, Hilborn knew the meaning of suffering quite well. His humble Midwestern beginnings actually created a perfect platform for him to rise in the ranks as a star slam poet. A local star, Hilborn attended Macalester College for a creative writing degree and joined their poetry slam team. Hilborn was a member of the 2011 College National Poetry Slam Championship team, as well as coaching the 2012 team. Hilborn was soon noticed by Button Poetry, a Minneapolis based company that promotes poet’s through a website and popular social media accounts. They posted Hilborn’s “OCD,” which went viral in 2013 leaving him an overnight superstar.

By watching “OCD,” you can quickly learn of Hilborn’s incredible talent and see exactly how he likes to perform. Hilborn uses a combination of sweet similes and real life experience to enhance his poems, which often take on a much more story telling vibe. His poems often include a shocking ending that makes the crowd gasp, and I have yet to see a poem where Hilborn doesn’t storm off stage at the end. His performances are extremely dramatic, probably the most dramatic on the list. His famous poem “OCD,” centers around his love for a woman who couldn’t seem to love him back because of his illness, truly leaves the viewer heart broken. Another popular poem, “The Future,” discusses his mental illnesses, but actually talks about them in a positive light, comparing them to super powers. In a satirical piece entitled “The Mating Habits of The North American Hipster,” Hilborn pokes fun at his peers and how they act and date, proving that some of his poems will not leave you with a giant knot in your stomach.

Without Hilborn, many would be unaware of slam poetry’s existence. He created huge amounts of traffic to the Button Poetry website, which in turn made fellow poet Lily Myers “Shrinking Women” go viral. Though “OCD” has reached over 6.7 million views on YouTube, he was the first slam poet to go viral In the ’10s, and that alone would earn him a spot on the list, Hilborn has proven that he can be consistent and draw a viewership and is much more than a one hit wonder.

Sierra DeMulder

“My body is a dead language and you pronounce each word perfectly.”

As a radical feminist, Sierra DeMulder found that slam poetry was an effective way to discuss important topics at rallies, and then turned it into a career. DeMulder is another poet who was discovered by Button Poetry and broadcast on a large scale because of the important messages and relatable words of her poems. DeMulder is a two-time National Slam Poetry Champion, and recently published her first book The Bones Below.
Though she has a rapidly growing fan base through the use of social media sites like Tumblr, DeMulder remains a mostly uncovered gem compared to her Button Poetry counterparts. DeMulder is an aggressive artist that doesn’t hide behind poetic language. She often calls out problematic celebrities and even fellow poets. Her poem “Katy Perry” criticizes the singer for her homophobic remarks. She also has a poem called “The Tampon Poem,” where she criticizes another unnamed poet who talks about the embarrassment of buying tampons for his girlfriend. While she is better known for her bold statements about society, Demulder also has many love poems about her first hand experiences with an abusive boyfriend that offers a very human viewpoint.

DeMulder’s presence on stage is enough to make the listener pay attention to what she has to say, but she uses this spotlight to tell stories that can make a difference; the messages her poems leave are a huge factor in why shes such an important artist.

Javon Johnson

“It’s about how poor Black boys

are treated as problems

well before we are treated as people.”

Javon Johnson is the only poet on the list that is also a journalist. Johnson works as a reporter for the Huffington Post, a documentaire who has worked in collaboration with the NBA and Nike, and as an assistant professor at San Francisco State University. In his free time, he is a back-to-back national poetry slam champion. Johnson went viral in 2013 with “Cuz He’s Black,” which made national media headlines. He is currently working on his first book.

Johnson is a passionate speaker with an intimidating stage presence. When he starts his poem, the crowd goes silent and remains that way until they’re forced to let out a sound of agreement with a strong line. Johnson doesn’t play around with his message; he speaks with force and uses metaphors like  war zones when referring to city streets. Johnson’s eyes bulge out of his head when he delivers his poems with words like punches; he doesn’t ask for your attention, he demands it. “Cuz He’s Black” tells the story of Johnson explaining to his nephew why not to hide from police, and how to be a strong young black man. Just thinking about it gives me goosebumps. His other poem’s including “PTSD” remain on the topic he is obviously passionate about, that of growing up as a black male.

He speaks with such passion, it sparks a fire burning inside the listener and makes a viewer want to make a real difference. Javon Johnson speaks with more passion in his performances than priests in sermons, and creates an image to the audience reminiscent of Malcolm X. That kind of passion cannot go unnoticed.

Bo Burnham

“But I’m just a kid, and maybe I’ll grow out of it”

The only individual on this list that is known more for his comedy than his poetry, Bo Burnham is also the only member of this list who’s a celebrity. Bo Burnham grew up in Massachussetts and gained a huge following by posting videos of him singing funny (and sometimes offensive) songs onto his YouTube account. He has accumulated over 130,701,439views on YouTube from videos he uploaded as early as 2007, which he recorded when he was only 15-years-old. Burnham began recording these videos just for fun, and was surprised when high schoolers all over the nation flocked to his videos. In 2008, Burnham got a record deal with Comedy Central Records and released his EP, Bo Fo Sho. In 2010, Burnham had his first stand up special titled Words,Words,Words. Burnham continued his success on social media when he created a Vine account and received 1.8 million followers. Burnham recently recorded his 2013 special what. which he recorded for free and posted to YouTube.So Burnham already being a successful comic turned his career in a different direction when he released Egghead: Or, You Can’t Survive on Ideas Alone his book of poems right after his special. The general population would describe Burnham as a comedian, but he also reads his poetry aloud at many shows including what.

Burnham’s style of comedy is usually very politically incorrect, but really quite hilarious. He does have a couple of poems that follow this style, but recently has placed his deeper emotions into his work. To understand this change in content, you must look deeper into his jokes and realize how he really feels about himself. Since YouTube, his work has spiraled much darker. It is clear when dissecting his lyrics to see that Burnham has a lot of problems with his work, which stems from his opinion that he sold out as a comedian. In his song “Welcome to The Show,” which he wrote for what., his first lyric is “You used to do comedy when you felt like being funny. But now, you’re contractually obligated. So dance, you f***ing monkey, Dance, Monkey Dance!” Just from this line you can see the deeply negative viewpoint Burnham has of himself and how he became a comedian. Later on in the same special, he performs a song “Left Brain, Right Brain” where he plays both roles and creates a conversation between the two of them. The conversation centers around the argument that they aren’t doing their job because Bo is so unhappy. The left side of one’s brain handles language, logic, critical thinking, and reasoning, while the right side of the brain handles emotions. Burnham uses this knowledge in the form of the left side of his brain saying, “I worked hard to give him everything he cared about, you were worried about the things he was scared about.” Bo also has songs called “From God’s Perspective” and “Art is Dead,” which deal with topics that are a far from humorous. His lyrics are what makes his poems so meaningful.

Though his name seems out of place on this list, Burnham is an extremely interesting character who makes you feel for him by performing. One of the most important parts of his poems is that his audience is generally young adults and by conveying these emotions, he shows them it’s okay to feel things and talk about them. By bleeding on stage for his listeners, he is making beautiful artwork.

The purpose of poetry has always been to send themes across in the beautiful forms and all of these artists accomplish that on stage. I highly recommend listening to all of them, and by doing so, you are fighting to keep poetry alive.