What a night we had at open mic night! The vibes in the room were everything from comedy, sorrow, grief, revenge and happiness. We traveled to Tower Hamlets, London to attend open mic night at RichMix. They welcome the communities of the world in East London to create, enjoy and share culture.
As we entered the room our ears and eyes were met with lively music, red neon lights and the host, Yomi Sode. The way in which this open mic night worked consisted of a number of participants’ names being in a tin bucket. The host called out 5 names to participate in the first half of the show. But before these hopeful poets, rappers and artists showcased their talents we had the pleasure of hearing from featured artists who have already found success in their careers.
One artist in particular was an Australian native rapper Kobie Dee. He has performed in a number of concerts and made a number of music videos. He shared with us two songs and rapped them both without a beat. The words he shared with us were powerful, courageous and saddening. Kobie gave the audience some brief background into his work and why he wrote his songs.
There is a constant battle with the Gomeroi, his native people, and the government of Australia. They have been wrongfully abused and not given certain rights. His songs are a testimony of his people for his people. It was rewarding to learn so much while also witnessing so much talent.
From the lucky participants whose names were chosen we heard poems about first kisses, abuse, the London Fire, wiping butts, school education and so much more. For every person who went on stage and was a first timer the RichMix club had a special christening. It went like this:
Host: “Can I get a count down from the crowd?”
Random crowd member: “3,2,1….”
Crowd: “Oua oua, whoop whoop, first timer!”
DJ: Queue disco ball and music!
Poet/artist: awkwardly stand or dance
There were a lot of first timers the night we went. As an audience member I was shocked by how amazing each newbie did! They all had so much confidence and calmness to them. One guy in particular who was a newbie went up and started speaking his poem with so much passion. His confidence was through the roof, his message was loud and clear. I can speak for everyone in the crowd that we wanted more from him because his poem was spectacular.
Overall open mic night was a success for artists and crowd members. We may even have a few class members brewing up their own poems to soon share at an open mic night.
Emme boots is a junior English major from Bluffton, Indiana.
