Tuesday, 1 July 2014

Jammin' At The Font - Magazine Work

Joanne Philpott pops down to a night combined of rap, freestyle and poetry

 

There is nothing quite like Beat It Poetry in Leicester.
 

Combine open mic, spokenword, poetry and live beat boxing, add some underground and old school hip-hop vibes and together you have something that is certainly a fresh and enjoyable experience to say the least. 

The event, which is highly successful and has brought an array of people to date has taken place at The Font for over a year, originally starting off at The Hub in November 2012. 

Richard Lloyd, who is the brainchild of Beat It Poetry decided to start the event as he felt that he needed to get people to perform to crowds, not just in their bedrooms. “I was somebody who used to practice by myself in my bedroom, then I got my breakthrough at Next Level Competition. It gave me the confidence to perform outside my own space and inspired me. I wanted to give people the chance to gain confidence themselves.”
 

“At first I was happy to keep it going at The Hub, but my friend Tony Cope encouraged me to make it bigger and better and take it to The Font.”, Richardtold me. “At first the event only had a few people, but it has moved fast and got a lot of support.”

As well as himself running the night, Richard has had help from his fellow friend and DJ, Splinter. ‘If I didn’t have Splinter helping me out I would not be here right not. He’s been brilliant.”
 

The event has had many highs and lows over the past year, as you could imagine. For Richard, no event is the same; different acts every week meaning a different atmosphere. Full bands have played, acoustics guitars and even a loop pedal.
 

And the lows? “Setting up and the technical issues are the biggest problem”, Richard said. “Luckily now we’re at The Font we don’t have to carry decks anymore like we had to at The
Hub.”
 

The first birthday at The Font saw an array of acts, who all bought the crowd to silence with their talents. The main act of the night was Motormouf. Real name Alex Young, Motormouf mixed in
beat-boxing, singing, and even bought a loop to help along with his act. Alongside him on the night were such acts as Tony Le Tigre, Ingoex, Jake, Kumerlie and Cama Carsie. They all bought a mix of poetry, beat boxing, spoken word and free style.
 

Adding in his happiness of the success of Beat It, Richard told me “I can’t believe that I have been doing this for a year. At first it was something I was doing in my free time, but now I am getting paid for it, which makes it even better.”
 

And upon asking Richard to describe Beat It Poetry in five words, he replied: ‘The poetry jam is dope!”

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