They drop verbiage all over the place, spit rhymes that make you scream in awe, and leave you wishing for more. Director Rotimi Rainwater's ”Sp!t” documents the journeys of four slam poets as they struggle to make a living through their art and find resilience in their failures and accomplishments.
Revolving around the National Poetry Slam Championship, Rainwater brings the art of slam poetry to life through the artists that create it as they compete for spots in Nationals. We meet Shihan Van Clief, the accomplished slam master, Mollie Angelheart, the amateur, and east coast poets Oveous Maximus and Al Be Back. “Sp!t” is a glimpse into the world of spoken word, and through competition you’ll find yourself rooting each of these artists on.
The film discovers the fine line between spoken word and hip-hop culture. Today’s bling-bling obsessed rap music has lost the raw truthfulness that hip-hop culture was once vibrant with, but these slam poets use their flow of poetry to bring back everything that is missing in hip-hop.
Rainwater brings the art of slam out of the cafes and back to the street corners where these verbal battles began. The artistry is real because none of these poets come from a glamorous background – their socially conscious struggle to change the world comes from their personal experiences within this urban culture.
“Sp!t” gives us everything we’ve always wanted from hip-hop. Pushing aside all the BS and the commercialism that has filled the airwaves, Rainwater brings us back to the roots of the culture and the brilliance of poetry.
Originally published @ http://www.hhnlive.com/reviews/more/145
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