Olulu on City Lace NTA 2 talking about Spoken Word Poetry in Nigeria

Spoken Word is a revival of an ancient African art form. 

It is words spoken with a rhythm not necessarily a beat and 

not necessarily rhyming. 

Spoken word has a through line, it is soulful, it can be fun and 

beautiful and definitely requires skill.

It is often compared to poetry.

Spoken Word Poetry is when emotions find thought and thoughts 

find words. 

Our calendar for Spoken Word Poetry Events in the year 2014 in Nigeria.

Hello,

Trust you are having a great day. 

Thank you for your interest in our activities.

We have 3 major events that we organize, and they are as follows:

1.    WORD UP (Spoken Word Poetry and Soul Music Event).

Word Up is arguably the biggest Spoken Word Poetry Event in Nigeria, and from August 2012 to August 2013, five editions of Word up were held providing the much needed visibility for Brands we partnered with. We even brought in an internationally renowned Spoken Word Poet (Shihan Van Clief) for our event, Word Up Volume 4 in May 2013, and we celebrated our one year anniversary in August 2013 during Word Up Volume 5.

Our next event, Word Up Volume 6 is scheduled for November 23, 2013 and it will be centered around the United Nation’s “International day for the elimination of violence against women,” with the theme, "Stop the violence."

For the coming year 2014, we will be partnering with  international poets from across the world. 

2.     War Of Words (Slam Poetry Competition)

This is a performance poetry competition that allows poets from all over Nigeria compete against each other.

What makes this exciting is that the Brand that partners with our team will receive leverage as the entries will be centered around the brand’s values and other such matters they might want promoted online.

The competition will be both online and on stage involving video presentations, article writing and Performance Poetry. It promises exciting content and results for brands that partner with us.

There will be cash prizes for the top 3 poets and partners can offer additional gifts of value to the winning poets.

3.     Word Up Talk Series 3 ( a Seminar/Workshop on the Business of Spoken Word Poetry in Nigeria)

We will be offering workshops, training and tips to empower poets and aspiring poets on how to write and perform good poems as well as turn it into profit.

Please find below our event calendar for 2014.

Date	Venue	Activities of the event	Major Highlights	Status/ Level of Completion	Benefits to the sponsors
February 15, 2014	Lagos	WORD UP a Spoken Word Poetry Event interlaced with soul music. This event will feature only A-list poets and the spoken word poems will center around love and how together we can make it work for the greater good of Nigeria.	It will be a Love themed event.	10%	Branding Opportunity across all touch points. Advert placements in our DVDS sold   across the country, and around the world. Brand exposure on social media sites and affiliated websites e.g. Google plus, Youtube, Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter, Pin Interest, Naij.com, Linda Ikeji Blog, BellaNaija etc. Media exposure. Product/ Services Experience and Sampling Speaking Opportunity Database Acquisition and so much more.
May 2014	Lagos	Seminar on the Business of Spoken Word Poetry in Nigeria	We will have established Spoken Word Poets, Event Managers, Business Mangers  and Brand Experts come train and talk to new and aspiring Spoken Word Poets.	0%
June 2014	V.I, Lagos	War Of Words (slam poetry competition) that is open to all category of people. There will be pre-selection activities to prune down the online entries  to 15 poets before the event date.	The event will have a theme to match Sponsor’s brand name/ brand phrase. The top 3 poets get cash prizes and will perform at the next WORD UP event,	Online submission of entries for the competition will kick off in March 2014. 0%
August 2014	Lagos	WORD UP a Spoken Word Poetry Event interlaced with soul music. This event will feature only A-list poets and soul singers that have been pre-selected to perform.	2nd Anniversary Edition of our event and we will feature an internationally renowned Spoken Word Artist. Negotiation is on going	0%
November 2014	Lagos	WORD UP a Spoken Word Poetry Event interlaced with soul music. This event will feature only A-list poets and soul singers that have been pre-selected to perform. It will be centered around the United Nation’s “International day for the elimination of violence against women.”	It will be themed, "Weaker sex, but not a punching bag."	0%

 4.   TV and Radio Partnerships 

We are in talks with TV and Radio stations for an on air poetry show morning of every weekday and in the evenings during the weekend.

We will keep you updated with progress so you can latch on to this and receive the much needed visibility for your brand and products.

We are available for further clarifications.

For inquiries, please call +2348025070892, +2348038315055

Or mail Wordup4one1@gmail.com, olulu4ever@gmail.com, i2xmedia@gmail.com

The need to see the bigger picture (for Spoken Word Poets).

Life has taught us not to always see things in black and white, for there are always shades of grey.

The business expert had always advised that one of the ways to run a successful business is to discover a need and fill it.

Reality has shown that delayed gratification leads to an extended run of inflows.

History has shown that pride cometh before fall.

Common sense has shown that helping others succeed will make you excel.

As an individual, I had a “9 to 5” I did and could had comfortably live off on it, with no complaints.

However, one day I had a dream with my eyes wide open and ever since then, I have not slept soundly.

I had a dream of building a business around my passion, which was to create an industry for Spoken Word Poets in Nigeria.

We all know that, no man is an island, and the wise people will say, life is life with others.

So I told my “crazy” dream to my friends and as many people that cared to listen.

Many laughed it off, some offered advice, others offered criticism, yabs, mental evaluation and the likes, but a special few decided to support this “crazy” dream of mine.

How do you write a business plan on creating an industry? Well, we didn’t.

I wrote down what I saw, my friends / partners wrote what they think I should see.

We read it, we argued, we discussed, we fought, we reconciled and then we agreed.

We started in February 2012 co-organizing, a monthly  open mic poetry show (Chill and Relax).

Co-organizing is actually a fanciful word for “apprenticeship.” Yes, we were apprentices at a live poetry show (well, we still are, and please do ask, are you a learner?).

This afforded us the opportunity to see how things were being done. We gained experience, publicity, media relations, contacts and content, (over a 100 poetry clips and still counting).

Fast forward to August 2012, and we held our own first major show, WORD UP (a Spoken Word Poetry and Soul Music Event).

People said it was a success, I personally felt we could do better. So we kept at it and since August 2012, we have held WORD UP on a quarterly basis.

After the 3^rd edition in February 2013, we decided to go bigger than before and take a giant leap by inviting a foreign poet.

As fate would have it, we met Shihan Van Clief and he agreed to come for our show on May 18, 2013, WORD UP Volume 4 (hey, you are invited to attend).

Let me add that since we started, we have had support at different points in time from 3 different organizations.

Ok, why all this “history and development?”  well, because, we saw a need, “unemployment” and we decided to fill it. We saw the bigger picture of the various ways Spoken Word Poetry can be used. It can be used as a genre of entertainment, a tool to increase literacy level, and a means of communication among people across the globe. Ultimately, we can use Spoken Word Poetry to create employment for poets to earn a decent living from their amazing performances.

But all these might never materialize if we don’t consistently and persistently organize Poetry Shows, create awareness, promote poets and remain in the public eye through providing them with relevant content.

Do we get paid from these? NO.

Do we have a big sponsorship deal? NO.

Ok, do we have any sponsorship deal? NO.

Do we make money from the gate takings? NO.

Where do you get the money to finance it from? From personal savings.

But why do it if it is not profitable? Nobody will pay you for what you want to do,  but they will pay you for what they have seen you do. Money follows value.

But what is the essence of doing it if you are not getting paid? Simple, delayed gratification. In other words, we are looking at the bigger picture, and not the immediate “Naira and kobo.”

Industries don’t grow if the “beneficiaries” go insisting that they must get immediate gratification.

Go ask Ali Baba and Opa Williams.

Of course one or two “beneficiaries,” might be making money now, but one out of many is nothing.

There is even a saying that “a rich man in the midst of poor people is also a poor man.”

Besides, if building an industry was that easy, why didn’t someone do it earlier?

Building an industry requires forgoing self, and becoming selfless.

It requires sacrifice, putting yourself on the line to make the dream a reality.

For instance, imagine if some 10 to 20 years ago, only Ali Baba went to perform at shows, do you think the comedy industry would be where it is right now?

Ali Baba took people like Basket Mouth, AY and the likes along with him to shows, so that people could see it was more than just a one man thing.

If Ali Baba had been concerned about having to share the “Naira and Kobo” he was to be paid, would he have taken others along with him?

And pray tell, is Ali Baba still not relevant in the industry?

Is there any comedian or even any one, that can claim not to know “Night of a thousand laughs?”

Can anyone authoritatively say all the comedians that performed there got paid? Both the well-known and the unknown.

Opa Williams started Night of a thousand laughs comedy show which helped grow the comedy industry in Nigeria.

As at when Night of a thousand laughs started we had maybe 2 or 3 well known comedians. If they had insisted on getting paid before featuring on the show, I bet you the comedy industry would still be in a state of comatose.

But look what we have now, these days many comedians command decent performance fees, because you don’t need to explain what comedy is all about, people know it.

As Spoken Word Poets, we all need to see the bigger picture and come together to make this thing work. Life is a team sport, playing as a lone striker/ player means you might not get the passes you need , or might not be able to hold on to the ball long enough for someone to get a pass from you. Thus you play till you are worn out and the desired results won’t be forthcoming.

Let me conclude with this,  “He who waters will also be watered himself.” The general principle of a great life, is that of living for the good of others, because in doing that, we shall be profited ourselves.

By

Olumide Holloway

08025070892 

LitCaf (the social club where books are the liquors).

In Nigeria, there are many places for the lovers of music, wine and other forms of entertainment to unwind or socialize but there is hardly a place for the lovers of books to share information or pick a book to read under a relaxing and socially stimulating environment.   The Literary Café or LitCaf Nigeria can be described as the social club where books are the liquors, where the music is not deafening, where the lights are not so dimmed, where the dancing steps are the gesticulations of individuals who have come to socialize under an intellectual milieu. It is the place where the pickup line of a gentleman to a lady is not just ‘can I buy you a drink’ but also is ‘have you read the book by John Maxwell?’  The Literary Cafe is different from private library in being sensitive to the things that will make book reading an enjoyable experience to the people. Unlike libraries, there will be in the literary cafe soft music, chatting, eating, and even the chance to meet with invited personalities on occasions. Other services beyond the physical cafe, includes the planning, research, writing and representation of work.  LitCaf promote worthy books with indelible values. Please find below how you may like to engage them: Publishing firms- There is room for publishers of any genre to liaise in the publicity of their books. . LitCaf Nigeria  will accept only publications fitting to its definition of good literature and which may have been suitably certified by recognized bodies. Corporate Organizations- they facilitate capacity development for company staffs subscribed to LitCaf Nigeria through recurrent seminars. Institutions- LitCaf Nigeria moderates and provides the avenue for students from different institutions to connect with the aim of having debates, discussions and other inter-school activities. Public Officials and Figures- they provide the worthy connect between public officials and the public through talk shows and through the coordination of polls and surveys. Individuals- they organize book parties every fortnight; an avenue for book lovers to connect, discuss and enjoy books which may have been voted in preceding  parties to be the highlight of the day.

LitCaf is the place where even better histories are written. They go out on occasions, taking their events around the city.  Back in the café, they will be having smaller versions of those events. But  the literary cafe is not only about talk shows;  it is a place where individuals across ages all ages can come Mondays to Saturdays, 8am to 11pm to enjoy our light dishes.  Their ice cream and desserts will only make your reading more wonderful.  In LitCaf, you get a chance to talk to people like you.  Who knows; you might just grab an idea that will make us want to invite you to share your thoughts.  And be sure that they love music as much as you do! Looking forward  to seeing you at the hippest Café in town. LitCafe is located on the 2nd floor Ozone Cinema, Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria.