Spoken Word Music

Spoken word is a literary and performance art in which lyrics, poetry, sketches or stories are spoken instead of sung; it is a catch-all category for anything that doesn’t fall into the other established categories of performance. Rising in popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s, spoken word records and spoken word music can use a musical background, but the emphasis lies on the speaker and his/ her word-based performance. Spoken word artists are often either performance poets, actors, and musicians, such as William S Burroughs, Ani DiFranco, Allen Ginsberg, Lauryn Hill, John Hall, Dana Bryant, William Shatner, Henry Rollins, Maggie Estep, Steve Martin, Alan Kaufman, Tom Waits, Paul Robeson, John Most, George Lopez, Paul Beatty, Ray Romano, and Bob Holman, among many others.

Spoken Word Performances

The spoken word genre can be used to recognize any word-based performance that takes on such forms as poetry reading, poetry slams (where artists duel each other in cabaret-style performances), political/ social commentary, storytelling, jazz poetry, sound-emphasis poetry, African-American toasting, reggae riddims, and other similar practices that do not rely exclusively on music, theatre or dance. Lyrics, poetry, sketches or stories are spoken rather than sung. The spoken word movement is popularly characterized by coffeehouse performances, improvisation, confessional and stream-of-consciousness styles, and liberal themes. These are usually performed by poets, actors, musicians, prose writers, commentators, and even comedians.

A History of the Spoken Word Genre

Spoken word as an oral tradition has always been around, since poetry after all has been in existence since the beginning of the civilization. One can go back in history to the time when Homer was reading The Odyssey. One can also examine the 1950s and 1960s when the politically-driven Beat poets like Jack Kerouac, William S Burroughs, and Allen Ginsberg began to use the spoken word to express themselves. But as a genre of performance art, spoken word found its origins in the late 1980s and early 1990s, during which time America saw an increased interest in spoken poetry. It is at this time that spoken word was assigned as the term for a new consciousness that sprung out of the Postmodern Art Movement.

Artists like Dana Bryant, Henry Rollins, John Hall, and Maggie Estep were among those who had spurred the spoken word movement, and it became so popular that MTV took notice of it and showcased spoken word performances in a show called “Spoken Word Unplugged”. The art and entertainment form thus made it to the television screen – and the mainstream.

Now, the spoken word has become as diverse as the people who perform them. Top-selling spoken word artists today include John Most, George Lopez, Ray Romano, and Paul Robeson, as well as Beat poets like Allen Ginsberg, William S Burroughs, and Jack Kerouac.

Spoken Word Albums, Records, and CDs

Celebrate the diversity of oral tradition here at MusicStack and be inspired by the spoken word movement. William S Burroughs CDs, Ani DiFranco CDs, Allen Ginsberg CDs, Lauryn Hill CDs, John Hall CDs, Dana Bryant CDs, William Shatner CDs, Henry Rollins CDs, Maggie Estep CDs, Steve Martin CDs, Alan Kaufman CDs, Tom Waits CDs, Paul Robeson CDs, John Most CDs, George Lopez CDs, Paul Beatty CDs, Ray Romano CDs, and Bob Holman CDs, among other spoken word albums, records, and CDs, are all available, as are spoken word vinyl LPs.

Spoken Word Records and Spoken Word CDs

Find all kinds of rare, hard to find and out-of-print Spoken Word records and Spoken Word CDs on MusicStack.

William S Burroughs
Allen Ginsberg
Jack Kerouac
William Shatner
George Lopez
John Most
Bob Holman
Paul Beatty
Maggie Estep
Henry Rollins
Tom Waits

Spoken Word Websites

Spoken word Spoken word page at Wikipedia
The History of Spoken Word A History page of the spoken word movement
Spoken word at Lala.com Browse the spoken word genre at Lala.com