A poetry and music night hosted by Inua Ellams, with ten contemporary poets creating and sharing new verse in response to D'Angelo's album 'Brown Sugar'.
Inua Ellams hosts The Brown Sugar RAP Party at Contact on Thursday 15 October, a poetry and music night that marks the first anniversary of D'Angelo's passing. The whole evening is built around his 1993 album Brown Sugar, one of the most important R&B records of the nineties and widely credited as a founding text of the neo-soul movement. It's a spin on Ellams' own Rhythm and Poetry Party (The R.A.P Party), and he's billed it as a nostalgic, no-clutter, no-fuss evening of live poetry and music.
Ten contemporary poets from Greater Manchester and neighbouring cities have each written new verse in response to the record, and they'll be sharing that work throughout the night. The line-up runs from multi-award-winning British Jamaican-Nigerian surrealist P.A. BITEZ to Forward Prize winner Griot Gabriel and Royal Society of Literature Fellow Khadijah Ibrahiim. Joining them are Princess Arinola Adegbite, Segun Lee-French, Toreh O'Garro, Ella Otomewo, Keisha Thompson, Yusra Warsama, Reece Williams, and Ellams himself. It's a broad spread of voices from across the region, all working from the same record.
The night is presented by 05 Events in partnership with Manchester Literature Festival and Contact, and it sits within the festival's 'Music Poetry Read Write' theme. It's a poetry night that takes its cue from a piece of music, so the record is the common thread that ties the different poets together. If you're familiar with Brown Sugar, you'll have a sense of the mood they're responding to; if not, it's a good excuse to give it a spin before the night.
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It runs from 8:00 pm to 9:15 pm at Contact, Oxford Rd, Manchester M15 6JA, with tickets at £16, £14, and £10.
