Spoken poetry finds fans in eastern Congo
Young people put their anger and hopes into slam
IN A SMALL, dimly lit room one recent Saturday morning, a group of Congolese slammers are chanting about politics and art, poverty and sex. They tower over the seated audience, gesticulating wildly. The listeners laugh, jeer and occasionally join in by repeating refrains or clapping. This is exactly how slam is meant to be. Marc Smith, an American former builder who hosted the world’s first slam event in Chicago in 1984, would be impressed.
This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “Rhyme for your life”
From the April 10th 2021 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionMore from Culture
Witty and wise, “A Real Pain” is a masterpiece in a minor key
Jesse Eisenberg’s deceptively slight film asks big moral questions
Now it’s all about TikTok. But Huawei led the way
The Chinese telecoms firm was the first to raise America’s hackles
Want to spend time with a different American president?
Five presidential biographies to distract you from the news
Los Angeles has lost some of its trailblazing architecture
How will it rebuild?
What firms are for
The framework for thinking about business and capitalism is hopelessly outdated, argues a new book
Greg Gutfeld, America’s most popular late-night host, rules the airwaves
The left gave him his perch