Being a spoken word artist myself, people keep telling me that they ‘don’t get it’ but I’m of the impression that it’s very much like general music. Just like music, if it’s done well, it can truly move you to the core, and not unlike music, if it isn’t done well you can come across sounding like a twelve year old who had to grudgingly write something last minute as homework for a class you hate.
Luckily for Aaron Kent and his spoken-word album, ‘Imminent Conversations‘ he falls in the doing it well category. With his acapella hip-hop vocal delivery Kent works across a breadth of themes, from society’s misgivings to his own adolescence, often being profound and frequently comical in the process. Stand-out track ‘There is a Poverty Line‘ highlights the bleak financial state that we find ourselves in, “I can barely afford to live, let alone afford to give” while ‘A Fair and Equal Society‘ attacks everything from the emphasis on dieting to journalism (perhaps this is where I should hide?), “They print the news that suits their truth, a version that moves sales and not you, hash tag news to trivialize the truth, if you’ve got a view it’s yours to tweet – or lose”. Kent is at his best however, when he is at his most personal, like on track ‘Intermittent Conversations‘, a story of a fathers adultery and its effect on the family which rings so true to me that I can’t help but feel sick to my stomach.
‘Imminent Conversations‘ is a great example of spoken word done to a high standard. I could say that it isn’t for all of you but it is, there is something on here that we could all relate to if given the chance. At such a young age, with ‘Imminent Conversations‘ Aaron Kent is demonstrating that he is a voice for the affected youth. Let him be heard.
[rating: 4]
http://aaronkent.bandcamp.com
