Ras Baraka’s voice echoes on the campaign trail, Beyonce’s tour, and at a Rutgers poetry slam
The Newark mayor’s spoken word is featured on the Cowboy Carter tour.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka‘s voice can be heard on the campaign trail throughout the state for New Jersey governor as he makes his case for his progressive vision for the state. Now it can also be heard on Beyoncé’s tour — and, this Wednesday, at a Rutgers poetry slam.
“I want to hear an American poem,” Baraka recites in an audio clip that plays during an interlude video at Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter tour, which began on April 28. “Something American, you know, something American you know. Some sassy s–.”
Baraka, a longtime spoken word artist, said he was “fresh out of college” when he wrote the piece American Poem, which he performed on Def Poetry Jam on HBO in 2003.
“South Carolina slave shouter, Alabama backwoods church shack call and response,” he continues in the audio clip. “Hey you, hey, hey you, where are all the American poems about Harlem number runners and barbershop conversations about colored faces on colored TVs?”
@aarondukess it was breathtaking in real life #beyonce #cowboycartertour #ameriicanrequiem ♬ original sound - aaron
He says “American images,” and scenes of Black artists fill the screen, including the likes of Roy Hamilton, Tina Turner, Sam Cooke, and Chuck Berry. The interlude also features conservative critics of Beyoncé’s foray into country music, including actor John Schneider comparing her to a dog marking its territory and political commentator Megyn Kelly saying “most Americans in red states” have enjoyed the genre before she “decided to stick her big toe into the lane.”
Baraka, a progressive, is running in a competitive six-candidate Democratic primary and would be New Jersey’s first Black governor. His campaign shared a video on social media last week splicing audio from the tour with footage from his 2003 performance, with the June 10 primary date at the end.
American Poem calls for the recognition of multicultural aspects of American history that Baraka said have been excluded or wiped away and that people don’t like to talk about, ranging from the Ku Klux Klan and the struggle for working and civil rights to graffiti and hip-hop – things that are all American to him, he said. The message is still relevant today, particularly with efforts against Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in schools, he said.
“I think the poem is appropriate for her show, and who she is, her style, what she’s trying to express, her doing her foray into country music, and being very successful at it, at that,” he said in an interview Monday.
Baraka said Beyoncé’s team contacted him to ask permission to use his poem shortly before the tour began, and that they’re working on contractual details. He said he doesn’t know Beyoncé personally.
His experience as an orator was evident in the first gubernatorial debate, where he stood out as particularly comfortable behind the podium. Baraka said the cadence of spoken word and political speeches can be similar and his experience as an artist helps him connect with voters.
“The way you use words is important,” he said. “It helps you connect with people. You try to tap into people’s emotions. And as a poet, as a writer, you want people to see the things that you’re saying … not just listen to what you’re saying."
Baraka said he began writing poetry in high school, keeping poems in his pocket on loose leaf paper. He started performing spoken word in college and created a spoken word poetry show called Verse for Verse in Newark. He was featured on Lauryn Hill’s 1998 album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. His father Amiri Baraka was also a poet and an activist.
Baraka said he still writes often and that it helps him clear his head and release tension.
“Spoken word to me is the thing that, you know, keeps me going, keeps my imagination going, keeps me grounded to issues and reminds me of why we are involved in politics in the first place,” he said.
In 2020 he released a piece called “What We Want,” which highlighted, in part, some of his progressive political views, like free healthcare and education.
He’ll be performing as a guest at a poetry slam at 9 p.m. at Rutger‘s New Brunswick campus this Wednesday, and said students invited him before his Cowboy Carter debut.
Baraka said he still goes to the studio when he can, where he said he speaks poetry over (very loud) music.
His attitude with that music? “Whatever happens, happens.”
“I don’t think I’m gonna be Grammy Award winning, but you never know,” he said.
After all, he made it on Beyoncé’s tour.