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HBO sits down with Def Poet Will Da~Real One Bell . . .
HBO:
You performed your poem "Diary of the Reformed." Can you tell us what inspired you to write it?
Will Da~Real One Bell:
It's about the day I realized I had too much to lose. When you're living the city lifestyle, it's, If you got a problem, we got a problem. My cousin's getting shot at, then this is my problem. I got in the vehicle ready for war. But enough events took place - I had poems published, I had kids come up to me and say 'I hope my brother turns out like you.' I came to the conclusion it wasn't worth doing what I was gonna be doing. I expected more out of life than sitting in a prison. We're so busy trying to flex our physical manhood - we never stop to think about it. But that night, I'm glad I did.
HBO:
You've been a spoken word artist for four years now. How did you get started?
Will Da~Real One Bell:
I had a brief stay with the Department of Corrections, and I had a lot of time on my hands. So I started writing rap songs on a tablet. One day I left the tablet on my bunk and my cellmate saw it. Lendale, Lendale Davis was his name. He looked at it and said, that's a poem. I said, that aint a poem, it's a rap song. At that point in my life, in my mind, poetry was for pansies. I didn't want to be part of that - especially being locked up. [LAUGHS] But he broke it down for me. And then I read what he had been writing, and it turned out to be poems. He was always writing, but I thought he was writing letters or something. Turned out he was writing poems, and reading what he wrote kind of inspired me - and took me in another direction.
HBO:
So how did your direction change?
Will Da~Real One Bell:
Spoken word influences come from other places. I started to see that the interesting stuff came from poetry. In rap the topics are limited, and the rhyme scheme limits your vocabulary. There are different cadences you've gotta use to get to the next word. I changed all that up, made it more freestyle. It went from a song to a conversation that rhymed.
Now my message as a spoken word artist is to announce a verbal war against rap. Rappers have run out of things to talk about. They've gotten so repetitious. Spoken word is being introduced to the world like rap was 20 years ago. They fought it tooth and nail back then, but rap is a grown man today as far as entertainment goes. Poetry is on the same level as rap was - thanks to Russell and others who have a vision. It's going to overshadow rap - I don't expect any other outcome. And spoken word poems to music - that combination is mind-blowing. So my message to rap is, step up the game or step out of the game.
HBO:
Once you found your new style, how did you go about getting your poems out there?
Will Da~Real One Bell:
My cellmate, Lendale, had been sending his poems in to the Miami Times, a black urban newspaper, and he was getting a few published. So he gave me the idea. I sent in a poem called "Officer," and it was about how bad corrections officers are to inmates, how they treat you like you're nobody. They published it. Pretty soon my cellmate and I were getting published just about every week.
HBO:
Were you treated differently after that?
Will Da~Real One Bell:
We were like jailhouse celebrities. The other inmates started coming to us, asking us to write love letters for them. Then we kinda opened a business. We'd write letters and they'd pay us with packs of cigarettes or magazines.
HBO:
Did the corrections officers change how they treated you after they read the poem about the "Officers"?
Will Da~Real One Bell:
Hell yeah. I hadn't had a Coke in fourteen months, and one day when I was working in kitchen, I said this. The next day, Sarge, who ran the kitchen, brought in a Coke. He told me to take it behind the bread counter and drink it there, where no one could see me. Drinking that Coke - I was free for a moment.
I think he saw the truth in the poem. He was exposed to not just the bitching of the average inmate, but a heartfelt expression in black and white. I think that affected him differently. He began to think differently.
HBO:
So you and your cellmate were leading a mini movement in there?
Will Da~Real One Bell:
We wrote poems on how we treat each other. More inmates became inspired. It wasn't my intention - I was just enjoying my newfound love. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be - poetry being for the pansy and stuff like that.
HBO:
Do you keep in touch with the inmates?
Will Da~Real One Bell:
A few years ago I started a poetry slam for inmates called "Slamming Behind Bars." I was the MC, and I brought in friends of mine to help out between rounds. We had a full house. It was such a success, we ended up doing three more at other jails. And now I also do small workshops for inmates on self-expression and writing.
HBO:
How often do you perform now?
Will Da~Real One Bell:
Every night of the week. I host three spots down in Miami, and I'm a part owner in a coffee shop in North Miami, the Literary Café. We have a spoken word night every Saturday. I also tour on my own, but I limit my out-of-town moves to 3 or 4 a month. This is how I make my living, and it takes a certain amount of money to tour.
HBO:
Did you ever have any interesting in writing or performing when you were younger?
Will Da~Real One Bell:
I'm a Sugar Hill Gang baby, like everyone else who was running around here talking about the "hip, hop, the hibbadahop"... Don't even try to spell that. But I never thought I'd be writing poems. I will tell you something I don't usually tell people. When I was a kid, I loved reading the dictionary like it was book. I did. And I wrote country songs. Yep. I think that influenced how I write today. Country songs always have a story line, they're about pain, struggle and heartbreak. In the quiet of my own room, I'd even sing the songs they wrote. [LAUGHS]
HBO:
And this was in Miami? How'd you end up listening to country music in Miami?
Will Da~Real One Bell:
My father is fascinated with old western movies. He's an old school Georgia guy, loves blues and country. I liked Charlie Pride and Hank Williams. My favorite song was "The closer you get the farther I fall." Also "Elvira". I loved that.
HBO:
So whatever happened to your cellmate, Lendale Davis?
Will Da~Real One Bell:
Lendale fell victim to that storyline in Diary of the Reformed. He got out, but by the time he was on the streets he was back in again. He's doing 15 years. I saw his mom recently and asked about him. I mention him every time someone interviews me - I'm really grateful to him.
HBO:
Do you have any advice for the up and coming poets?
Will Da~Real One Bell:
I've got advice: you can't go into this on any other level than a business level - treat it like a job. You can't treat it like a hobby. Most hobbies are at a person's leisure. When you do something to survive, you are the product, and you have to prepare your product for sale. You've got to remember that at all times, everything you do reflects that product - what you do on the street, which organizations you support. Keep that in mind. It's a constant grind to prove yourself, 'cause you're only as good as your last poem. So you're always creating the next step.
And focus on not being great as a poet, but being great as a human being. Then everything that you touch you'll succeed at, because of the greatness you have in your heart.
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