Postmodernist Spoken Word and Poetry Slams

Extra Credit

Be warned. Some of these poems have spicy language in them. But hey, slam poetry & spoken word is kind of a Postmodernist thing!

This is Taylor Mali. He's one of the most famous slam poets in America. I bet you can't figure out why I love this poem so much! This is full of irony and a dash of paranoia.

Here is Rudy Francisco's spoken word performance of "Complainers." Consider his use of maximalism and fragmentation here when you watch his inspiring, energizing presentation!

Oh, come on. You knew there would be some Epic Rap Battles of History in here. I love the pastiche and historiographic metafiction elements of this one, combining historical events with Marvel comics. Perfect.

[Content Note in description below.]

This is spoken word called "Dear Anxiety" by Clayton Jennings. It is a powerful account of his overcoming anxiety, and it uses Postmodern elements of metafiction and intertextuality/pastiche. I tear up when I watch him. This one is heavier, so [CN - it addresses mental health issues, religion] skip this one if you think it's inappropriate for you.

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Epic Rap Battles - Thanos Vs. Robert Oppenheimer

After watching the Epic Rap Battle between Thanos and Robert Oppenheimer, I realized that I had bias for Thanos because I know who he was. I never heard who Oppenheimer was, but I decided to research him and found out he was known as the "father of the atomic bomb" as he designed and built the atomic bomb. What's funny about this is that both of these people are destroyers of worlds, partly. Robert himself definitely didn't destroy worlds, but the creation could have. Thanos is, but even with his biased advantage, I still think Robert Oppenheimer had better comebacks and dropped the atomic bomb on Thanos and absolutely obliterated him.