Voices in Power

Whatʼs up family? We hope this finds you well and in good spirits. For those who have been with us before, you already know our vibe and for those who may be new to us, hereʼs some information that hopefully leads you to come experience what we do best. We are a National Poetry Open Mic Experience in multiple cities across the country with Philadelphia being where we began our journey. Weʼve been curating monthly experiences since April 2011 and have grown tremendously over the years, especially here in Philly, which brought us to introduce a second monthly experience – The Poetʼs Pit now at our new home location World Cafe Live. This will carry the same culture and vibes of our larger experience on 1st Saturdays – family, generosity, love, encouragement, passion, and of course – poetry while also highlighting local small business and visual artists. We knew once a month wasnʼt enough and we wanted to turn up with our family on a Tuesday evening over some food and drinks. If youʼre interested in being one of our vendors or live painters, please send us an email to findme@imsuperdope.com with “The Poets Pit” in the subject line. The Poetʼs Pit will be hosted by either Mic Phillips or Jovan McKoy with music by DJ G33k. We will have a recap video from each night shot and edited by Dolo and poetry performances recorded by Bagi Image. All videos will be up on our YouTube channel and posted on our social media. Again, if you know, you know, and if not, the best way you can find out is by grabbing your ticket and coming through to experience something that will feed your soul. Tickets are limited and always sell out so please donʼt hesitate on grabbing your tickets. For poets looking to perform, we have an all raffle open mic list and get between 14-17 poets on stage each night. The process is simple-once the doors open, by the stage youʼll find one of our team members who will have raffle tickets ready for you. Each poet gets one ticket and it gets tossed into our bowl. Poets have until 7:20 PM to sign a ticket to be considered for our open mic that night. At 7:30 PM one of our hosts will get on stage to start the night and tickets will be randomly selected and that poet will make their way to the stage to perform. We will do this throughout the night until we end it off with our featured poet. Please note: raffles can only be signed on site between 6:00 PM & 7:20 PM. No exceptions. We hope to see you there as we believe your soul needs this type of energy. With love always, Luis Marrero Founder Please note: We are a poetry only open mic experience, meaning we do not allow any other type of performances but poetry. No music is allowed, whether live or on a track, no comedians, no singers, etc. We know our heart is for poetry and we want to create a space for our poets.

Poet, recording artist, songwriter, activist and revolutionary Maʼat Mama, Ursula Rucker is a certified veteran of the global music and poetry scene. A skilled writer and dynamic performer, Ruckerʼs rich and textured voice is one of the worldʼs great, living instruments. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Rucker began to share her poetic gifts in her 20s, performing at open mics in the city before two standout recorded performances announced to the world that Rucker was an emerging force to be reckoned with. In 1994, Rucker broke out performing a memorable lead vocal for “Supernatural”, the classic House tune by DJ King Britt side-project, Firefly. The song remains a dancefloor classic today. That same year, Rucker would record a jaw-dropping performance on The Roots “The Unlocking”, the closer from their ground-breaking full length Do You Want More?!!!??! Today, Rucker enjoys a standing as a respected poet, writer and vocalist. For nearly 3 decades, Rucker has used her fiery prose and invigorating imagery to excite and inspire listeners around the world. In addition to her performance on HBOʼs Def Poetry Jam, Rucker has established herself as a top-tier recording artist. Whether sheʼs on the stage, in print, or on record, Ursula Rucker is an artistic force of nature.