I've often mentioned slam poetry on this blog, but until recently I haven't examined it much. On my YouTube channel is a playlist consisting of what I consider to be some of the best slam poets in the British slam scene. In this new and hopefully ongoing feature, I'll be analysing the poets and some of their work to see how slam poetry works and how it fits in to the wider poetry spectrum. Kicking off the proceedings is spoken word artist Suli Breaks and his absolutely terrific spoken word poem 'I will Not Let An Exam Result Decide My Fate'.
Darryll Suliaman Amaoko, better known by his stage name Suli Breaks, was born in London and first performed poetry in 2008. Since then he has gone on to become one of the most influential spoken word artists operating in Britain. 'I Will Not Let An Exam Result Decide My Fate' was released on his YouTube channel back in 2013, and having watched and listened to it a couple of times now, I can tell you it's a tremendous piece of work.
The poem starts off with Breaks conveying a conversation between a mother and her son after a parent's evening. The son is falling behind in his studies and asks his mother why he needs to study subjects he won't use in later life. The mother replies with the oft-repeated mantra of parents that he needs the grades to get a good degree which in turn will lead to a good job. She adds that she never had the same opportunity at her age. The son replies with an armour-piercing response:
"But you were born a long time ago, weren't you Mum?"
With this one line, Breaks brilliantly encapsulates the first part of his argument, which is that the rules of the societal game have changed for the younger generation. The mother ignores the question, but Breaks explains that it is because she doesn't know any better other than what the teachers and society has instilled in her. In the last part of this first section, Breaks notes that the child in question has a very sharp mind, but is instead labelled as problematic due to his individuality, which the education system works very hard to erase.
With this set-up, Breaks then launches into the meat of his argument against the current education model in Britain. This is where Breaks hits his stride, and the message he delivers is brilliantly illustrated by his versatility with words. He wastes no time in taking the education system to task for its emphasis on memorising facts and figures ahead of exams, asking why such a rigid system is used to test a group of individuals who have varying skills. Breaks then launches his next assault on society in general, and its hypocrisy in regards to subjects. He includes in this abortion, wealth and social inequality, charity and greed, and the disparity between the importance placed on education and its increasing cost. He uses a mixture of word play and great rhyming to convey this message. The line which struck me the is most is as follows:
"Parents that say they want "educated" kids/
but constantly marvel at how rich Richard Branson is.".
Throughout all of this, Breaks uses a refrain at the end of each train of thought; "Huh, the irony", to convey the internal contradictions of the education system promoting equality but treats individuals far from equally. He then proceeds to argue that the current system of education doesn't prepare its students for surviving in the outside world, and that the results children get at the end of education often define them to their prospective employers. An interesting situation Breaks illustrates is a pretentious English teacher dismissing a student's work for being too 'informal' before going on to reference Shakespeare, only to be told by the kid that Shakespeare was regarded as an early "innovator of slang'. Pervading all of this is a sense of such severe contradiction between the aims of education and the outcome, where some students are left feeling undervalued due to a low grade despite it not amounting to much in the wider workplace.
Breaks brings his thesis to a stirring conclusion where he dedicates the piece to those who found their future outside the world of education and academics. Those he includes in his dedication include those with followings on social media, unemployed university graduates, "shop assistants, cleaners and cashiers with bigger dreams", as well as self-employed entrepreneurs. To this Breaks pledges that no matter the number or the grade, they will never let an exam result decide their fate, and thus the title is dropped at the end of the poem. It's a strong message for anyone struggling with education in school, university or anywhere else, and by the end of the poem Breaks has succeeded in explaining his position while performing poetic acrobatics.
Ultimately, "I Will Not Let An Exam Result Decide My Fate' sets the bar pretty high as far as performance and slam poetry goes. Not only is it impressive as a feat of rhythmic and poetic sophistication, but in using these techniques to convey an argument and break it down through each stanza, Breaks demonstrates his complete mastery of the format. The use of refrains and a consistent rhyming structure add to the musicality of the piece, which only enhances the point Breaks is trying to convey. A lot of the slam poets on my list demonstrate such ability, but the potency of Breaks's argument combined with his brilliant choice of words and structuring make this poem one of the best I have heard in recent years.
(Original Poem: Breaks, Suli. I Will Not Let An Exam Result Decide My Fate)
