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CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED poet/writer/actor Alex Alpharaoh retells wild stories of homeless poets in LA, as he cliques up on our season premiere! The Clique gasses up Sierra DeMulder during the YT poetry review, and takes shots at fake-logic IG poetry during the “2 Piece Combo.” Alex closes it out by getting into his personal and social struggles during the “5 For Your Eye” prompted poem.
[EPISODE INDEX]
- 0:43 – “Old Man Poet” by Alex Alpharaoh
- 6:50 – “Threads and Lines”
- 17:35 – 2 Piece Poetry Review | “Today Means Amen” @SierraDeMulder
- 33:05 – 2 Piece Poetry Review | @fiknightart
- 38:59 – 5 For Your Eye
Poetry, hip-hop, and Southern California love brought Pen Clique into existence, and Alex Alpharaoh is a perfect depiction of all three of those things. Born in a faraway country and carried here by a young mother, he’s used all of his struggle to better his craft and the world around him. From his initial link up with Kuya and myself to where we’ve taken Pen Clique now, it is safe to say Alex has been an integral part of everything we are trying to do. Not only has he done this by being the homie, but by seeing the potential in poetry and what it has to offer others (like ourselves), and using art as a means for survival.
I met Kuya and Alex the same day. We linked up to shoot a concept Kuya had been devising called a “Poetry Clash.” I also had a desire to see more poetry online, and Kuya and I soon started planting the seeds for what would become Pen Clique. Meanwhile, Alex and I also became fast friends, bonding over shared life struggles and understandings, as well as a real passion and respect for the craft we had committed ourselves to. Alex was a poet I could talk about Shakespeare in the same way as Pac, we could break down the trial of Oscar Wilde in the middle of a conversation, we could discuss the fact that Method Man might be the only Wu member without a classic album. Alex has always been proof positive showing I am not alone in the struggle, and there are others out there fueling EVERYTHING they do with well-written verses, books, and bars. Alex and I both know that God lives in these words, and having him to lean on has brought a lot to myself and the work I do.
Pen Clique is what it is because we had Alex around for it all. He has a sense of Los Angeles that is embedded in his manner, and that is something I wanted to show the rest of the world – how gully kids with assorted pasts and futures are using art as a means for survival while retaining a love for the community that raised them. I was hoping to provide poets a platform to speak in their voices – how they speak with their homies – about poetry. These conversations I had with Alex became the template for what Kuya would later name Pen Clique; all three of us were eager to show respect where it’s deserved without being afraid to openly say we think something is trash, and say it just like that… “Shit’s trash. Outta here.” Because that’s how we spoke to each other and how we spoke to ourselves. We wanted to be honest and loud about what we think and feel; we gave our hearts to this work because it was the only thing we had at times.
Alex has come through for Pen Clique whenever and wherever needed. He unknowingly helped us develop the show with conversations about art and poetry, and more actively by being our early guinea pig and test poet. We shot the first test episode in his kitchen. We provided him with four different poetry prompts and he impressively made light work of all of them. He always brings us his best and he puts his best into everything he does, but most importantly, he’s a real one. Alex is someone Pen Clique relies on not only as a member of the most popping poetry podcast in the galaxy but as a dear friend and familia to both Kuya David and myself. It was Alex’s work ethic and heart that has bonded us, and it was those things that brought us here. The premiere episode of what we consider to be a brand new version of Pen Clique, all brought to you by Kuya David and myself along with a whole lot of help from down-ass poets from LA like Alex Alpharaoh.
Write-up by Daniel Hees
Edited by Seraphina Lotkhamnga
Photos by Aubrey Rowe
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Episode 11 Ft. Bess Kepp
Get hit with 20+ years of Poetry wisdom! Cory “Bess Kepp” Cofer cliques up, bringing with him his deep bag of poetry tricks and hip hop clout. Bess illuminates black struggle and pain like Big Daddy Kane during “Threads and Lines” and the boys dive deep into the poetic pond and get salty and sweet during the “2 Piece Combo”.
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Episode 03 ft. Alex Alpharaoh
Take a journey through skid row with critically acclaimed poet Alex Alpharaoh as your guide during “Threads and Lines”. The Clique touch the heavens and the bottom of the barrel with the highest and lowest “2 Piece combo” scores yet! Alpharaoh closes us out by shutting ‘Merica down during the “Five For Ya Eye”.
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Off Page: August 2020
For this month’s showcase, we got THE Alyesha Wise, South Central songbird Samuel Hummingbird, Florida’s finest Blacqwildflowr, rising singer Jess Roman, activist & Pen Clique fam Roz, and the astral music vibes of Zensoul.
