NUYORICAN POETS CAFE.

11 October 2008

Back in the mid 90s when I was going to NYU, I frequented a spot called the Nuyorican Poets Cafe. NPC was founded in 1973 and began in a living room in the East Village apartment of writer and poet, Miguel Algarin. By 1975 it became clear that there were too many poets for Algarin’s living room. So Algarin rented an Irish bar on East 6th Street. By 1980, the overflow of audiences led the Cafe to purchase the building at 236 East 3rd Street to expand its activities and programs. To this day, Miguel still sits at the bar night after night. I was lucky enough to witness the career births of The Roots, Erykah Badu, Talib Kweli, O.C., Company Flow, Mos Def, M.C. Search, Saul Williams and more…and little did I know that it was fueling the fire for my future career.
As schedules got tighter and times got busier, I stopped going to NPC for a good 7-8 years. Just recently I went back and it was like time stood still. I walked in and felt the same raw inspiration I felt 10+ years ago. If you ever get a chance, you should experience this historic venue for yourself.
On this particular night, the open mic consisted of a motley crew of poets and MCs. Color, age, style and sexuality were non-existent. It was all about the spoken word.

This young buck came in and made all the ladies in the house fall in love with him.

This young lady eventually won the evening’s open mic event. She was DEEP with her rhymes. The reincarnation of Ms. Lauryn Hill.

Crazy old dude from Europe came here to NY just to be on this stage. It was like a dream come true for him.

…Freestylin’ off the Blackberry…

I also had the pleasure to sit down and talk with Dan, the Executive Director and Mahogany, the host and curator.