From Poetry to Floetry: Music's Influence in the Spoken Word Art of Young South Africa.

The current pattern around music created by young spoken word artists in South Africa makes one think of musicality as a strong influence and force in today's poetry; from accompanying bands of instruments at live performances, to CD recordings with background music and experimental projects. Musicality within the observed poetry goes beyond the traditional praise poet's voice and love for percussions, but validates these poets as musicians in their own right - writing, arranging and performing words to musical instruments and time. This phenomenon is increasingly making music and the art of spoken word inseparable. These two forms of expressions (spoken word and music) are being woven together by these artists in ways that build a mutual partnership and bridging the gap between what is sung and what is spoken. This paper therefore, aims to analyse the musical traces of few selected productions recently released on CDs by some of South Africa's youngest and most talented spoken word artists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]