The Mayhem Poets performance at the Mayo Theater in Morristown, NJ, beautifully combined humorous satire and serious, modern day agendas to create a majestic masterpiece. Performances by Scott Raven, Munson Granger and Kyle Rapps, the trio that consider themselves “a spoken word and hip hop band”, cover a variety of topics. Ranging from the Pillsbury Dough Boy, to finding that your mother is homeless after not seeing her for five years, the Mayhem Poets confront many modern day agendas that are very easy to empathize with.
Proclaimed by the New York Times as “the Simpsons meet Malcolm X at a Notorious B.I.G. concert”, the trio became friends and Mayhem Poets after meeting each other while enrolled at Rutgers University. Not long after graduating from college, Scott, Munson and Kyle began to perform at local venues. Ever since then, they have become very successful, performing at numerous venues across America.
One of my personal favorite poems performed by them is titled Martin Luther Queen. In this poem, the trio expresses how important it is for society to have strong female representation. Also, I really enjoyed watching the group perform the poem My Name Is. I personally enjoyed that they opened up the show with a lighthearted, comedic poem as comedy is a large part of their shows. After viewing the show, I left the theater more rejuvenated and excited than I was previously. Overall, the Mayhem Poets performance was truly captivating and I cannot wait until the next field trip to see them!
