Tsleeveless - CAP (Corny Ass Poet) @ Voices In Power | Spoken Word Poetry

Added: 2026-06-09

[00:00:03]I'mma be honest with y'all.

[00:00:06]Um I think I'm turning into a bitter old head.

[00:00:10]Okay? I think I'm heading down the path of being one of them OGs in the back of the mic, grumpy, judging, and shaking my head.

[00:00:19]Right? Sometimes I just want to yell out, "Yo, that [ __ ] was buns."

[00:00:24]Right? Cuz I'mma be honest, man, some people just come up here and be saying [ __ ] And I'm not saying that I'm judging someone for being a beginner.

[00:00:32]I'm not judging them because they can't use a poetic device or that they read from a device. I'm not judging someone for writing a bad poem. I'm judging your heart posture.

[00:00:41]I can tell when someone is exploiting this art form.

[00:00:44]I'm old enough to spot a colonizer when I see one.

[00:00:49]This art form this art form transforms based on your heart form.

[00:00:53]The hard work is the heart work, but some of y'all ain't here to make change, just trying to make change.

[00:00:59]2 seconds in and I know what this is about. Another goofball seeking views and clout. You got a whole poem built around one line that you think would do good online. You e-for-everybody ass poet.

[00:01:12]Bunch of words and ain't saying [ __ ] ass poet. Red 40 ass poet. Pushing 40 still writing horny trying to push up on these shorties ass poet.

[00:01:25]>> [laughter] >> Oh, yeah, see I can tell the alcohol is hitting. Right?

[00:01:30]>> [laughter] >> Y'all drunk.

[00:01:33]And that's all right. I love it.

[00:01:35]Pushing 40 still writing horny trying to push up on these shorties ass poet.

[00:01:40]Corny ass poet.

[00:01:43]One thing about Father Time is that time going tell. You had one poem 3 years ago that did real well. Now you mad these days cuz your shows don't sell and it's probably cuz your soul for sale. And I'm sick of it. I'm sick of people abusing this stage with gimmicks, gender war Olympics, and pandering for surface level attention. You want people to snap but won't snap out of it because what is a poet anyway? Obi Best says a beautiful poet is just a really good listener.

[00:02:08]When we can't write, our head inks. We write because we intellectually metabolize life. Poetry is supposed to be more powerful than any antiseptic.

[00:02:17]You take an urgent message, package it pretty, and then inject it. The world is sick and you're supposed to be the medic. Life hurts and we're supposed to write words that reverb and the curse or at least decrease the reverb when pain echoes like speakers in church.

[00:02:29]But not you.

[00:02:31]My throwaways have changed more lives than your whole archive.

[00:02:36]You write for likes. I write instructions on how to survive.

[00:02:40]You write poems trying to get personal attention. I write poems to make personnel feel uplifted. It's different.

[00:02:46]You might be gifted, but your worldly metrics have your heart posture shifted.

[00:02:49]There is an enormous responsibility that comes with having a voice that's empowered. Be more than some boy seeking virality on voices.

[00:02:57]We have an enormous responsibility to maintain our egos, to remain dutiful, to perform earnestly, and to dispel any sort of beliefs that we are flawless.

[00:03:07]You get on the stage and people snap and clap at almost anything you say and you might start to feel like Jesus.

[00:03:13]You're not.

[00:03:17]Here's some things you need to stop.

[00:03:19]Stop writing men's mental health poems if you're a woman's mental health opponent.

[00:03:24]Stop preaching like you're such a nice guy, but behind closed doors voting against their rights. Stop coming up here trying to tell people love ain't real cuz you're 57 and still can't discern what's fake and what's real.

[00:03:35]That's a skill issue. Tell people about your heartbreak, but don't tell these impressionable listeners that love ain't real because you can't differentiate a soft place and a battlefield. Stop coming up here. Stop coming up here cosplaying the person that you want to be. It's not really hard to see you only got self-respect and boundaries within your poetry and not reality. You can't fake being healed. You can't fake being healed. You can't fake being real. You steady getting attacked by the things you actually attract and it's a cycle that only stops when you can be honest and actually unpack. But you don't want to hear that. You want to write a poem that just sounds good. Get on this stage spewing a bunch of toxic takes in place of accountability you refuse to take.

[00:04:12]Your whole persona performative. What do you even want followers for? What are you leading them to? Would you rather one changed life or a thousand likes?

[00:04:19]Who you trying to liberate? What's your message for real? You think it's not a big deal till you get 200k and receive nothing but hate because all these eyes on your face perceive you as nothing but fake. I think it's so insane how we come on the scene and and refuse to be seen.

[00:04:34]To get on this stage you got to be brave.

[00:04:36]I've seen a minor come up here and talk about major trauma and she had more balls than any fraud whose currency is applause. I've heard poems. I've heard poems that could take the meanest of mugs and wipe it clean off a thug like Listerine steam cleaning in your gums.

[00:04:51]I want to know what made you break like a state trooper you saw too late. I want to be educated. I want to be taught. I want to I want to >> [clears throat and cough] >> I want to hear you stutter and still make it sound butter. Tell us Tell us how real it gets when it's 3:00 a.m. and all you got is paper and some secrets. I want to hear what you said after the line went dead. I want to come to the open mic expecting a poem and receive a mirror instead.

[00:05:15]Some people Okay. All right, I'll write it back. The hell?

[00:05:23]I want to come to the open mic expecting a poem and receive a mirror instead.

[00:05:27]Some people write to get buzz on their phone. Others write poems that follow you home.

[00:05:33]Bro, just tell the truth.

[00:05:35]Tell them how sometimes the problem was you.

[00:05:38]Every performance is an audition for the unique position to occupy the space that people heal in.

[00:05:43]So move like you got some goddamn sense.

[00:05:47]>> [cheering]