INTERVIEW: Tshaka Campbell | King of Spoken Word!

Short. Sharp. Facts!

Name: Tshaka Campbell
Birthplace: South East London
Lives: Kent
Poetry Debut: Nuyorican Poetry Café in NYC


Q&A

Hot off the press, following on from his interview in The Voice Newspaper (19 April 2010) ONiT! caught up with King of Spoken Word, Tshaka Campbell...


How long have you been performing Spoken Word?
Writing since 95 - performing since 2001


Who would you cite as your influences?
Ben Okri, Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, Octavia butler, ainsley burrows, Saul Williams, LIFE


How would you describe your style as a performance artist?
I try to connect with my audience as I ask them to engage in the works as much as I engage in them – listen different… we all have something to say so I want time with them to be fruitful and something they can take away with them….. in a few words Thick, passionate, integrity,


In order to fully love and appreciate the love of another, we know that you must first love yourself. How would you define self-love? Self love is the understanding that we all are beautifully flawed. Once we understand where we have come from we will appreciate who we are collectively and individually and will have no choice but to love ourselves…


What can the audience expect from you at a performance?
Fun, integrity, a perfectly crafted melange of language painted on a blank canvas peppered with imagery and a touch of a reincarnated west African griot [laughs] we will just enjoy each others company.


What poem/film/song says 'Love...Sex...Sensuality…' to you?
De Angelo "Untitled", Prince’s “Adore” or if “I was your girlfriend” and Donny Hathaway “Love you more than you’ll ever know”



Complete these sentences:

Love is...the secret of life.
Sex is...best when sweaty and wet.
Sensuality is...a feather tip touch of a finger across a throbbing, pulsating... The wiggle back speck of thighs after the thrust of movements in 4/4 time.


What performances/projects do you have coming up?

Raising my daughter :o)
New York and CA - May
Wales – Oct
Working on one man show
Working on new digital album


You can hear Tshaka Campbell live on air with D'Nyce on the Soul-D-Out Show, TONIGHT (22 April) on BANG Radio 103.6fm http://www.bangradio.fm/ at 19:00 BST


Further info:
http://www.naturalkink.com/
http://www.reverbnation.com/tshaka
http://www.twitter.com/pappatshak
http://www.myspace.com/Tshakaisnaturalkink