IT was a big hit, with sold out nights, last year, well now the three-night National Hip Hop and Poetry Slam returns to 704 Sky Lounge, with the preliminary nights on July 7 and July 14, and the finals on July 21.
Today is the last day for hopeful entrants to register to be a part of the lucrative competition that will see $150,000 going to first place, $90,000 to second and third, and $60,000 to third.

Additionally, all of the finalists will again receive $15,000 for making it into the finals. But hold up, it gets better: entry is free. Well technically all it will cost to enter is the less than $10 that entrants will spend to text their full name and stage name to 660-7197.
It doesn’t get better than this, and entrants can thank sole sponsors of the event – the Ministry of Education Department of Culture, Youth and Sports – for that.

Once all of the contestants are in, they will be split into two groups, with each group being screened on one of the preliminary nights, having just one chance to perform and show that they have what it takes to make it into the finals on July 21. The poets and hip hop artistes are all competing against each other in the same competition.
Like last year, the event was organised by Black Gold Entertainment headed by Franale Holder, who is head over heels excited to see the event return, and she just can’t wait to see what the artistes are going to bring this year.

All of the contestants have to perform original work. They do not necessarily have to write their own songs or poem, but it must be an original piece that was never used before.
“It’s more to showcase your talent as an artiste, if you say you’re an artiste we want to see what you’re capable of. The ame goes for the poets, we basically give them guideless, but in general it’s totally wide, you could write about anything, social issues, patriotic pieces, anything,” Franale explained.

Last year the event had 47 entries, with 23 of them making it to the final night, but when it was all said and done it was well known makeup artiste and designer Clinton Duncan, who rose above them all.
Duncan prevailed as the best after his performance of his original poem “Labels”, poet Edan Corbin gave a riveting eight minute performance of his poem “Black Skin” that captivated the audience and brought him second place; while Randolph Critchlow’s performance was a patriotic appeal and saw him finishing third.

Franale thinks that last year the hip hop artistes may have been a little intimidated by the poets, but she’s hoping that they come better this time around.
“I’m just urging all of the singers and the rappers not to be as scared as they were last year because you know fear tends to cripple some people? They were so scared that they kind of didn’t perform to the best of their abilities. I’ve seen them do way better at my shows but when they came that night it was like they were so scared. But it’s a leveled playing field because it’s based on your performance, your lyrical delivery, everything,” Franale remarked.

This year Franale is not really looking to do too much to change up the event as she is not about to fix something that isn’t broken, however, she does hope that it can be more diverse, where the contestants are concerned.
“I’m just trying to make it more diverse this year, and we hope to attract more young talent, especially more singers and rappers,” she said.

“We had a really good turn out last year, we had full houses. Even though the second preliminary night was a rainy night we had a packed house then too, so it’s pretty good. We’re not really aiming for it to be different in the format we’re going to use,” she related.
Last year’s competition had attracted talent from all across Guyana, with poets from as far as Lethem, and Linden, and rappers from as far as Essequibo.
The event all got started last year to fill a gap that Franale thought needed to be filled, and now she’s looking to keep it going as an annual event.

“I saw that it’s very much needed. I wanted to show that there’s more to Guyanese artistes than meets the eye. It’s not just about singing some soca or some calypso, we can do so much more and every time people come out and they see it, they are often in awe of what these young people can do. That’s why I decided to do it this year. It’s lucrative for teenagers out there. Cash helps them to do what they need to get done,” Franale said.