"T.G.I.Friday!" I thought, as I bounced off London’s Underground at Leicester Square with my partner in crime Dwain Lucktung. The weekend had arrived and what better way to start a Friday night than the Rhymes Won’t Wait spoken word event at Sound club.

Rhymes Won’t Wait is the new cutting edge of London’s spoken word scene, raising the profile, raising the stakes, taking it live and direct onto the stage. November 20th was the first time a dedicated spoken word event had been written, devised and performed collaboratively in the capital. The material was created in response to some of the most pressing issues of our time, all in partnership with the UK's leading charities. The punters were excited and packed out the place, as we took our seats at the back of the room, cradling our very expensive beverages and preparing ourselves for a verbal onslaught from some of the finest poets and spoken word artists around.

We were treated to young, passionate, skilled individuals using the power of the pen to speak out against issues such as gender inequality, terrorism, misogyny in the media, racism, and even Tesco (more specifically, bombing Tesco) - courtesy of the uber-talented rapper/writer/poet/all-round awesome dude Dizraeli. I should point out that he doesn’t encourage the actual bombing of Tesco; instead he points out that Tesco has encroached itself into our culture so much, and taken over our nation that we should call it our own, and ‘bomb’ it in the graffiti sense. So pleace, don’t go blowing up the beans in your local branch of Tesco Express, you may get prosecuted.

Having only really been into spoken word for around six months (after I broke my poetry virginity at the Kendal Calling Festival this summer, trying to fill a 40 minute gap in-between Casio Kids, shandy-drinking and Chase & Status), tonight was something of a learning curve for yours truly. I haven’t really had the chance to check out many poetry readings and in my childish ignorance, I have often dismissed them as been confined to cafés, cafés that served four different kinds of lattés and posh crisps, and those partaking were pretentious tweed-draped gap-year types. Thankfully, I was proven very wrong. What I witnessed on Friday was a group of people who glowed with talent, passion and the drive to speak out and about what they believed in. With rhymes flying at us left right and centre, it was an audio-feast, and by the end Dwain and I were left wanting seconds.         
 
The showcase was helmed by the exciting Sabrina Mahfouz, someone who oozes talent and charisma and was kind enough to get me and Mr Lucktung on the guest list for the event (yes, lucky us indeed). Sabrina performed her first poem seven months ago, winning the March Farrago Slam poetry competition. Since then her poetry has been published; she’s been interviewed and read poetry on BBC Radio 1 and 1xtra; she’s just finished the Young Writer’s Programme at The Royal Court Theatre, and has performed her work across the country. I had a chance to talk to her at the end of the festivities and she was happy with the way the night went: “So many people said they were inspired by the event and wanted to find out more about the charities, and think creatively about what they could do to raise awareness. Plus they had a good night out, so the all the artists and I couldn't have asked for any more - fingers crossed for the next one being even bigger, badder and heavier!” 

Travelling back on the tube, I spent the next two hours trying to find words that rhymed with one another, and perfecting my poet’s swagger. After a while, I gave up and decided to leave it to the pros.

But don’t let that stop you wordsmiths. If you’re an aspiring poet, get on board the spoken word game, and find out more about the Rhyme’s Won’t Wait Collective here

Words and photos: James Prosho