A 'Mayhem' of words
Ana Maria Lugo
Issue date: 3/14/08 Section: Features
A new kind of cool inspired and awed the audiences with the hip-hopping beats and poetic talents of Mayhem Poets. The trio of poets include Kyle Sutton, Scott Tarazevits and Mason Granger. The three met as students at Rutgers University and took poetry to another level inducing it with hip-hop, theatre and comedy. They performed for GCSU students on Tuesday, March 11, in Magnolia Ballroom.
They are acclaimed artists performing all over the world and renowned by critics including the prestigious New York Times.
These poets know their roots. These poets aim to inspire as they travel to middle schools, high schools and colleges of the nation to bring back literature and art into the medium.
“I want folks to pick-up pens instead of guns,” Sutton said. “Poetry means everything to me.”
The provocative twists of humor and wit keep the performance alive and touches subjects in real time. Granger’s “Textual Healing,” a poem dedicated to the text-obsessed and lack of intimacy that the new communication age has produced, is one of the many poems addressing issues that hit close to home.
“She only talks in text messages,” Granger said. “Send in a plethora instead of a two minute call, it’s an hour long of text-a-marathon. And when we do talk its awkward because it’s been too long…”
Most of the trio’s poetry came out of the streets, combined with education and a call for social awareness including topics such as race and global warming. But this is not “gangsta.” It’s a wave of modern tongue-in-cheek performance that spells cool and edgy, provocative and side-splittingly wacky and takes a certain kind of educated understanding.
One of the Mayhem’s famous poems is Tarazevits “The Other Side.” It starts with coquettish undertones of Tarazevits talking elaborately and descriptively about juicy thighs and tender breast undermining expectations that the ode in fact is not about a woman but about his deep-love for that juicy and tender golden fried chicken.
“I thought it was absolutely hilarious,” Trevor Boddington, a junior physical therapy major, said. “I didn’t expect that but its what keeps the program highly anticipated.”
The trio has constantly entertained and educated, a main reason why the Campus Activities Board (CAB) has decided to bring them back.
“They are extremely funny and smart,” Molly Winzurk, a sophomore psychology major and CAB member said. “They bring in something new and different and we like exposing the students to that.”
But it wasn’t all completely about laughs.
Sutton dedicated a poem to the “queen bee” that raised him by recalling his mother’s strength, resilience and courage as she battled through illness that eventually took her life.
Such inspirational and moving performance echoed in the air, ending his dedication with “I hope she’s still humming. I love you Mom.”
The trio is not only spreading their love of words, they are also doing their civic duty by spreading social awareness through their worldwide project of global domination called “Mayhem Project.”
Armed with words, the trio will spread awareness and hilarity that breaks down the barriers of racial, socio-economic status and gender lines.
As the poets said with poetry and rhyme, “Our imagination can take us anywhere.”
Their prose will indeed take audiences in places far and wide.
They are acclaimed artists performing all over the world and renowned by critics including the prestigious New York Times.
These poets know their roots. These poets aim to inspire as they travel to middle schools, high schools and colleges of the nation to bring back literature and art into the medium.
“I want folks to pick-up pens instead of guns,” Sutton said. “Poetry means everything to me.”
The provocative twists of humor and wit keep the performance alive and touches subjects in real time. Granger’s “Textual Healing,” a poem dedicated to the text-obsessed and lack of intimacy that the new communication age has produced, is one of the many poems addressing issues that hit close to home.
“She only talks in text messages,” Granger said. “Send in a plethora instead of a two minute call, it’s an hour long of text-a-marathon. And when we do talk its awkward because it’s been too long…”
Most of the trio’s poetry came out of the streets, combined with education and a call for social awareness including topics such as race and global warming. But this is not “gangsta.” It’s a wave of modern tongue-in-cheek performance that spells cool and edgy, provocative and side-splittingly wacky and takes a certain kind of educated understanding.
One of the Mayhem’s famous poems is Tarazevits “The Other Side.” It starts with coquettish undertones of Tarazevits talking elaborately and descriptively about juicy thighs and tender breast undermining expectations that the ode in fact is not about a woman but about his deep-love for that juicy and tender golden fried chicken.
“I thought it was absolutely hilarious,” Trevor Boddington, a junior physical therapy major, said. “I didn’t expect that but its what keeps the program highly anticipated.”
The trio has constantly entertained and educated, a main reason why the Campus Activities Board (CAB) has decided to bring them back.
“They are extremely funny and smart,” Molly Winzurk, a sophomore psychology major and CAB member said. “They bring in something new and different and we like exposing the students to that.”
But it wasn’t all completely about laughs.
Sutton dedicated a poem to the “queen bee” that raised him by recalling his mother’s strength, resilience and courage as she battled through illness that eventually took her life.
Such inspirational and moving performance echoed in the air, ending his dedication with “I hope she’s still humming. I love you Mom.”
The trio is not only spreading their love of words, they are also doing their civic duty by spreading social awareness through their worldwide project of global domination called “Mayhem Project.”
Armed with words, the trio will spread awareness and hilarity that breaks down the barriers of racial, socio-economic status and gender lines.
As the poets said with poetry and rhyme, “Our imagination can take us anywhere.”
Their prose will indeed take audiences in places far and wide.
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