bigman shortman
by joy dunbar on sep 10, 2003, 19:26
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"i am not a poet” declares lyrical wordsmith, shortman, a.k.a mattblack, who hails from south east london.
“i am into the word, as the word is everything.” this “african born abroad” started to write poetry before he knew he was writing poetry and the tag shortman was given to him from school days as a result of his petit and slight frame. the label has, however, developed into something deeper, his belief that “people are short of knowledge, wisdom and understanding.”
originally working as a skilled ornate plasterer, shortman took a risk a couple of years back, giving up his paid craft to represent and empower the mis-represented via cross-media art forms including performance poetry, rapping, edutaining and creating his own fashion label shortwear.
shortman writes about himself and what he sees: struggle, love, pain, black history and black future. his live performances are truly entertaining and he has the ability to blow your mind by flipping the script with his spontaneous and unorthodox delivery (by performing from the moment he was called to the platform) and by breathing life into various subject matters, like, the lack of facilities for young people in urban areas vocally highlighted by “eat popcorn, drink coca-cola” in a thought provoking performance.
if that wasn’t enough, shortman is currently adapting one of his poems into a short film called ‘bad habits’, which is about a bus driver who abuses his position and molests young girls who ride on his bus.
he has recently been featured on radio 4’s bespoken word which reported on the impact of the performance poetry scene into the mainstream. a scene that has been catapulted into the limelight by the success of artists like floetry and nights like afropick in london and speak easy in manchester, black sees himself “as part of a movement to move poetry from a dormant state and putting some life into it.” he also points out the both rap and performance poetry are deep rooted in african and west indian traditions and are siblings with little distinguishing them except the macho chauvinistic tendencies of hip hop highlighted by artists like 50 cent.
on the back of a performing arts nomination for carlton's multicultural achievement awards, a couple of successful self published books and a cd collection he also hopes to develop his fashion label, release an album and develop further creative and artistic projects. everything shortman puts his heart into highlights his ability to open your eyes, mind and soul and to touch places you never knew existed. shortman can be contacted here
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