New Haven Independent

Spoken word artist Baub Bidon kicked off a monthly open mic night at Bru coffee shop on Saturday. Local poets and emcees took the mic to spit verses, either a cappella or backed by hip-hop beats.

Click on the play arrow to watch them perform.

Saturday night’s poetry-themed open mic was the first of a monthly series at Bru, the perennial Orange Street coffee shop that recently came under new ownership. The open mic is part of an effort by Bru’s owners, Curtis Packer and Bill Ready, to expand their hours and break out of the normal coffee shop mold.

Bidon, the evening’s high-energy host, also heads up a monthly poetry night at the People’s Center, called Free 2 Spit. He said that he hopes that adding an evening of spoken word at Bru will create a more diverse audience for live poetry in New Haven. Free 2 Spit is almost exclusively an African-American event, he said.

Bidon was pleased, therefore, to see a variety of races represented in the cafe Saturday as the evening began. Looking out at a multi-hued audience, Baub remarked on “how beautiful the rainbow really is when it comes out after the rain.”

One after another, performers took the mic to share their verses. Some spoke without notes; some read pre-written rhymes. The evening carried a theme of social commentary, as poets like Conscious (pictured) spoke about racism, sexism, and poverty.

Music was provided by DJ C-Love, working two turntables set up in the corner of the coffee shop. C-Love is also a barrista at the coffee shop, and the vegetarian namesake for a new meatless sandwich on the Bru menu. Saturday night was the debut evening for Bru’s new line of paninis.

Bidon (pictured) performed several of his own pieces. Taking the mic off the stand at one point to wander into the audience, he rhymed about the history of hip-hop, filling his verses with quotes from and references to rap pioneers like Public Enemy, KRS-One, even Afrika Bambaataa.

During a break after the first hour of performances, Bidon spoke about the “self-segregation” that he sees in New Haven’s spoken-word scene. Right now, it seems to be exclusively the domain of the city’s black community, Bidon said, but he would like that to change.

“It starts to look like it’s just a black thing,” Bidon said. “But that’s not the case.”

He mentioned the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, a spoken-word venue in New York City that has “all kinds of people coming together.”

“That’s what we want to bring here,” he said. “We would love to encourage people of all backgrounds.”

Bidon will be hosting Bru’s open mic on the second Saturday of every month.