THE LADY J STORY - POET/HOST/PERFORMER:

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Lady J happened upon poetry while singing with the Cincinnati band, The Groove Society. The band opened up for a poetry open mic event called “Love Jones,” hosted by Ty Stuckey (rest in power) at a restaurant called Café Tiara in Covington, KY. One night she decided to get on the mic to perform one of her pieces and that night, the host dubbed her “Lady J.”

Fast forward a couple of years, and Yulanda White contacted Lady J and asked that she and musician, and writing partner, Don Manor host their own Poetry event at Nick’s Lounge in Cincinnati. Lady J contacted poet, Gifted to co-host and it was on! Don Manor and Eric Bolden provided live music and Lady J and Gifted spit poetry and opened the mic to all 2.5 people in the audience! The event was held every Thursday and got an audience boost when one Thursday Dawn Robinson of En Vogue and her husband (at the time) stopped in and performed! Lady J was “friends” on MySpace (remember that?!) with Dre Allen and told him if he was ever in Cincinnati, to stop by Nick’s for the Open Mic. Having no idea he would and no clue he was married to Dawn! They then ran the tagline, “You Neva Know Who’s Gonna Show!” They then decided to begin having monthly features and invited a good friend of Don Manor, “Abyss” – fresh off of the series, HBO Def Poetry to be their first feature. That event put them on the poetry map and over a period of 14 years built one of the most raw, fun, spirit-lifting open mics in Cincinnati!

Gifted and Lady J moved to virtual SWS events after 2020, due to scheduling conflicts, retired the event. We are working on a reunion in the near future. Co-founders, Eric Bolden and Don Manor both have transitioned onto the next phase, but still provide occasional spiritual fly-bys.

Stay tuned for SpokenWordSoul to get back to the business of feeding minds, spirits and bellies! You can find information on upcoming SpokenWordSoul events on Facebook.