I have listened to Black Ice’s The Death of Willie Lynch and try to get past the fact that spoken word is usually enjoyed as a performance, not as a recording. This talented poet is exactly that, a POET.

He was part of Russell Simmons’ Def Poetry Jam on Broadway. Later on, Mary J. invited him to join her on “The Breakthrough Experience,” as the opening act.

As a poet, I have attended many poetry readings and am always amazed at how beautiful it is to hear the authenticity of the author’s voice.

Black Ice’s poetry on The Death of Willie Lynch is phenomenal. However, I think its power of originality is lost when it is listened to repeatedly. Poetry is not meant to be read the same way everytime, especially not by the poet. It’s ability to adapt to the emotions of the author AND the audience is imperative to its delivery.

While Black Ice is deemed by critics to be “more coffee house than concert hall,” their are a few tracks that are much more traditional as far as ’songs’ go. These are all tracks featuring artists/musicians/not-slam-poets (per se).

Black Ice uses his poetic abilities to express himself on the devastation of Huricane Katrina in “The Ugly Show,” lust in ”TakeYaTime (f. Musiq Soulchild),” and family in “The Real.”

“I’m not just a poet. I’m a motivational speaker, I’m a debater, and I’m an MC. There are so many other elements to me. I’m really just an artist,” Black Ice admits. Even I can agree with that!