Hip Hop Forum

Chosen by Oprah's "O" Magazine as one of twenty women on the first "O Power List" Mayda Del Valle has been described by the Chicago Sun Times as having, "A way with words. Sometimes they seem to flutter and roll off her lips. Other times they burst forth like a comet streaking across a nighttime sky."

Spanglish rolls off the tongue of Mayda Del Valle, Def Jam Poet, motivational speaker and independent artist. One of the most sought after poets, this 31-year-old Puerto Rican bombshell from Southside Chicago is a veteran of the ultimate democracy-- the Spoken Word.

In a recent Interview with one of my favorite spoken word artists, I summoned the butterflies to get the best out of Ms. Del Valle.

Mayda, when did you first start writing, and what were some of the incidents that made you want to write?

I started writing when I was like fourteen. I feel like I always remember writing—in my diary, the short stories. I was a freshman in high school when I had this amazing English teacher. She made us keep this journal and she was very into having us do a lot of creative writing. I just fell in love with it. It was on page that I found myself. I could say anything… But The Nuyorican anthology is what allowed me to realize that writing is what I do, what I love.

I’m a firm believer in the philosophy of knowing where you come from, in order to know where you’re going. How has your culture played a part in your growing up? In your writing?

Well, you know, a lot of my work deals with my identity and cultural background and struggles to find a place to fit in. I grew up dealing with that and racism and teachers who told me I couldn’t speak Spanish. Being from Chicago is a little bit different, being Puerto Rican. I didn’t grow up in the brown side of Chicago. Southwest was historically white and noted for its racism.

I’m a huge fan of yours and have followed your work for some time now. I know the likes of Pablo Neruda and Maya Angelou have influenced your writing. But, I have to know, who is your favorite poet?

Sonia Sanchez! I love her! Her book was the very first book of poetry I ever picked up. Down the street from where I used to work as an adolescent was an Afro-centric bookstore. I would go visit during lunch and one day I got handed one of her books from the guy who worked there and I just fell in love. She captures pain and struggle in such a beautiful way. I eventually got to meet her… I love Miss Sanchez.

Some people don’t like Poetry. Some people don’t understand it. And, simply, some don’t care. What is spoken word to you?

Spoken word is the art of bringing a poem to life and telling a story to the audience… and what most, who don’t like it, fail to realize is that Art has the capacity to change the world.

How are Hip-hop and the Spoken Word correlated?

Oh my God. They’re very close—cousins. Haha. But seriously, they come from the same root. Where would Hip-hop be without Poetry? When you break it down, it’s a form, one of the branches of that tree. It’s part of the same lineage. Emcees, poets, we’re doing the same thing… documenting and telling our stories. Emcees and poets are like the African griots. We tell these stories to keep the history alive, but more importantly, we’re supposed to set the vision for where society should be. Some are doing exactly that. However, what’s heard on the radio is only one side of Hip-hop, which is sad. People and integrity have to become the bottom line, not money. And, that’s where Hip-hop music has to change now a day. When you think of kids from the South Bronx and their rhymes, the beauty in their struggle is unmatchable… I think we’re due for the rebirth of SOMETHING. But the essence of Hip-hop is definitely synonymous to Poetry, to the spoken word.

Do you care whether your poetry means something to anyone? Or is it self-serving?

Wow, um… I don’t think that when I write I sit down with the intention of changing someone’s life. Being a writer and the process of it is very solitary. It’s about your relationship with your words. However, the act of sharing your work, takes it to another level; that’s when it changes, and of course when it becomes bigger than me or the person, or what my intention was. It becomes about the spirit of the piece and what it brought to the world. I think that’s the bigger issue of any artist. Down the line, I do feel a little more responsibility with my work. When people pick it up to read it, or to hear me… It has to deliver.

What are you currently working on?

I am currently working on “Salida,” which means exit in Spanish. It’s a one-woman piece and I have to get my ass in gear and finish it (she bursts into laughter). It’s about three generations of women in my family, immigration, wounds a mother inherits, looking for permission to be in the world—as a woman of color. I’m really hoping to get that done soon.

Mayda, you’re a beautiful person, inside and out. If I could fall in love with your being on stage wearing black boots and gyrating hips singing, “Mami’s making mamboooooo!” surely a man could too. Are you—attached?

Oh, man. I just came out of a three-year relationship. It is definitely hard being an independent artist and being in a relationship. On top of not needing a man to pay my bills or fend for me, it’s very untraditional for a woman to be on the road and travel so much. I’m still working on how to have it all. Like how am I supposed to work that out? He would have to be patient. He would have to be someone who would “hold the fort down” while I’m gone… huge challenge. But I do want a family some day. I just think both men and women are still caught up in traditional views of what a relationship should and shouldn’t be.

It was around this time, last year that you performed at the White House. A night of Poetry and Music that the First Lady herself was itching to conduct, as a gesture that the White House is still the “people’s house.” How was that for you?

I took my mother with me. I got to take her to the White House. She got to see me perform there. Meeting the president was cool, but to take my mother and have her in that room—that was IT for me. I met Obama and Michelle and that was the icing on the cake. Still pinching myself about it, haha. It was great.

Close to the conclusion of the interview, I was still digesting that I was actually having this conversation with Mayda Del Valle. The same woman who graced the stage with some of the most powerful words someone can ever regurgitate, someone who won my heart over and over again with every piece, someone who looked like me was on stage, calling out to the world. And the world needed but to respond back to her.

Mayda, I know writing is “Not an occupation, it’s not a vocation, this is your calling,” but what’s your alternative job? What keeps the steady income?

Haha... Na... This is my full-time job. And it has been since 2002. Poetry has done it all for me. It paid my student loans, my car, the nice pad, the clothes on my back, the food in my stomach... These are the powers of my words. God blessed me and I'm grateful.
Posted In: Art, mayda del valle, tongue tactics, def jam poet, interview, chicago