PRESS RELEASE

June 15, 1999
from Aaron Foreman, Director of New Media, Sony Music SONY MUSIC, HONEY, GOPOETRY.COM, WILLIAM MORROW
PRESENT EXCITING BLACK MUSIC MONTH SPOKEN WORD SYMPOSIUM

In honor of Black Music Month, Sony Music Corporate Affairs, along with Honey magazine, Sony 550 Music, William Morrow and GoPoetry.com presents (Spoken) Words & Music, on Thursday, June 24, 1999, 6:30 - 9:00 p.m. in Sony Plaza, 550 Madison Avenue, NYC. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

This exciting symposium features renowned recording artist, Gil Scott-Heron; Nikki Giovanni, celebrating 30 years as a published poet and the release of her new book from William Morrow, Blues: For All the Changes; Sony Music artists Saul Williams and Carl Hancock Rux; performance artist Sarah Jones, poet Jessica Care Moore; New School University professor and recording artist Sekou Sundiata, and Washington, D.C. poet Laini Mataka.

All of the artists will participate in a panel discussion on Spoken Word Poetry as an African-centered oral art form, its history and current resurgence as urban entertainment, its relationship to Black Music and performance art, and its function of “speaking truth to (political) power.”

In addition, each artist will perform pieces of their work. Also, Black Books Plus will provide a book table with publications for sale and autographs of the participating artists.

The entire evening will be broadcast live in audio and video over the Internet at www.gopoetry.com, part of The Pseudo Online Network. The Sony Music Web site at www.sonymusic.com will feature an informational page especially designed for this event, with links to the Web sites of the featured artists and their works and participating sponsors.

The symposium will also kick off the Sony Music Spoken Word Scholarship Contest, open to full-time US college students. Guidelines for the contest will be announced at the event, in the summer issue of Honey Magazine, and on the GO!Poetry and Sony Music Web sites. The contest will be judged by a panel of celebrity writers and Sony Music executives. First, second and third prizes are $2,500, $1,500 and $1,000 respectively.

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Contact: Isisara Bey, Corporate Affairs, Sony Music, 212/833-7912