Well known amongst fellow poets and many fans, Paulette "Passion" Stinson is truly a Chicago spoken word icon. She, along with Charles Miles, are responsible for the starting of EarCandy Inc., an artist collective that provides a wonderful platform for seasoned and new spoken word performers to display and perfect their craft. Below, she answers a few questions from Bean Soup Times. 

What inspired you to do spoken word in the first place?

I had a cousin who always wrote poems and performed them in church for special occasions. Often times, I would watch her from the choir stand and wish someone would listen to my poetry.

Some artists make the distinction between spoken word and poet. Do you? If so, what’s the difference?

It is my opinion that spoken word is usually not restrained or formatted in a standard way. Poetry on the other hand is.

If you only had two words to describe your overall message, what is it?

Two words would have to be Hopeful Love. All of my songs or poetry tell a story and always have an ending of hope

What are your current projects?

I currently working on my second book titled " I'm not complaining, Just Tired" and my next Cd titled " Nights of Passion (tentatively) LOL

What three living people would you love to meet that you haven’t yet?

I would love to meet Michelle Obama ( because I simply love how she has represented herself in the media as well with them being so invasive and disrespectful of her and her husband the President of the United States) Sonya Sanchez is one of the greatest poets of all time to me. Last but not least, I would love to meet The Honorable Louis Farrakhan (I hope I spelled that right). I would like to have a history lesson from him.

What three people no longer with us would you love to have dinner with?

Phylis Hyman, Billy Holiday and Etta James

What is the hardest part about what you do, writing or live performances?

 Neither are hard for me any more. but I believe Live performances initially give me the willies until I am on the stage and then.....Its on!

Taalam Acey performs on Television Show Art & Soul of the City. He paints a picture of what a real man should be about. I love messages like this that go against the false images of what a man should be that permeate the media and community today. 

I am every man in here. Are you? 

Grammy-Award Winning Artist J. Ivy Discusses His New Music Video, Giving Back, Hon. Louis Farrakhan, and Sunday Night Football

CHICAGO--Known for outstanding repeat performances on Russell Simmons’ Def Poetry Jam and stealing the spotlight while trading verses with Jay Z and Kanye West on “Never Let You Down” from Kanye’s College Dropout CD, J. Ivy stopped by the GlobalNewsForum.com studio Dec. 7 to talk with Bean Soup Times Radio Show host Toure Muhammad.

The two discussed his new music video, “WAR” which features Hip-Hop MC, Blitz the ambassador and is currently competing on MTVu.com for favorite video. 

From Los Angeles to Chicago to New York to Washington D.C., J. Ivy and Kurt Williamson traveled the country to create this visual entitled “WAR,” “WAR” has true to life visual elements that spark realistic conversations needed for the healing of today's society.

“Unable to learn from the mistakes that were made before us, today’s climate has grown harsher than ever. We’ve seen the results of destruction and turmoil, yet we continue down the same coldhearted path. It's evident that the same battles that raged in the past haunt our current existence. It's evident that we are still at WAR,” said J.Ivy.

“I enjoyed speaking to J.Ivy as always because not only is he extremely accomplished as an artist, but he’s a down-to-earth brother who loves his community. His video and the message reminded me of words from the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan in his enlightening book, Torchlight for America, said Bean Soup Times Radio host Toure Muhammad. 

LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW