aja monet is a poet who cut her teeth at the Nuyorican Poets Café, where she won the title of Grand Slam Champion in 2007, at the age of 19. In 2017, she released her debut book of poetry, my mother was a freedom fighter. Now she continues to expand her repertoire, as she is now releasing her first album, when the poems do what they do.

While it is a path less chosen, there is a precedent for an artist like aja monet, whether it be the pioneers of the early ‘70s like Last Poets, Gil Scott-Heron, or Del Jones, or more recent hip hop influenced poets like Saul Williams or Moor Mother. That said, there is still plenty of room for spoken word poetry artists to find their voice as they transition into music, and aja monet had done just that with her first album. Working with musicians like Christian Scott on trumpet, Samora Pinderhughes on piano, Elena Pinderhughes on flute, Luqeus Curtis on bass, Weedie Braimah on djembe, and Marcus Gilmore on drums, she assembled an ensemble that is based in jazz, but can easily weave in anything from blues to gospel to soul to classical to hip hop without missing a beat. Most importantly, they always play in service of the song and lyrics that monet is laying down. aja monet came up in the slam poetry scene, so the confidence is there from the jump, but she’s also been writing and doing readings for long enough outside of that scene that she has found a great balance to that confidence. She knows when to amp it up, and when to use a more gentle approach on the mic and allow these moments of vulnerability and reflection. This matches her lyricism, which is the key to this whole project. Monet has a real knack for moving between the personal, the abstract, and the political, finding new angles and perspectives that you didn’t know were there, all while honoring those that did the work before her. As a result, it’s an album you really need to sit with and let it absorb through your ears and travel throughout your entire body. It’s also an album that requires multiple listens, because you can only begin to pick up all the beautiful musical and lyrical nuances contained within this album the first time through.

when the poems do what they do is an incredible debut album from aja monet. She found some amazing collaborators to help bring her vision to life, but it is her poetry and vision at the end of the day that makes this album so incredibly complex and beautiful and heartbreaking and healing, all at once.