Abstract Benna is a South London-based storyteller and spoken word artist who has been making a name across the live circuit over recent years. He is London Borough of Lambeth's first official Poet Laureate and work in partnership with the council to build creative networks and shape the year-long role (2022 - 2023) for Laureates to come. His Audio Film / album "Out of Darkness", paints a picture of the choices that were available to his younger self while growing up in the light and darkness of South London social housing culture. Nurtured by a culture of storytelling, rap cyphers and the lyricism of his peers, Benna’s writing and performative skills evolved as he merged his love of authentic narratives with the rhythms and sounds of his environment. Honing his skills, he soon found himself sharing poems onstage, facilitating workshops and receiving corporate commissions. As this continued, Benna rapidly found himself needing to adapt to a variety of spaces and audiences. Out of Darkness is a reflective summary of this journey; growing up in inner city London and finding the tools to take on the unexpected.

"This project captures the essence of what I do. It sets the premise for the things I want to talk about going forward. My on-going themes are identity. What it means being raised in the diaspora and adapting to inner-city London life. Out of Darkness captures the essence of what it was like growing up in a pre-gentrified neighbourhood when crime, poverty, community love and a vibrant culture was all in a melting pot of what shaped us into the people we became." - Abstract Benna.

 

For more information visit: abstractbenna.com