When did you begin writing poetry?
Beyond class assignments, and random “love” poems, The first time I performed a poem was September 20, 2007 at Jazzman’s Café. Jazzman’s is a running open mic established in 2005 at Prairie View A&M University 

How did you get the name Fluent?
I was working on a DVD with a close friend and mentor, Outspoken Bean. On my wall was a poster for programmers that read “Fluent in Every Language”. He made a remark that I am fluent in everything as well, from DVD creation and film editing, programming, business, poetry, DJ’ing, dancing, or pretty much anything I get involved with. SO he said let’s call you fluent. The next night at an open mic in Houston I tried the name and another poet, Fertile Spirit, came to me after the show and asked “You’re the Fluent one right?” I smiled and replied “yes, I am The Fluent ONE.” After that night, my stage name has been The Fluent One.

What do you believe it takes to be a great poet?
Experience. Not within poetry, but life. The more someone experiences life, I feel the greater appreciation a person has for it, the more capable they are to communicate that appreciation to others.

How did you get into performing live poetry?
The first poem I performed was a response to women complaining about men’s inability to be romantic, or seductive.  It was a relatively short poem, I messed up, got very nervous, but somehow it still went over well. The person who put the show on came up to me and said “I know you don’t know this, but as of now you are officially a Prairie View Productive Poet. So next week, I need you to have a 30 second and 1 minute poem to compete to be one my team.”  I “competed”, made the slam team at Prairie View A&M, then the team went on to win a regional completion in the south, as well as 8th place in the country at the 2008 ACUI National Poetry slam. Been going strong ever since.

Who is your favorite poet of all time?
Anis Mojgani. He has such amazing imagery and simple speech all at the same time. One of my favorite quotes by him is “I drive 60 through residential streets to hit children so that they may remain forever angels.”

When writing do you consider the affect will have on your audience or do you write self freely?
The best response would be what I heard in the movie Finding Forrester – “Write from your heart, edit with your mind.” I may edit a poem for audience effect. But usually that is after I have performed it. Once I know how to change inflections, or pause so that my point is conveyed correctly. But as I am creating the poem, I want the poem to speak to me first.

Is there a particular subject that draws you in more to speak about?
When writing, I’m a sucker for a story / message. Usually someone else’s, but I almost always write from first person. I am not a passion / political / uplift my people type poet. In fact I usually hate those kind of poems. I prefer the story of regular people with a bit of poetic embellishment.

What advice would you give someone who inspires to be a great writer and poet?
Read. Live. Write. In that order then repeat. I think the ultimate key is detail and justification. Every word should serve a purpose. Learn the building blocks, metaphors, imagery, formatting. Then have fun and write for yourself.

Where can everyone find more of your work?
I do have a website, http://www.thefluentone.com  I have most of my written works, a copy of my CD, and a few video performances available on the site. Even more importantly, I believe the best way to experience one of my poems is in person. SO I am more than willing to travel around the country.

Check out The Fluent One website to read his awesome poetry and also watch live videos and get to know more about him.