STONEDWITHCUPID releases new track

Stonedwithcupid, currently the Poetry Slam King in Barbados, is one of the most revered spoken-word artistes and the award-winning poet is not slowing down. Stonedwithcupid whose real name is Akeem Chandler-Prescod, was recently nominated in the National Youth Awards organized by the Division of Youth and Community Empowerment where he performed his original self-penned piece We Mek It.

Reflecting on his performance, Chandler-Prescod said it was fantastic to be recognized and acknowledged, especially in areas like spoken word or poetry which are often forgotten or an afterthought within the cultural industries. “What I sought to accomplish with that performance is to highlight the resilience and perseverance of young people today. We are dealing with daily sensory bombardment and world events that may have lasting effects for decades to come. More often than not, young people are not in a position to make decisions that affect society at large, but are often the victims of decisions made by previous generations. The piece We Mek It is a nod to how much we have made it through,” he said.

The former student of Combermere, who holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Arts and Entertainment Management from the Barbados Community College, recently received a Certificate of Honourable Mention from the Frank Collymore Literary Endowment Competition for his work dubbed Cupid’s Notepad. “I see myself more as a performing artiste than a literary one, so to place in the most prestigious literary arts competition was a surprise as most of the pieces were intended to be performed and heard, not read. However, this showed me that my performance work is well written and can be applied to other spaces even if it may fall a little short of the best purely literary works,” he said.

Stonedwithcupid is continuing to blaze a trail in the spoken word arena as he recently released his new single Body Count on Valentine’s Day. The track is available on all streaming platforms and already amassed over 79.5k views on his Instagram page @stonedwithcupid. The piece which explores silent masculine introspection is well-written and causes the listener to reflect on some of their past emotional experiences. “We [men] often see things from our perspective, tunnel-visioned with emotional blinders refusing to hold space for the woman’s experience. We often treat the woman’s experience as peripheral; a satellite orbiting our wants and needs and there comes a time when we start to see things from her perspective. The piece is an exploration of a man taking accountability for his past transgressions and admitting to sometimes being wrong or being the problem while recognizing admission of guilt will not erode what is done. The music of the piece is reflective, and the vocal delivery is intimate and remorseful, blending together to create what I believe is a perfect spoken word track,” he said.

The audio track was produced by Shawn Spencer, owner of Music Core, and mixed and mastered by Dbase Studios. “I invite persons to listen to the track on all streaming platforms under my name Stonedwithcupid. This includes Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal and in the Instagram and TikTok music tabs. It can also be bought on iTunes and on Amazon Music,” he said. 

The 28-year-old is also nominated in this year’s Gine On People’s Choice Award for Poet of the Year 2022-2023. His nomination comes as no surprise as last year he won the National Library Services Poetry Slam, TAF Barbados Run Yah Mout Open Mic and performed at the Sagicor Life Inc Lighting Ceremony and Mahalia’s Corner Christmas Edition. 

On February 6th, 2023, he performed at the Regional Launch for the Early Warnings For All Initiative for the Caribbean at the United Nations House (Barbados) where he received a standing ovation for his poem Family Affair. Prime Minister, the Hon. Mia Amor Mottley was in the audience and gave his piece a glowing commendation.

What advice does Stonedwithcupid have for young persons who want to become spoken word artistes? The Earl Warner Awardee in Theatre told future poets that the absence of something is an opportunity to get paid to make it present. “I think young poets should look at what is not being done and fill those gaps and holes. This will create a more rounded market with offerings appealing to different demographics and ultimately growing the artform,” he said. (Write Right PR Services)