The teenage poets of Chicago are groups of talented kids who express their emotions of past and current situations; they aren’t afraid to do so in front of thousands of people. Recently, some of our Brooks family, also known as Lyrically Xplicit, got another chance to enter into the Louder than a Bomb contest -- a city-wide contest involving more than 120 high school teams, from the Chicagoland, Indiana, and Wisconsin areas.

“Poetry is my outlet and it’s like second nature,” Delani Christmas, freshman member of Lyrically Xplicit confirms, “so it makes me feel invincible so I’m not so nervous.”

Although some of the students may have not been able ear in on the upsetting truth, we do get see several members of LX showcase their spoken talent at our school’s annual variety show and/or library poetry slams. The Brooks community having already experienced the passion of Lyrikally Xplicit’s stories flowing from their mouths there’s, sometimes, no need to judge the poets. This on the other hand is different from the LTAB experience, as they have to set themselves in front of more feasible judges that determine whether their words can push them to the next round.

“The pressure is different when performing in front of the LTAB crowd than the Brooks crowd because you never know how the judges may react to your performance, especially since they’re chosen at random,” Christmas explains.

The Lyrically Xplicit group has been through three rounds already: Bout 1, Bout 2, and Semi-Finals. Cancelling out schools such as Prologue Alternative on Feb. 26, Niles West (Tribe Called West) on March 1, and Lincoln Park on March 8. Now heading to the finals rounds this weekend, March 15th, anxiety may be building up for these teens as they prepare to face their arch rivals, Kuumba Lynx, Uplift, and Rebirth.

“It’s exhilarating. Every time I get on stage I can feel the adrenaline rushing through my body. I love it. I want people to hear my words, my mind, my emotions. Poetry just happens to be the purest way to do that,” Seanba Anderson illustrates.

Lyrically Xplicit shows the passion that it takes to creates piles of emotion in crowds. As they hit the stage, snaps and mutual head nods are bound to follow along. These poets are setting the tempo and tone for the generation of today, bringing us together to compose a beautiful story.