By Jide Akinpelu

The third annual LA Get DownFestival, a celebration of hip-hop and spoken word, has made its return to Los Angeles for National Poetry Month.

In association with Da Poetry Lounge, the Greenway Arts Alliance provided the Greenway Court Theatre on Fairfax Avenue to showcase their first event of the month, Poetry vs. Hip-Hop.

The intimate venue bares a wide stage which was graced by the hosts, DJ Knodat and National Poetry Slam Champion Queen Sheba.

After an entertaining mix of hand-picked rap songs and a brief introduction by the queen, the first featured performance of the evening began with viral hip-hop sensation G Yamazawa.

Choosing G as the headliner was a great decision by the show producers.

His vividly powerful spoken word poem followed by his impressive MC skills lit up the crowd and set the tone for the rest of the night.

Next on the microphone was author and spoken word poet Christopher Michael.

His merit as a poet was undeniable as he tranced the crowd with an abundance of memorized rhymes and a stage presence like no other.

The final act was singer/songwriter Kevin Sandbloom, whose melodic vocals and guitar playing captured the hearts of all who were in attendance.

His last piece out of his three song set was a cover of “Is it a crime”by Sade.

The only crime was that the performance was not live streamed for the entire world to join in the experience.

To end the event, Queen Sheba and Christopher Michael co-hosted the team poetry vs. team hip-hop one on one battle in which each host selected a handful of artists to display their skills and see which team the crowd enjoyed more.

The LA Get Down Festival has events and workshops taking place on the weekends during the entire month of April.