Faces of Antyx: Wakefield

Welcome a brand new face to our Feature Friday segment: Wakefield Brewster!

Wakefield is an accomplished and genuinely inspiring spoken word poet. Starting his career in Toronto, he embraced his musical roots to learn the electrical organ at the young age of six and didn’t stop there. Wakefield trained to become a classical pianist gaining entry to York University, becoming one of 19 students accepted. When things took a turn, he switched his major to percussion and was one out of six students in the program.

“You have to know your limits; humans have them.” 

When Wakefield was secretly writing poetry, he met Professor Sherry Rolley. She became his most prominent advocate telling him he was a poet and encouraged his poetry that he showed to her. Wakefield switched into poetry but ultimately left the program and decided to pursue poetry independently. After trials and tribulations, he discovered one of his most significant influences Saul Williams, known as the godfather of slam poetry. Wakefield learned to use the skills that he already possessed and finally found his style.

“My style is the bridge between what poetry is and what it can be. I have a very rap-based flow. It’s a very hip-hip induced flow of poetry, but it’s not rapping because there is no music. It is lyrically heavy on ideas which stem around all of the basic literary devices”.

His journey in revolutionizing the Calgary spoken word scene started 15 years ago, making his mark on the scene quickly after succeeding in becoming a three-time Calgary Poetry Slam Champion and Team Captain in 2006, 2008 and 2009. One of his recent successes is becoming the first Resident Poet of the Grand Theatre in Calgary!

Through his poetry, he has become “a poet for the people,” advocating for many things such as wellness, spreading the power of literacy through mentorship and simply debunking the myths of poetry. 

“The biggest myth is that it’s not for you.” 

Wakefield has joined Antyx as a guest artist for our Poetry and Photo Digital Summer project, teaching youths how to shift out of their way to move forward with their poetry and how to express themselves uniquely. 

“Why am I at Antyx? Maybe none of the students will get anything from this that’s going to stick with them. Maybe I’m only going to help them with their lyrics, they will forget me. Maybe someone won't say a word, but I’m going to help someone in a way. Somehow, someway, we have to continue to be the one person in someone’s life.”

When we asked him if he had any advice for youths who were looking to enter the poetry scene, he said:

“Remember how this race is run. Your effort goes first, and it goes out the damn door. Don't ever stop trying. Gig as much as possible. Write as much as possible. Read as much as possible and see as many other poets as you possibly can. If this is your sh*t, then you gotta get yourself immersed. You have to literally pull a mountain on top of yourself and be buried. That’s the kind of effort you must make before you ever see yourself move in the field. Be prepared for that.”   

The increased media exposure of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement during the height of quarantine following the death of George Floyd, sparked the creation of his poem, “Blackout.” “Blackout” is dedicated to his friend Patrick, and Patrick’s family, who lost his life due to police brutality in 1999. “Blackout” marks one of the most impactful moments in Wakefield’s career as he transforms a painful memory into a socially and personally relevant performance. He performed “Blackout” for the first time in the Grand back in June after the CEO of the Grand Tony McGrath invited him to record his poem to show solidarity with BLM and tear down the silos that believe theatre should not be inclusive. He performed the poem again at Rumble House, moving his audience in the way that poetry moves him. 

“It's nice to know that my words that are not for me, they’re for Patrick and they’re for everyone else; any colour dying under the knee of oppression. It’s for all of them. It was nice that I can say something for people.”

In the past week, Wakefield recorded “Blacklit” after moving forward with the series that stuff still happens in the Grand, even during Covid and to “let people know I’m trying to stay busy, stay positive, stay relevant and still reach people through poetry.” 

He dreams to one day have a four-piece jazz band that he can front as a poet to create poetic performances accompanied by beautiful music. Wakefield’s poetic journey continues to break the myth that poetry has limits.

Below is Wakefield’s performance of “Blackout”.

Be sure to also check out his Instagram to see more of the incredible work that he does: @wakefield_brewster