Tia Deshay

If I Only Had Five Minutes: the Last Will and Testament of a Hip Hop Poet Tia Deshay

''I remember attending an Open Mic session at a venue located in downtown Detroit. A poet took the stage and before reciting his piece, he said that a poet has five minutes to impact his or her audience either negatively or positively. What a poet said in those five minutes could either create change or maintain the status quo.

I went home that evening and asked myself, ''What if, after five minutes, I could no longer write poetry for the rest of my life. What would I write in my last five minutes? '' The answer? If I Only Had Five Minutes. The Last Will and Testament of a Hip Hop Poet.

If I Only Had Five Minutes. The Last Will and Testament of a Hip Hop Poet is a three disc compilation: Life, Love, & Rhymes. In 26 poems I speak his language, swallow her pain, dream my memories, and create our rhythm. In my 'five minutes' I fill white space with unlimited possibility. In my 'five minutes,' I write now, so others can remember later. . .

What will you do with your five minutes? '' Tia DeShay