Now Ivy has put it upon himself to get his genre of music recognized by the Grammy’s. Ivy who is a national trustee for the Recording Academy, successfully pushed for the Grammys to create a category that will award the best poet and spoken word artist. The official title for the category is Best Spoken Word Poetry Album.
“I’ve seen the superpower that is poetry. I’ve seen it shift people’s lives, I’ve seen it save lives,” says Ivy. “I have a quote that says, ‘Poetry is the seed of every song ever written.’ Whether it’s somebody rapping or singing or it being spoken, it’s a poem there.”
The new category will have six contenders competing for the statue. J. Ivy is one of the candidates and is nominated for his sixth album called The Poet Who Sat by the Door. “A poet will be bringing home a Grammy,” J. Ivy told NPR, “and it’ll be the first poet since Maya Angelou.”