Livin’ the ‘Hylife’

Imani Lateef and Sara Lopez are co-founders of Hylife Media

New poetry night emphasizes friendship, fun — not competition

by James Fowler

published August 8th 2007

It’s shortly after 9 p.m. on a Monday night and the crowd at Club Prestige (in the former Park Hotel (located near the train station at 201 Knapp St.) is growing restless. Sensing the anxiety, Sara Lopez, one of the event’s founders, takes the stage and grabs the mic; she wants to kick things off with a bang.

“Everybody, welcome to Hylife Poetry Night,” she says. “All right, on the count of three, I want everybody to scream ‘F---yeah!’ Ready? 1, 2, 3...”

The crowd responds in overwhelming fashion.

This isn’t your grandfather’s poetry night. There are no beatniks or bongos here, but love for the written word is celebrated passionately. It doesn’t matter if you’re a poet, beat-boxer or singer/songwriter; everyone is welcome. And that’s exactly how Lopez and co-founder Imani Lateef wanted it to be.

“When we did it (the poetry night), there were already two, three poetry nights. What we saw was that there needed to be a poetry night that, basically, created a whole new audience,” said Lateef.

Active in the scene since ’94, Lateef has organized events at many venues including Murphy’s, the Downtown jazz club, and Manos Greek Restaurant. It was at one of his former venues that he met Lopez, who was hosting a poetry night at Maxwell’s coffee house at the time.

The two became friends and later formed Hylife Media, a group that organizes artistic events around Toledo. On paper, they couldn’t be more different. Lateef is the cool, laid-back professional who’s driven by what he hasn’t accomplished. Lopez is a ball of fire living inside the body of a petite woman (she’s 4’11”). “I think he’s the yin to my yang,” Lopez says with a chuckle, “We balance each other out.”

Differences aside, the two make a formidable team. However, even successful teams sometimes fail. So why are they confident their venture will be successful? Well, it’s different.

The atmosphere at Club Prestige is casual, one where various artistic types mingle freely. There’s no prize money, so that helps eliminate the tension of competition that often mars these events. It’s kind of like the TV show Cheers; everyone’s glad you came and if they don’t know your name at first, they soon will.

On the night I visited, each performance was unique. Lateef did a little beat-boxing, three songs were performed, and a poet known as “Pineapple 16” (yes, that’s correct) chronicled his love of food and drink in poems titled “Ice Cream Dream,” “Spaghetti” and “Choco-late Milk.”

As for Lopez, she recited twice, but it was her second performance that proved most memorable. Titled “Graffiti,” the intense poem is a scathing account of a relationship gone wrong that contains enough raw emotion to make Kelly Clarkson’s “Never Again” look like a love song.

When the night was over, I couldn’t help but be surprised by the diversity of the performances. That is until I recalled something Lopez had said earlier: “It would be nice to have a constant refuge for writers, poets and artists to go and express themselves. That’s what I ultimately want to accomplish.”

That dream is precisely what makes this night special. It’s a laid-back, intimate atmosphere where camaraderie, not competition, is emphasized and a love for the written word — spoken or sung — is celebrated with genuine enthusiasm. The vibe may not be for everyone, but if you crave something different, then the Hylife might be the life for you.

Hylife Poetry Night takes place every Monday night from 8-10 p.m. at Club Prestige, 201 Knapp St. For more info on Hylife, check out their MySpace page myspace.com/thehylife.