Also available as audio-only on iTunes, Spotify & wherever else you get podcasts.

CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED poet/writer/actor Alex Alpharaoh retells wild stories of homeless poets in LA, as he cliques up on our season premiere! The Clique gasses up Sierra DeMulder during the YT poetry review, and takes shots at fake-logic IG poetry during the “2 Piece Combo.” Alex closes it out by getting into his personal and social struggles during the “5 For Your Eye” prompted poem.

[EPISODE INDEX]

0:43 – “Old Man Poet” by Alex Alpharaoh

6:50 – “Threads and Lines”

17:35 – 2 Piece Poetry Review | “Today Means Amen” @SierraDeMulder

33:05 – 2 Piece Poetry Review | @fiknightart

38:59 – 5 For Your Eye

Poetry, hip-hop, and Southern California love brought Pen Clique into existence, and Alex Alpharaoh is a perfect depiction of all three of those things. Born in a faraway country and carried here by a young mother, he’s used all of his struggle to better his craft and the world around him. From his initial link up with Kuya and myself to where we’ve taken Pen Clique now, it is safe to say Alex has been an integral part of everything we are trying to do. Not only has he done this by being the homie, but by seeing the potential in poetry and what it has to offer others (like ourselves), and using art as a means for survival.

I met Kuya and Alex the same day. We linked up to shoot a concept Kuya had been devising called a “Poetry Clash.” I also had a desire to see more poetry online, and Kuya and I soon started planting the seeds for what would become Pen Clique. Meanwhile, Alex and I also became fast friends, bonding over shared life struggles and understandings, as well as a real passion and respect for the craft we had committed ourselves to. Alex was a poet I could talk about Shakespeare in the same way as Pac, we could break down the trial of Oscar Wilde in the middle of a conversation, we could discuss the fact that Method Man might be the only Wu member without a classic album. Alex has always been proof positive showing I am not alone in the struggle, and there are others out there fueling EVERYTHING they do with well-written verses, books, and bars. Alex and I both know that God lives in these words, and having him to lean on has brought a lot to myself and the work I do.