Canadian Artist Dwayne Morgan Interview with YV Media!

YV Media: Your poetry often carries a sense of personal and communal storytelling. How do you decide which stories to bring to the stage, and what determines whether a piece is ready to be shared publicly?

Dwayne Morgan: I do a lot of writing and based on what I see happening in the world around me, and how I feel about it, I often decide to memorize pieces that speak to the moment. I always try to be topical and on time with what is happening in the world, to be a voice for the community and offer a unique perspective to the topic. 

I never really know if a piece is ready to be shared publicly, but rather I choose to say it if I feel like it needs to be said at that time. Many of my poems evolve for years after I’ve first shared them, so it’s hard to say when it’s every fully ready, when I know that I’ll likely tweak and change it over time. 

YVM: Growing up and building your career in Canada, how has the Canadian cultural landscape shaped your voice as a poet and speaker, compared to other global influences you’ve absorbed?

Dwayne: The Canadian cultural landscape has had a profound impact on my writing and career, because I was born and raised here, so I know it the best. Most places that I’ve gone to, I’ve been invited to those places, however, in Canada, my experience was that I had to fight for space and fight to be seen. I am grateful for that fight, because it forced me to confront how badly I wanted to continue on this journey, and the value I placed on my work. I began my career with a chip on my shoulder and used that as motivation to carve out space for myself, my community, and those who would come after me. 

YVM: You’ve been described as the “Godfather of Canadian Spoken Word.” How do you feel about that title, and how has your perception of your own legacy evolved over time?

Dwayne: I find that title to be hilarious, and I don’t even know who was the first one to say it, but it caught on, so I’ve embraced it, as it speaks to what I’ve been able to do with my career, for the genre, and for other artists. 

I try to create and publish a lot of work, digitally, and otherwise, that people will be able to consume when I’m no longer here. I don’t really think about the legacy, because that will be dictated by others, and I won’t have much say in it. What I do try to do is leave evidence for them to discuss. When it’s all said and done, I think people will be amazed when they realize how much I created, built, shared, and did over the course of my career. 

YVM: Spoken word thrives on rhythm, timing, and performance. How do you balance the power of silence with the intensity of delivery in your work?

Dwayne: I approach my work in a similar way to how a composer might. There is always space between the notes, sometimes longer, sometimes short, but pauses are necessary for the notes/words to resonate the way that you want them too. 

YVM: Your work has spanned decades, multiple countries, and different mediums—live performance, film, recordings. How do you adapt your art to fit these different formats, and what’s your favorite medium to connect with an audience?

Dwayne: Performing on stage will always be my favorite medium for connecting with audiences with my work. I love to experiment, work with, and learn from other artists, as it helps me to stretch my talent, and expand the definition of what spoken word can be. There tends to be a visual narrative behind a lot of the stories that I tell, which often lends itself well to film, which I also enjoy exploring. 

YVM: If you were asked to create a playlist representing the modern Black experience in Canada, what three songs would absolutely have to be included, and why?

Dwayne: Wow, this is a hard one. I’m going to be dating myself here, but Bakardi Slang by Kardinal Offishall would have to be there, because it’s such a Toronto and Canadian song, that really embraces how Jamaican culture influences Canadian culture and how we speak and relate to each other. 

I’d have to include Living In The Ghetto by Jully Black, which is my all-time favorite song from Jully. If you’re ever in the room when she performs this song, you don’t hear it, you feel it, and it reminds me so much of the Toronto that we all came up in. 

For the final one, I’d choose Starting at the Bottom by Drake, because this song can be applied to so many contexts. I remember what Canadian Hip Hop and R&B used to sound like, and you could tell that it was Canadian right away. We started at the bottom, and now our music and sound stand shoulder to shoulder with music coming from anywhere else. When you look at the Blue Jays or Raptors, they aren’t taken seriously because they’re Canadian teams, and it has meant so much more when they won Championships; again, starting from the bottom, now we’re here! 

YVM: If someone reads your poetry 50 years from now, what do you hope they feel, understand, or remember about your message?

Dwayne: I think that my work is a time capsule of what life was like at this time in history for Black people in Canada, but more specifically in Toronto. I think it would provide a good sense and insight into what the lived experiences and thoughts of the community were in this time. 

YVM: Visibility can be both empowering and complicated for African Canadian voices. How do you balance being a public figure and activist while protecting your own mental and emotional space?

Dwayne: I’m an extreme introvert, and growing up, not speaking, people always thought that something was wrong with me. While I’ve found my voice, I am still an introvert, and I believe that that has helped me to carve out personal space for myself. When I’m not doing what I need to do, I retreat into my shell and am usually in the back of a room just chilling by myself. 

As a father, I have a responsibility to ensure that my daughter always has access to the best of me. There is still a lot of pressure that I put on myself, so I also try to book the occasional spa day or find new experiences and challenges to ensure that I’m taking care of myself. 

YVM: What has been the most unexpected lesson you’ve learned from performing or speaking publicly, and how has it shaped your artistic journey?

Dwayne: The first and maybe only time I acknowledge bombing on stage was at a show in Munich, Germany. It was my first time there, and I was young. For some reason, I was just not able to connect with the audience, and I left the stage feeling dejected. It probably wasn’t as bad as it was in my head, but I’m very hard on myself when it comes to my performances. I had to try to figure out what was making it so hard to make a connection, and I realized that all of the poems that I had shared were about my life in Scarborough, which meant nothing to people in Germany. That experience taught me that If I want to be an artist performing on stages internationally, I was going to have to ensure that my work spoke to experiences that existed everywhere that I went. This was a valuable lesson that opened the door to me being able to take my work internationally. 

YVM: Every artist has a side of themselves that rarely appears on stage. If your hidden self could write a poem, what would it reveal about you that people don’t usually see?

Dwayne: I think it would end up being a funny dancehall reggae song. Despite the fact that I speak about a lot of heavy topics, I’m also very light and love the softer and lighter side of life. 

YVM: What’s a question you’ve never been asked in an interview that you wish someone would, and what would your answer be?

Dwayne: Hmmm, maybe something about my funniest moment on stage, which would have to be the time that I was booked as an opening act for a group of male strippers who were late arriving to the venue. The promoters sent me out on stage to occupy and calm down the ladies, but they had one thing on their mind, and maybe after my first poem, the entire room started chanting “take it off”! I did my set and got off of that stage so quickly!!