Conversation With Brandon Leake, The First Poet on America’s Got Talent (AGT)
Brandon Leake made history as the first poet on America’s Got Talent (AGT), and he topped it off with a golden buzzer moment and a spot in the semi-finals. This is monumental for the poetry industry because he brought this artform to an audience that is not normally exposed to poetry. He has broken that barrier for fellow poets.
Poet Life Podcast was honored to sit down with Brandon the night before his AGT audition episode aired, so we didn’t know the outcome of the audition or season yet. Take a look at what that conversation was like, and then be sure to listen to the full podcast episode.
Let’s start at the beginning
Poet Life: When did you start writing?
Brandon Leake: So writing started for me in middle school when girls were cute. But my first artistic medium was actually drawing. I’m still a huge Dragon Ball Z fan, and so I would walk up to the Maya Angelou library, and I would get these modern comics and trace paper. I would trace the characters, and then I would start writing the stories behind the characters.
Then I stopped caring about the drawings as much and started caring more about the backstory to the characters. That was the introduction to writing for fun.
I would write all this sappy love poetry in high school. And inevitably what ended up happening was I didn’t share any of that just because I was a hooper. In the 90s and early 2000s, nuance was not a word we did well. So if people hear you write poetry, they think that’s you being soft.
I gave my entire existence to hoop, and to not see the benefits or the rewards of what I was grinding for was disheartening to me. It made me question, “Brandon, what are you working for? Is basketball the legacy you want to leave behind? Or is there something more for you?” so I did research.
And I got this vision for Called to Move an artistry collective full of all the misfits on campus who just didn’t have a place to go. So we hosted our first open mic in 2012 and had like 15 of us show up. We continued to do it, and it grew and grew. And in our final one, my senior year, we had about 300 people show up. And I was like, “Yes, this is it.”
I had a lot of personal stuff happen in 2014, and I took a year off of art completely. In 2015, I came back and went to my first national poetry slam. That’s when the dream started.
Poet Life: So prior to that, you weren’t writing slam poetry?
Brandon Leake: Not at all. I was the type of poet at the beginning that didn’t respect poetry. I just loved it. And there’s a difference between the two, because I loved the fact that it gave me a voice. I was able to share my emotions. In 2017, I really started to respect it, meaning that I studied it. I looked at it, and I examined other people’s strengths and weaknesses and figured out what my strengths and weaknesses were.
I’m not necessarily the best wordsmith. How do I improve on that? I studied battle rap. They’re super great at being able to piece metaphors together, hitting punchlines, double entendres.
Poet Life: If poets would do what you just said, study something that is similar performance art. Comedy is a performance art…Because what are they doing? They’re telling a story with jokes. A poet is telling a story with poems, you know?
Tell me what are those lights, those lit up words you have in your background
Brandon Leake: I love to surround myself with positive affirmations. So in my office currently there are five neon lights:
Dream
Believe in yourself
Do what you love
Blessed
Don’t quit your daydream
And over here I have a few others that say:
Chase your dreams
You got this
Be thankful if simply be kind
Never give up
Use please and thank you
Help others
Cherish family and friends
Do your best
Listen with your heart
Laugh often and love lots
The will of God will never take you where the Grace of that will not protect you
I believe that everybody has a calling in their life, and that calling is going to be scary. It’s going to come with risk. It’s going to be lonely, especially in the beginning. And then when it hits, it’s going to suddenly not be very lonely. It’s going to be a whole lot of applause and a whole lot of people who said they always believed in you.
You can’t get bitter. You can’t let bitterness come into your heart. It’s on you. The moment, as the victor, you need to be willing to not be a sore winner. To be able to say, “you know what, I appreciate your support now, even though I wanted it before.” But you also need to keep your boundaries. Because not everyone who claims they’re for you, is actually for you.
All things AGT
Poet Life: So, let’s jump into AGT.
Brandon Leake: I tried out for America’s Got Talent the first time in 2017. It was after I tried out for AGT, that I learned the respect thing about poetry.
They told me you have 90 seconds. I didn’t have a 90 second poem at all. And it’s not you in front of the famous people. It’s you, a camera, a talent agent, and these other nine people who were trying out with you. And it’s like thousands of people there. So you just wait there all day. And I did not have a 90 second poem.
I showed up there and said, “You, I’m going to do a poem that I know. And if they like it, they’ll probably let me finish it. If they don’t or if they’re really strict to the 90 seconds, then they’ll cut me off.”
So I showed up confident, thinking I’m about to do well and make the show. I’m like third or fourth. I’m doing my poem, and at the 90 seconds they’re like, “Thank you. Next.” And call up somebody else.
And I’m like cool. I think I did pretty well. And after everyone finishes up, they tell you, “If we’re interested we’ll send you an email. If we’re not, then try out next year. And we’d love to see you again.” And everybody’s leaving, and they actually tell one of the people in the group, “Hey, hold on. We needed to talk to you a little bit real quick.” And I was like Okay cool, maybe something went wrong with the paperwork or something like that.
Then one week, two weeks, a month, two months go by. And I’m like, “Man, maybe I gave the wrong email.” And then I ended up seeing a commercial for the show pop up, and I’m like “Oh, no. I just didn’t make the show.”
Well that’s a blow to the ego. And it’s right after this that I take the time to learn how to become a better poet. And I write my best body of work I’ve ever written, entitled Deficiencies: A Tale from My Dark Side. And I went on to tour 150 shows in 10 months, and traveled around the world.
Poet Life: What group did they put you in at the show?
Brandon Leake: In 2017, they threw me in with a bunch of singers because I was the only poet who showed up.
Poet Life: So how did that feel?
Brandon Leake: To be honest with you, it felt normal. At that time for me I had done so many shows where I was the only poet in the room. And people were always knocking it. Like saying, “Oh you do poetry. Oh. That’s cool.” And then they hear it. And then they’re like, “Bruh.”
So not having my own category didn’t bug me. What bugged me was just myself. Not being prepared.
Everything comes in time, right? It’s a timing thing. 2017 Brandon wouldn’t have been prepared for that moment the way 2020 Brandon is. I went on tour, traveled around the world, got merchandise, books, an album, figured out marketing, how to sell myself to the world, how to make money off of my art. I figured out how to put on workshops, classes, collaborate with you guys over at Poet Life Academy. Whole lot of stuff happened between 2017 and 2020.
And there’s a startling resemblance to 2017 and 2020. In 2017, I got married and took a break from poetry and traveling so I could focus on my marriage for the first year.
When I tried out for AGT in 2019, technically 2020, I said I was going to take a step back from poetry to focus on my family because I was having a daughter. And there’s a parallel between that and the lesson learned from the last three years.
I go back to AGT, try out, I have my 90 second poem memorized and rehearsed. It went through multiple drafts, edits. I took time to craft this thing to be prepared. And when I walked into that room, I knew what to expect and was able to know what to look for.
I walked in like I don’t care about these other acts. These other acts don’t dictate if I make it. What dictates if I make it is that judge. If I can get that judge, then I’ve won.
In this group, it’s me and one other poet and eight singers. And I’m the last person in my group who gets the chance to go up. And I told you, I didn’t pay attention at all to them.
Poet Life: When you saw that there was another poet. Did you all have a moment?Brandon Leake: Oh yeah. Most certainly. She was a 16-year-old girl with her mom. So I talked to her and her mom.
Her mom was like, “She’s so nervous. She doesn’t know what to do.”
And I was like, “Trust me. I tried out for this show three years ago. It was my first time ever. It’s not scary at all. Just treat it as if you’re doing a performance for a small venue.”
She was like, “Huh. Yeah. I think the most people I’ve performed in front of was like 40 people.”
So I told her, “It’s just you and 10 other people in a room. Treat it like that. That camera doesn’t even exist.”
And she was like, “Oh, so I don’t have to look at it?”
And I’m like, “No. Look around, embrace the audience. That’s what you do anyway, right? Treat this as any other show.”
But yeah, when everybody was performing, I didn’t pay attention to them. I was looking at the judge. Are they capturing his attention or captivating him? And they weren’t. He would be texting or shooting out emails, shuffling through papers. Never fully invested in what they were doing. And I was like okay, I’ve got 10 seconds to get this man’s attention. And if I don’t, then I’m going home.
I told myself, “You better damn well make this worth it. Brandon, put your best up here on this stage in front of this microphone.” This is where the respect to preparedness comes in. I knew how long my piece was. I knew how long getting to certain checkpoints in the poems were. I told myself I had 10 seconds to grab his attention. Then I told myself, “You’re going to check at 15 seconds because you have a 15-second marker.” So, I hit my 15-second marker…
Poet Life: Tell me about that. The markers...tell me about that.
Brandon Leake: It’s like in terms of slamming. You have to know how long your poem is. If you start dropping a portion of the poem, you have to have markers where you know...where you can get back to. Because I have the ability to freestyle, if I drop a piece, I can freestyle and then get myself up to a point where I’m like “Oh, I know the next marker. Get me there.” Just through the cadence of where the poem leads me. So I was like, that’s the same thing I’m going to do consistently.
Poet Life: So is this something poets need to also learn?
Brandon Leake: Well certainly. Not just your poem. On a professional poetry level, having markers throughout the course of your poem, having key words, lead you into the next stanza. It’s like developing a cadence for a particular poem. So that way, if you stride off cadence, you can get yourself back into the rhythm of it. There’s a lot of things you can do for the sake of being fully prepared.
So I hit my 15-second marker. I looked up at the judge cause I was looking at the crowd. I saw him there looking at me. Not shuffling through papers, not looking at the phone. And I finished the piece flawlessly. And then he said, “Hey guys, if we’re interested we’ll email you. If not please come back next year.” And then he says, “Hey hold up, Brandon. We wanted to talk to you.”
And like I said, in 2017 that happened with another person in my group. I knew. I was like, “I know what this is.” And then he asked me, “What else do you write about? Do you just write about this or do you have more topics?”
And I’m like, “I’ve got crap tons of poems.” And asks to hear one, even though it wasn’t 90 seconds. So I gave him a poem. And then he asked for another one, so I gave him a poem. I was trying to give him a different feel, a holistic feel of what I provide.
I ended up doing the initial poem plus three more. And he looked at me, and said, “Hmm, well if we’re interested then you’ll be hearing from us soon.”
This is one of those things where, once again, the respect of the art form kicked in, I didn't have to whip out my phone. I respected the craft enough to have enough memorized to where, if necessary, I could kick another poem.
Having those types of poems is beautiful because it gives you the flexibility to be able to respond to a crowd.
Being a poet, who’s going to go up there, I get to share my story. You learn about the other acts from the little previews that they give you beforehand. You not only get that from me, but you also learn about me from the work I put on stage.
Poet Life: Tell me about the whole documentary short that they do on you. How did that play out?
Brandon Leake: People don’t understand the labor that goes into it. I showed up to start filming at 8:0 a.m. I didn’t see the judges until 5:00 p.m. They do the B-roll stuff, but it’s also sitting down patiently waiting for your turn, and then they ask a crap ton of questions.
The interview was like two hours, and they’ll use two minutes of it. They don’t know what they’re going to use until a week before.
Poet Life: Tell me about what you had to do for your social media.
Brandon Leake: Social media was a beast to try and get prepared for this. You have to focus on what you want people to know about your brand. Inevitably, becoming an artist means that you become a brand. And that can feel dehumanizing in a big way, where it’s like man, I’m more nuanced than this, but people are going to throw you in a pocket. They are.
So, I was like, I’m not going to put anything on social media that’s off brand. I don’t usually do anything off brand, because my art is reflective of who I am as person. The brand I put up for the world to see is the family man and the artist. But you don’t even see all the family man stuff, like I don’t need you know everything that’s going on in my career. You need to know what I want you to see.
I stopped uploading videos on YouTube about three months ago, knowing that AGT was going to be happening. I’m still recording. I just need a storehouse of footage so that I can be prepared to release weekly videos for the next year. And If I slack on content even one week, my algorithm will get messed up. People will wonder what happened. I’ve got four months worth of content right now. People won’t know it; it’ll look new to them. It’s a lot of prep.
Final “pieces of gain” from Brandon Leake
Brandon Leake: Understand your value. 2017 Brandon was not as valuable as 2020 Brandon. If I walked in and demanded a thousand dollars for a show in 2017, 2020 Brandon would laugh at that right now.
You are more than just a poet. You are representative of a culture. As we go out to the world, we have to represent well. So be sure to respect this art, don’t just love it. Love fades when things don’t go your way. Learn to respect it and treat it well.
On top of that, surround yourself with people who are for you. Both in the sense that they’ll support you and people who will challenge you. You don’t need a “yes man” or a “yes woman” in your ear telling you everything you do is fire. You need that friend who’s going to tell you that poem is trash and tell you it’s just because you didn’t do a good job writing it. It’s doesn’t mean it’s not worth something. Have people in your corner who are going to help you elevate in growth.
Also, prepare as an artist and as a business person. If you’re not business-minded, go learn about it. Don’t look to hire a new manager in the beginning. Learn how to talk business jargon. Understand what a retainer is, what a down payment is. Understand the business lingo in order to book gigs. When you get big enough that you need a manager, you can tell them you know what you’re worth and you know what they’re worth because, “Guess what, I’ve already done this, and I can keep doing this. I just don’t want to. I just want to be the artist.”
Finally, know that a poet who is unknown to the vast majority of the world is going to inevitably accumulate millions of views on social media and website content.
That’s the power of what we can do.
Be sure to listen to the full interview with Brandon Leake to get all the nuggets of gold that he shared with us, and if you want a refresh of his audition episode, watch it here.
Brandon Leake is an Award Winning Spoken Word Poet, Artistic Educator, and Motivational Speaker from Stockton, Ca., and the season 15 winner of America’s Got Talent. His creative mixture of art, charisma, and passion, tailored to his own unique personal narrative has taken him across the world as a speaker and performer. Find out more about Brandon at calledtomovectm.org/brandon-leake
