Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry Season 6 (DVD)

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Let´s talk about Mos Def for a moment, the emcee of the festivities. Unlike D.L. Hughley in the latest installment of "Def Comedy," Def is neither articulate nor energetic enough for his role. It´s almost as if he´s making up his monologue on the fly. Worse is his mumbling and fumbling through the lines. He simply doesn´t have the charisma of Hughley or even Simmons himself, who appears at the end of every episode to thank the audience for coming out.

Besides the host, one other thing differentiates "Poetry" from "Comedy": the type of performers on stage. Whereas in "Def Comedy Jam," a large percentage of the comedians were African American, a more diverse population is showcased here. Asians, Latinos, male, female, straight, gay, older, younger, skinny, fat…this diversity brings an equally diverse subject matter to the forefront. There is a lot of rage to be had, for sure, aimed at the lack of education for children, the president and general "black rage," but, as already mentioned, there are other topics, too. And that makes "Def Poetry" a great deal more entertaining and insightful for the audience. Every sketch doesn´t have to revolve around "motherfuckers" or sex; "Def Poetry´ showcases people who don´t need to be vulgar or profane to entertain an audience.

VIDEO:
Since "Def Poetry" and "Def Comedy" utilize the same sets and the same production team, it stands to reason the video transfers are just about the same. They are, with nearly identical looking anamorphic widescreen presentations across both discs of this set. The problems I mentioned in that review mirror what is seen here: some objects have a hint of jagged edges where there should not be any, which turns out to be the only noticeable issue. Each episode does a good job of recreating the color palette being used-mostly dark blues and browns, owing to the materials on stage. But in the moments when a performer takes the stage with a red towel or gold dress, the hue is recreated faithfully.

AUDIO:
Anyone expecting a 5.1 mix is nuts, quite frankly. The 2.0 version, provided here, works just fine for the subject material. My only nitpick concerns quiet moments. A hum can be heard coming from the speakers for some reason. It´s as if the track is trying to recreate the stillness of "dead quiet" by inserting sound where there is none. Very peculiar. Otherwise, this is a serviceable mix. Oddly, subtitles are not included, though the discs are closed captioned.

EXTRAS:
A bare two disc set.

PARTING THOUGHTS:
I hate to keep comparing this series to "Def Comedy," but comparisons are inevitable, I think. On the whole, "Def Poetry" is a less offensive, more creative and diverse outing with each episode flying by thanks to the number of "guests" in each program. Only Mos Def´s hosting holds it back; thankfully, though, he is largely relegated to introducing the acts. Anyone looking to go on a roller coaster of emotions based on subject matter is encouraged to pick up this release. Aficionados of proper poetry might be better served cracking open a book of literature instead of season six, though.

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