Spit Dat in Residence

Every Third Monday of the Month

On Monday, May 20th at 8pm, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company and Spit Dat bring you this month’s open mic featuring Axiom (Jamaal “Black Root” Collier and Rahsaan “Wordslave” Eldridge)! Add to the energy as an audience member or share your own talents on the mic. Hosted by Drew Anderson with special guest host Yalan Sesay aka Omicron Beatbox! (641 D St NW DC).

May Open-Mic Sign-Up

Thanks to Mayor Bowser and the Mayor’s Office on African American Affairs for their support of Spit Dat.

Thank You to the Projects, Events, and Festivals grant from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.

Featuring Axiom

Meet The Creators

Hailing from New Jersey, Yalan Sesay aka Omicronbeatbox is a vocal percussionist and poet who resides in Anacostia, Washington, DC. From a young age Yalan has been practicing and honing his craft of beatboxing. In 2013 during his time in college while attending Kean University in Union, NJ he got his first exposure to the general Art Community through the New Jersey Artist Collective #UCYPHE performing at their shows and various open mics. The following year he found his beatboxing tribe after attending the 2014 American Beatboxing Championships in Brooklyn, NY. It was after this event and meeting with the legendary beatboxhouse that he decided that he wanted to become a professional vocal percussionist. In 2018 Yalan moved from NJ down to SE DC. In 2021 he graduated as part of the first class of Spit Dat Academy under the tutelage of Spit Dat creators Drew Anderson and Dwayne Lawson-Brown and other various local DMV poetry legends. This also included the opportunity to write and perform poetry pieces for the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company Production Homegrown with the rest of his 4 fellow graduates. When he isn’t working on his crafts and performing throughout the DMV he can be found capturing candid memories and moments as an event and portrait photographer for his photography business Shots.With.Sesay. Most of the time he can be found working hard for his SE community by positively influencing the lives of young adults that are in transition from the streets as a Career Pathways and Job Retention Specialist for the Covenant House of Greater Washington. He is also one of the co-founders for the South East Community Arts and Business Festival, an annual end of the summer event that connects and brings together the SE community, its local businesses, and local artists to community resources, workshops, and opportunities that are available to them through a family fun filled festival! Through his art forms and positive, upbeat presence, Yalan wishes to inspire and expose others to different ideas and perspectives in hopes to influence and touch as many lives as possible for the better.

Social Media: @omicronbeatbox

SPIT DAT is the longest-running open mic in the nation’s capital. A profoundly intimate artistic and spiritual experience which has fought to remain a safe space through nearly two decades of societal changes, Spit Dat combines world-class talent with a living room vibe. As much a “venue” as it is an “event”, Spit Dat has won multiple awards for its contribution to the growth of generations of acclaimed international artists. But perhaps its most valued accolade lives in being renowned among its staunch community as no less than “Church.”

Drew Anderson

Co-host of Spit Dat

Spit Dat in Residence

Every Third Monday of the Month

Featuring Axiom

Performances

Performances

Meet The Creators