Lady Lockz Sip in the Paint w/Special Guest Poet Obbie West

The Spaces features Lady Locks hosting a women-led sports culture session that blends a music-forward intro and a Women’s Month tribute to Queen Latifah with a focused interview of Mr. West—an LA-based spoken-word artist, Army veteran, advocate, and author. Mr. West details how he began writing at 31, views poetry as liberation and a bullhorn to de-taboo hard topics, and channels lived experience—childhood exposure to abuse, military service, and parenthood—into abuse-reduction education delivered through poetry. He explains his 20-year Army journey and medically directed exit, his preference for writing to be performed, and how impact is measured by audience testimony. He performs two powerful pieces (on women’s hair/beauty and an introspective “mind as maze”), shares catalog access (Blossom audiobook; Unstable Man on streaming), and previews new projects (three albums, film, and even testing stand-up), while stepping back from standard live shows except for moral obligations. The space closes with a light “this-or-that” game, community announcements (UFC fight night, Money Moves & Mindsets), and calls to join the Parley Syndicate community and Patreon for the recording.

Lady Locks Twitter Spaces: Women’s Month Tribute and Conversation with Mr. West (Words of West)

Context and Participants

• Host: Nikki (Lady Locks; Baltimore native; female-based sports podcast)
• Co-hosts and community: Ariel, EMAC, Tara, Camby (also referenced as Cam), KP (K. Pizzle; “Money Moves & Mindsets”), additional voices from the Parley Syndicate/Lady Locks community
• Guest: Mr. West (Words of West) — Los Angeles–based spoken word artist, advocate, author, Army veteran
• Other figures referenced: Queen Latifah (tribute), Wale (music recommendation), Kelly Price, Yandy (Love & Hip Hop), Kamal/Camel (poet/producer), AJ McQueen (closing track), Barry Sanders, Michael Jordan, Lamar Jackson, Kevin Durant

Opening Vibe and Women’s Month

• The space opened with light banter, tech check, and an extended music-led vibe set spanning classic hip-hop/R&B to set an upbeat mood.
• Women’s Month was front and center: the room acknowledged the month, the role of women, and set a celebratory tone.
• “Shot of the night”: Poet Punch — a playful ritual to mark the Friday evening “cipher to paint” theme.

Community Announcements (Parley Syndicate x Lady Locks)

• UFC Fight Night watch party in Discord (8:00 PM) with picks and betting discussion. Emphasis on community engagement.
• “Money Moves & Mindsets” with KP (K. Pizzle): practical sessions on saving, duplicating, and planning for family financial futures. Signature prompt: “What does your final love letter to your family look like?”
• Programming cadence:
  • Mondays: Money Moves & Mindsets
  • Tuesdays: Welcome to the Doghouse (guest programming)
  • Wednesdays: Puff Pick, Wolf Wells — everything NBA; “What them bets looking like”
• Women’s Month tribute planned across the month.
• Recording availability: session will be posted to Patreon; open invite to join the community and return Friday nights.

Women’s Month Tribute: Queen Latifah

• Tribute focused on Queen Latifah’s cultural impact:
  • Grammy-winning, pioneering female rapper
  • Hollywood Walk of Fame star
  • Producer and entrepreneur
  • Notable projects: Living Single, Set It Off, The Equalizer, Girls Trip
• Call to action: support her work; avoid bootlegs; give her flowers.

Guest Introduction: Mr. West (Words of West)

• Profile: spoken word artist (emphasis on “spoken word” vs. “poet”), advocate, author, Army veteran (20 years), LA native. Previously collaborated with Nikki at a Veterans Center on an unconscious bias presentation.
• Structure: Nikki led the first round of questions; Ariel led the second; interactive game facilitated by Tara.

Conversation Highlights and Mr. West’s Perspectives

• Sports fandom

  • No favorite teams due to “emotional stability” concerns of team attachment; prefers players.
  • Non-active: Barry Sanders (NFL), Michael Jordan (NBA).
  • Active: Lamar Jackson (NFL); NBA selection ultimately landed on Kevin Durant.

• Becoming an author

  • Honest, non-romantic origin: wrote the book “Blossom” because his daughter wrote books at 15 and 16, and he felt compelled to “compete” and validate himself. He writes to be recited, not read; his daughter writes “to be read.”
  • Self-assessment: print loses something without his voice, articulation, and performance devices.

• Military to art transition

  • He was “in the military,” but the military “wasn’t in” him — he maintained a separate identity anchored in family responsibilities (wife at the time, daughter) and keeping himself “off the streets.”
  • Avoided institutionalization; discharge brought freedom to indulge in art.

• Motivation to stay in the military

  • Upbringing: poverty; jobs didn’t equate to money; hustling did. Chose military first to avoid street life and not let his mother witness him go “the wrong route.”
  • Fatherhood: couldn’t accept being unable to feed his daughter; stayed in.
  • Authority issues: accelerated promotions to minimize being told what to do; eventually behavior health determined he was psychologically not fit to continue, leading to separation at 20 years.

• Advocacy: abuse reduction and social justice

  • Rooted in lived experience: witnessed father’s abuse of mother; collateral damage of childhood exposure to domestic abuse.
  • Masculinity norms in LA suppressed emotional expression; poetry became the “artistic license” to say what he lacked the “genetic license” to say.
  • Catalog organically contained abuse themes; later formalized into educational facilitation and trainings through poetry.
  • Notable: a military program incorporated one of his pieces into official training — recognized by Nikki during the session.
  • Social injustice pieces emerge organically: he doesn’t sit down to choose a topic; the topic “addresses” him as he writes.

• Core artistic philosophy (quote unpacked)

  • “Poetry isn’t something I do; it’s who I am. Poetry is first and foremost my liberation; second, my bullhorn for topics society has elected to keep quiet. I am a conduit for the tongue-tied.”
  • Liberation: poetry is a rare pure freedom — in a poetry event, audiences “pay to come sit down and be quiet,” granting uninterrupted expression.
  • Bullhorn: performance reaches the masses (in-room + online). He uses poetry to “untaboo” topics; only addressed topics can be repaired.

• Desired listener takeaway (for first-timers)

  • He takes the craft seriously and would do it even without an audience; let his work be permission for others to be free and uncensored despite social media backlash.

Live Pieces Performed

• “Let’s talk about hair” — a deconstruction of the myth that women’s beauty lies in hair length.

  • Themes: beauty as birthright; rejecting synthetic self-esteem and length-based worth; bravura wordplay (“detangler for twisted perception,” moose/aquanet metaphors).
  • Empowerment: beauty lies in bravery to be oneself; hair length neither diminishes nor defines beauty.

• Introspective piece on being emotionally closed/guarded

  • Imagery: “locked vault,” “high-security safe,” “man grenade,” “Colorado winters in his chest,” coping mechanisms as “cold,” black sheep dynamics.
  • Resonance with mental health and veteran experience; relationships strained by emotional opacity; daughter Brooklyn Elise as the person he consistently answers to.

Audience Interactions and The “This or That” Game

• Reactions: Ariel emphasized Mr. West as “light” within communities; Camby invited him to join and tap into KD player props and NBA talk.
• Brief in-room “news”: one participant announced Maxx Crosby signed with the Baltimore Ravens (shared as a live update in the space).
• Tara’s game (Poetry Spoken Word Edition):
  • Erykah Badu over India Arie.
  • Confess love directly over using wordplay to impress.
  • Love poetry over erotic poetry (though Nikki noted she enjoys his erotic catalog).
  • Writes “all day,” whether happy or hurting — as long as he’s alive.
  • Prefers loud claps; poetry that makes people feel (and think); will “call someone out” when needed.
  • Prefers falling in love with a poet over dating someone who doesn’t understand poetry.

Future Direction and How to Support

• Catalog and releases

  • “Blossom” (older work) available in audiobook form on Apple Music and Spotify.
  • “Unstable Man” album available on streaming.
  • Wrote three albums in the current year: The Interview; Left Coast (West Coast experiences); a third project (title partially unclear in audio; referenced as “Help Him”; note: he also discussed Wale’s “About Nothing,” but the new title remains to be confirmed). Recording forthcoming.

• Live performance status

  • Exiting routine live/stage performances to focus on other life areas and creative forms.
  • Will consider performing if it feels like a moral obligation (example: Black Girls Magic tribute).

• New creative pursuits

  • Transitioning into film; submitting a short film to festivals; exploring spoken word integration in cinematic forms and vertical content.
  • Experimenting with stand-up comedy via open mics (writing jokes; test audiences where he’s anonymous).

• How to support

  • Follow Words of West; stream current works (Apple Music/Spotify); stay vigilant for new projects and film releases; support when it resonates; join the Lady Locks/Parley Syndicate community to keep connected.

Music Mentions and Recommendations

• Wale recommendation: “Sue Me” (feat. Kelly Price) from Wow… That’s Crazy — hook: “I’m rooting for everything that’s Black.”
• Closing selection: AJ McQueen’s “Heart of a Woman.”
• Tribute medley included classics and nods to artists like Lost Boyz and DMX.

Key Takeaways

• Women’s Month focus: celebrating women’s leadership, artistry, and resilience; Queen Latifah’s enduring, barrier-breaking legacy.
• Mr. West’s ethos: poetry as identity, liberation, and a bullhorn; using art to untaboo difficult topics (abuse, social injustice) and catalyze healing.
• Advocacy grounded in lived experience: transforming the collateral trauma of domestic abuse and the constraints of hyper-masculinity into education through art; even adopted within military training.
• Community value: Lady Locks and Parley Syndicate provide a safe space for expression, connection, and practical life planning (sports culture, finance literacy, and beyond).

Actionable Notes

• Join the Parley Syndicate/Lady Locks community (Discord; weekly programming).
• Attend UFC Fight Night watch-alongs; check “Money Moves & Mindsets” with KP.
• Stream Words of West: Blossom (audiobook), Unstable Man; watch for The Interview, Left Coast, and the third forthcoming album.
• Support poetry-in-film explorations and future works; stay tuned on social channels.
• Recording will be posted to Patreon for replay.

Closing

• Collective appreciation to Mr. West for candor, artistry, and advocacy.
• Open invitation: Mr. West has a seat in future Friday sessions; community remains a safe space.
• Sign-off sentiments: gratitude to attendees; “stay black and don’t die.”