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The Poet Who Sat By The Door is the sixth album of American poet, spoken word artist, actor and songwriter J. Ivy. It was released on September 30, 2022, by Word & Soul, LLC. The album won a Grammy in 2023 for Best Spoken Word Poetry Album. The album features artist collaborations such as multi-award winning music artist John Legend, rapper Slick Rick The Ruler, PJ Morton, Ledisi, Sir the Baptist, Deon Cole, singer-songwriter and co-executive producer Tarrey Torae, BJ the Chicago Kid, Ursula Rucker, Omari Hardwick, Yaw, Musiq Soulchild, Sunni Patterson, Verse, and Abiodun Oyewole. Ivy made The Poet Who Sat By The Door to promote his art form of poetry and the spoken word. The album's music and messages include recurring themes of endurance, love, passion, oppression, inspiration, faith and healing.

In an in-studio interview on WGN Channel 9's live morning show, Daytime Chicago, Ivy explains how he recorded The Poet Who Sat By The Door in two months after spending two years working on Emmy nominated Netflix documentary jeen-yuhs: A Kanye West Trilogy, and while leading the push for the new Best Spoken Word Poetry Album category with the Recording Academy. Ivy also tells the story of how he gave John Stephens (a.k.a. John Legend) his stage name.

The official release date of The Poet Who Sat By The Door is September 30, 2022.

About J. Ivy
J. Ivy is a GRAMMY winning, Peabody, Clio, Telly, and NAACP Image Award winning poet, spoken word artist, actor and songwriter, widely known for his appearances on HBO's Def Poetry and for his feature with Jay-Z on Kanye West’s album, The College Dropout. J. Ivy’s works include his third book, Dear Father: Breaking the Cycle of Pain, his Best Spoken Word Grammy nominated album CATCHING DREAMS: Live at Fort Knox Chicago, and his role of lead writer for the Emmy nominated Netflix documentary jeen-yuhs: A Kanye West Trilogy. He is also the Resident Poet for the foundation of famed visual artist Ernie Barnes.

As a high school student in Chicago, Illinois, Ivy was introduced to poetry by his English teacher, Ms. Paula Argue. After hearing the talent in Ivy's speech and in his writing, Ms. Argue, demanded he share his gift on stage. Ivy performed for his peers and received a standing ovation. Since that life changing moment, Ivy has never stopped creating. He headed to Illinois State University, where he soon became known on campus as “The Poet,” which later led him to performing throughout Chicago.

J. Ivy served as the Recording Academy’s Chicago chapter president from 2019 to 2021 and became the first poet to hold a Trustee’s seat in the history of the Academy.

In the summer of 2022, led by Ivy, over 100 artists in the poetry community came together to propose a new Grammy category to properly honor and respect their art, a category solely for Best Spoken Word Poetry Album. Their efforts were a success and the Recording Academy created the new category.

Ivy is described as a “lyrical mastermind” in an Ebony interview about the album, his work on Netflix's jeen-yuhs docuseries about Kanye West, and what it means to be a poet in this day and time.

Album Track Listing
The Poet Who Sat By The Door (2022)