Dallas poet releases second spoken word album offering glimpse of his personal side

Two years after the release of his debut spoken word album in 2023, multi-hyphenate artist and poet Derrick Walker (D. Walk) has a second album out now called brown in word, which dropped August 15, via Anderson Music Group / EMPIRE. He's also submitting the album for next year's Grammy consideration in the spoken word album category.

Walker is a poet, producer, graphic designer, author, film maker, musician, and more. His roots are in Dallas, particularly Oak Cliff, where he got his start in the arts and shaped his talents in the church.

Album cover for 'brown in word'. Photo courtesy Anderson Music Group/Empire

The 20-track brown in word album is categorized into two halves of spoken word and poetry, covering topics of growing up in Dallas, family, and social issues.

"It's a concept that initially was going to be a double album," Walker says. "The first half is what I'd consider more non-traditional poetry and spoken word as it's produced with music and a little more performative. The next half is straight "in word," and the focus is the words and what has been written and what has been said."

As this category evolves, there are conversations bout what is the difference between poetry and spoken word, maybe even RnB and hip hop. Because of that conflicting perspective, he decided to do a two-in-one with this project to answer the question of what's the difference.

His first album was refreshing and familiar (an ode to Dallas), which made it palatable but didn't have anything personal about him visually. This latest album is both broad and takes a deeper approach; it's very personal. Plus, it's paired with a documentary that delves into his story as a creative and accomplishments ranging from significant collaborations to his lived experiences.

Walker says he started recording the album in December 2023, when he wrote, performed, and produced the album himself.

He went to L.A. to record vocals using a process he knew would work for him, building vocals around BPM using the ideal sound and tempo. As a music producer and musician, he knew he could manipulate the words the way he'd do with any other sound.

"The limitations and parameters make art great — the ideas that can be infused in walls or gates," he says. "As it relates to the Grammy's, it's an industry recognized opportunity for peers to participate in consuming art and history through the Recording Academy."

"I wanted to maintain this cinematic storytelling, poetic, choreography of words as arranged on my first album and extended into something that's a deeper version of that," Walker says. "The connectivity remains, even though it might sound a bit different. This is the next movement of poetry and moves and sounds that I hope will spark the imagination of life."

Additionally, Walker has made a name for himself as a host since college at the University of Arkansas Pine Bluff. Other events have included Lit Lounge, the Two Chain's restaurant Esco Dallas— which hosts weekly open mic nights featuring poets, singers, rappers, and other spoken word artists— and The Legacy Experience with Adam Blackstone in L.A.

The event, where he collaborates with 97.9 The Beat DJ Spaceboi Fresh, has allowed him to connect with people outside of Dallas who visit to have a good time, find community and also explore the food and culture on a Thursday.

An expansion of his events is also on the horizon. According to Walker, putting people in place he's considering a tour and reaching out to spaces in L.A., Atlanta, and Memphis for performance spaces.

You can find brown in word on all streaming platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and anywhere else you listen to music.