On way to Pompano Beach, singer-poet Tank Ball talks about reading in Florida, Black female voices (but not Cardi B)

The three-day Exit 36 Slam Poetry Festival coming to Pompano Beach this weekend will include a programming coup: a reading by Tarriona “Tank” Ball of Grammy nominees Tank and The Bangas, who will share the emotional confessions in her debut poetry collection, “Vulnerable AF.”

The sixth annual festival will draw writers from across the country to workshops, artist talks and the signature Slam Poetry competition, with $5,000 awarded among the top three winners. The festival takes place at the Pompano Beach Cultural Center from 6 to 11 p.m. Thursday, 5 to 11 p.m. Friday and 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday. Also on Saturday, events will be found from 10 a.m. to noon at the Ali Cultural Arts Center. Three-day, all-access passes cost $30+ at PompanoBeachArts.org/exit36.

Funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, South Arts and the Florida Division of Arts and Culture, Exit 36 was created by Pompano Beach poet and cultural curator Sharonda “Eccentrich” Richardson, also a member of the celebrated South Florida spoken-word team Dada.

Exit 36 is designed to provide “an empowering platform to discuss topical and emotional issues … (and) to encourage young people to continue to develop their writing, critical thinking and speaking skills,” Richardson says.

With Ball their energetic leader, Tank and The Bangas saw their album “Red Balloon” nominated in the Best Progressive R&B Album category at the Grammy Awards earlier this year. The group’s spiritually uplifting hybrid of R&B and hip-hop earned them a nomination for the Best New Artist Grammy in 2020.

Tank and the Bangas are two-time Grammy nominees, most recently for their 2022 album “Red Balloon.” (Tank and the Bangas/Courtesy)

A collection of 33 diary-like entries, “Vulnerable AF” explores the real-life story of Ball’s relationship with an old flame, told with soul-baring candor, humor and heartbreak. Some of the pieces inspired Bangas songs, including the poem “Damaged Goods,” which became the song “Walmart.”

She describes the book as “a collection of poems so that I can remember … and forget.” It is dedicated to “the boy with the deepest mud puddles that I have ever stepped in.”

Ball is scheduled to read on Thursday from 7 to 8 p.m. at the Pompano Beach Cultural Center, then do an Artist Talk on Friday from 7 to 8 p.m. in the same venue. She will read from “Vulnerable AF,” but is working on pieces for a new book that may find their way into her session.

“Her deeply personal debut poetry collection hits on themes we can all relate to: infatuation, love and heartbreak,” says Ty Tabing, director of the Pompano Beach Cultural Affairs Department.

Speaking from her home in New Orleans, in a conversation peppered with her boisterous laugh, Ball talks about supporting young girls, the underappreciated voices of Black women, and why it’s important for her to come to Florida in this moment. The interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

Q: Who is your audience at these poetry events? In your mind’s eye, who are you reading to?
A: I’m reading to anyone that, honestly, has a heart. Anyone that’s ever been to Walmart. Anyone that’s ever been to a theme park. (Laughs) I always think about the shared experiences that we all have. Sometimes it comes from a very unique cultural place, sometimes it just comes from the fact that we all have feelings, and we’re all having this human experience walking through life.

Q: How did speaking and singing your writing out loud become your favorite way to express yourself?

A: When I was really young, my grandmother would bring me to different churches where my grandfather would preach at. I would do these poems before he would speak. … Maya Angelou and Adrienne Hardesty. Everybody would pay attention, and they’d clap. I started performing at church, and I started writing a little bit later on.

The poem — (Andrews McMeel Publishing/Courtesy)

Q: “Vulnerable AF” is about love and heartbreak. Why was it important to document that time?

A: I had a lot of feelings going on inside at the time. I just had to get them out. It’s always so cool to just go ahead and reflect on those times so you won’t feel that way forever. Go back and look at it and laugh or cry or wonder why you’re still there. I always recommend people to journal, recording yourself in real time.

Q: What happened to that guy?

A: Haha, wouldn’t you like to know?! (Laughs) He is living his life, I’m sure full of, um, thoughts? (Laughs) I got his blessing before I put the book out. He’s very proud of me.

Q: Are we hearing enough stories from Black women these days?

A: I think it depends on what you’re following. If you’re following Black women, if you’re on Instagram, TikTok, if you’re watching the books they’re putting out, then you’re hearing their voices. Do their voices need to be a little bit more amplified, with some more versatility within the algorithm? Heck, yeah. There are so many different types of Black women, and they’re kind of showcasing one story of one. And that’s not the only one. That’s what needs to happen, for sure. More versatility within these amplified voices.

Q: What is that dominant story?

A: Every woman deserves to be heard, but the one that’s just dominating in hip-hop right now is the come-up of the stripper. That’s great for her, and that’s what’s up, but we have to have more stories than that. There are more storytellers that can be included within the script.

Q: You’re talking about Cardi B?

A: I’m not talking about Cardi B. I never said her name. And I never will. (Laughs) And Cardi B is not all the way Black. (Laughs) But, no, there’s a plethora of female artists that’s mostly that one narrative going on in the media. And it’s done purposefully so that other voices — like a Lauryn Hill, like a Noname, like a Tierra Whack, like a Tarriona “Tank” Ball, like a Leikeli — are not heard as much as they should be. Positive, cool girls.

Q: The country is in a weird place when it comes to words and books, Florida especially. How do you feel about coming to Florida to share your words?

A: A lot of people don’t like you to come to a place because of politics and things. I think that’s the place that would need it the most. Why leave a place alone so they can bask in what they don’t know? They need a new voice, they need to hear something different to change their perspective, to open their minds. It’s good for me to go to places that may not necessarily agree with what I’m thinking. I don’t shut up or turn my back to that because … each city has amazing people, even if the polls aren’t showing it. We have to go everywhere.

Q: What would you say to a young Black girl living in South Florida who wants to express herself with words but doesn’t have the confidence?

A: Just knowing that there is no one like you in the world is a superpower. Just the fact that you are so unique that God didn’t even make your fingerprint twice. … I’d just remind her how special she is. The moment somebody told me I was special, it was like somebody put a battery in my back. I was just going after that. If something is given to you, you have to share it with the world. She needs to share this gift. At the end of the day, it would be great if she had nothing else in her hands, because she gave it her all.