Spotlight Sessions: Sweet Sadie

A Philly poet bringing her truth to the stage.

I started Spotlight Sessions because there are people doing real work who deserve attention. My friend Mercedes, who performs as Sweet Sadie, is one of those people. I’ve known her long enough to see the growth up close. I’ve seen her go from writing privately to finding her way onto stages, building a name for herself as a spoken word artist in Philly and beyond.

What I respect most is that she did the work. She didn’t look for shortcuts. She kept showing up, kept writing, kept performing, and kept turning what she was going through into something people could feel. In this conversation, we talked about her start in poetry, the vulnerability it takes to perform, the book she’s working on, and what it means to have people around you who really want to see you win.

Voice Lessons

ANDRE SAUNDERS: I’ve seen your growth up close, from where you started to where you are now. What made you decide to really put your all into poetry?

I’ve always appreciated the art. I’ve been writing since grade school, like fifth or sixth grade. I was always too shy to get on stage, but I knew if I ever wanted to pursue it, I needed to be consistent. When I finally started doing poetry, I was like, “Okay, we’re here, and there’s no turning back.”

At first, getting on stage was about getting over that fear. Then it turned into something bigger than I expected. I started getting attention, people started booking me, and I started getting paid to perform.

Listening to you talk, the word that comes to mind is fearlessness. There’s fearlessness in performing, in sharing vulnerability, and in moving through hard things. How do you think about that?

Over time, I found my purpose. I know my style now is raw storytelling.

My vulnerability allows people to feel like I’m speaking with them instead of at them. Whether I’m talking about love, trauma, or my spiritual side, I want to create work that makes people feel understood, seen, and not alone. When I get off stage, people often come to me and say, “I relate to that,” and they tell me their story.

A lot of these poems I wrote years ago, and it’s always interesting how they land different as time goes by. My delivery, too, changes as I look back after my mental space has grown or shifted. And sometimes that becomes a conversation with the audience. I think I’m helping them, and they’re helping me.

Owning the Stage

I remember seeing you perform the same poem at different times. The words didn’t change, but the feeling and energy were completely different. What did that feel like?

It made me proud. It’s a blessing to be received well. I’ve won awards. I’ve been on platforms I didn’t expect. This became way bigger than I intended it to be.

Who influences you? Who inspires that kind of transparency and honesty?

I’m heavily influenced by music, especially older music and ’90s rap. During that time, rap focused so much on poverty, upbringing, and struggle. I loved hearing someone like DMX talk about abuse or his grandmother passing away. The way he put that in his music made me feel like I knew him.

Or even someone like you. I listen to your music, and even if I already know the story behind it, I can still hear how you put that situation into a song. That’s amazing to me, how we can turn our stories into art, and have a bigger conversation.

What has been one of the most meaningful platforms or moments for you?

One platform was Poetry Me, Please. It’s in a legendary venue in New York, a huge opportunity. And they reached out to me! Somehow I’d caught someone’s attention, and they asked me to do that show. That humbled me, because there are people with bigger names who have been doing poetry for years and haven’t touched that stage yet.

Soul Notes

What has been challenging so far?

Consistency. I write about experiences, and sometimes I’m still going through them. Sometimes I’m still grieving. Sometimes I’m still dealing with heartbreak or loss or whatever life is throwing at me. I get it, people want new material. I can’t rush the process. Sometimes I need to actually live through something before I know what I’m trying to say about it.

Looking back, is there a poem that felt like a turning point?

I recently did my first faith poem and shot a visual for it. I just dropped it without saying anything, and the whole community was like, “What?” I don’t think people expected me to be vulnerable in that way. The poem was about feeling like God isn’t listening to you, like when Heaven is on mute and you’re receiving silence. This is how I talk to God. I think it was one of the most raw poems I’ve ever made public.

There’s a special connection between your art and your deepening faith, can you speak to that?

I’m at a point in life where I’ve committed myself to God. I got baptized in 2024, and I thought, this is part of my life now, so why wouldn’t I write about it? I write about everything else.

I didn’t grow up in church, so I tell people I’m a brand new Christian. A lot of my poems are about wrestling with my faith, my conversations with God, and the tension I have trusting God sometimes while I’m navigating real pain.

For example, I lost my mom recently, and a lot of the conversations I had were with God. It was like, “Why? Why did this happen?”  That’s the honest side that can be scary to admit. It’s scary to question God, but I feel like God encourages our questions.

Keeping Company

How do you stay so passionate and connected?

I like to be in rooms where people inspire me, whether it’s poetry or outside of poetry. I want to see people around me doing good things and doing things I probably want to do. I see this community go through its ups and downs, but I feel like we all have the same goal. We’re stronger together at the end of the day.

What do you want people to remember when they hear your name or see you perform?

A lot of times when you’re an artist, people try to separate the two. Who’s the person? Who’s the artist? My goal is always to be true to myself. I want people to believe I am the person I am on stage.

What projects are you most excited about right now?

I’m really excited about my book. This is something I’ve worked on, on and off, for about 10 years. You would know this. It’s been an ongoing goal. There are no limits here. I want to get out of my comfort zone. I’m taking risks and going for it this year. I want to do everything God puts in my way.

All Due Respect

I’m proud of Sweet Sadie because I’ve seen the growth up close. I’ve seen her go from writing in private to standing on stages with something real to say. I’ve seen her become more confident, more open, and more sure of her own voice. That does not happen overnight. I’m glad to give her flowers now, while she’s still growing and still reaching for more.

LEARN MORE: @iamsweetsadie on Instagram, TikTok, and Threads (lots of good stuff on youtube as well)

📝 EDITOR’S NOTES: Poetry Off the Page 🎤🪽

Spoken word is poetry meant to be heard, felt, and shared in real time. It lives somewhere between the page and the stage, with roots in American traditions of oral storytelling, public testimony, performance poetry, hip-hop, theater, church, open mics, and community gathering.

For readers new to the form, spoken word can feel intense at first. The poet may whisper, pause, repeat, laugh, shout, sing, or let silence hang in the room. The audience might snap, murmur, laugh, call back, or sit completely still. That response is part of the experience. Spoken word is not just a poem being read aloud. It is a live exchange between the poet, the words, and everyone listening.

Sweet Sadie’s Take:
Spoken word poetry is poetry that is written to be heard and felt. For me, it centers emotion, personal experience, and storytelling. It is not only about what is on the page. It is about tone, body language, cadence, delivery, facial expressions, pauses — all the things that bring the poem to life.

The way a poem is performed can completely change how the audience experiences it. A love poem may come out softer. A poem about grief may sound more intense. A poem about frustration may come through with a raised voice. The goal is to make the audience feel what you are feeling, not just understand what you are saying.

There is also a lot of active listening in spoken word. The audience is not always waiting until the end to respond. They may snap after a line. They may ask you to say something again. You can feel, in real time, which words are landing. That is what makes the stage vulnerable. You are introducing yourself to people. You are showing them intimate things. But when the room connects with you, it becomes a conversation.

Andre Says:
At the end of the day, it is words.

People like to separate everything. Is this person a rapper? Is this person a poet? When I first started, poets would call me the rapper who was a poet. Rappers would call me the poet who raps. Eventually, I found the blend within myself.

To me, spoken word, poetry, rap, music — it all comes back to how you use the words. How you layer them, write them, style them, and deliver them.

The difference in a poetry room is the focus. At a music show, a lot of times it is about how hyped the crowd can get. With poetry, the connection can be quieter, but deeper. People are listening closely. It is more of an emotional connection than a loud connection.

That shaped how I perform music too. It is not just about turning the crowd up. It is about what you are saying. Too much noise can block out the message. Poetry also makes you stand on what you brought to the room. You have to have something to say. There are no shortcuts. You cannot depend on the beat, the hype, or the crowd to carry you. It is about the words, the delivery, and the feeling in real time.

🔎 Check out Poetry215.com for a local poetry calendar listing open mics, showcases, and recurring events around the city.

❓ What do you think? Hit the links for more info, and leave your comments below.

🌟Spotlight Sessions is a series conceived of and developed by artist-educator Andre Saunders to highlight inspirational local people with personal, community-focused interviews. Read Andre’s previous Spotlight Session on Aaron Thomas, a young Philly rapper and content creator uplifting his community.

Congratulations to Andre on the continued success of his latest book, Honest Becoming Me, where he shares his artistic journey in an interactive format that encourages young readers to find their voice. And be sure to check out Andre’s latest music project “Better Late Than Never”, a deft, layered introspective with unforgettable rhymes and hooks.