Although he won the category for best hip-hop artist, Larry Barron — otherwise known by his stage name LB the Poet — considers himself a spoken word artist first.

“I’m a poet to the core and that’s where a lot of my recognition has come from,” he says in an interview.

LB the Poet is a spoken word artist, barista and a community builder who promotes poetry in the county’s nooks and crannies, including local schools and through his bi-weekly spoken word performances at The Ramkat.

Larry Barron, better known as LB The Poet, is known for traveling throughout the country using his voice to empower people to be proud of who they are, stand up in the face of injustice and express themselves through spoken word.

Now he is using his passion for words, writing and poetry to inspire a new generation of poets.