J. Ivy performs pieces from his award-winning albums at TEDxChicago 2024:

1. Opening song from The Poet Who Sat by the Door

2. Not of this World

3. Never Let Me Down

4. Running

J. Ivy is a poet and pioneer, a trendsetter, and changemaker. He’s knocked down impossible doors, taking the Art of Poetry directly to mainstream music and television arenas. His motivational motto, “Dreams Don't Come True, They Are True,” has guided him from his native home Chicago to becoming a 3x GRAMMY®, Peabody, Clio, Telly, and NAACP Image Award Winning Poet and Artist.

In February of 2023, 30 years after his first performance, J. Ivy won a GRAMMY® for his latest album, THE POET WHO SAT BY THE DOOR, becoming the first Poet to win in the GRAMMY® Awards’ new category, Best Spoken Word Poetry Album. Not only is he the first Poet to win a GRAMMY® since the great Dr. Maya Angelou, he also won a GRAMMY® for his work on the Tennessee State Marching Band’s The Urban Hymnal, which won in the Best Gospel Roots category. For his follow up, in September of 2023 J. Ivy released his 7th album, THE LIGHT INSIDE, and for the second year in a row, J. Ivy brought home the GRAMMY® in 2024.