The Last Poets
The Last Poets | |
---|---|
Origin | Douglas Records Mouth Almighty Innerhythmic |
Members | Abiodun Oyewole Umar Bin Hassan Baba Donn Babatunde Jamal Abdus Sabur |
Past members | Jalal Mansur Nuriddin (deceased) Suliaman El Hadi (deceased) Nilaja Obabi (deceased) Abu Mustapha (deceased) Kenyatte Abdur-Rahman (deceased) |
The Last Poets is a poetry collective and musical group that arose in the late 1960s as part of the
The group originally composed of
History
Origins and 1970s
Jalal Mansur Nuriddin a.k.a. Alafia Pudim, Umar Bin Hassan, and Abiodun Oyewole, along with poet Sulaiman El-Hadi and percussionist Nilaja Obabi (Raymond "Mac" Hurrey), are generally considered the best-known members of the various lineups. Jalal, Abiodun, Umar, and Nilaja appeared on the group's 1970 self-titled debut LP and follow-up This Is Madness featured all but Abiodun, due to his incarceration for political activism. On the third album Chastisement a third poet, Sulaiman El-Hadi, was added, then Nilija left and the African rhythms began to be replaced by jazzier backgrounds. The Jalal-Sulaiman version of the group made six albums together but recorded only sporadically without much promotion after 1977.
The
When Nelson left, he was replaced by Felipe Luciano, who would later leave to establish the Young Lords. When Kain and Nelson began to pursue other interests (theater and ministry respectively), Abiodun Oyewole "recruited" Alafia Pudim (later known as Jalaluddin Mansur) and Umar bin Hassan. Following the success of the newly refigured Last Poets first album, founding members Kain and Nelson got together with Luciano and recorded their only album Right On in 1970, the soundtrack to a documentary movie of the same name that finally saw release in 1971. Luciano, Kain, Abiodune Oyewole and Nelson recorded separately as The Original Last Poets, gaining some renown as the soundtrack artists (without Oyewole) of the 1971 film Right On! Following a legal battle between the two groups concerning ownership of the band's name, The Right On album was released under the group name The Original Last Poets to simultaneously establish the founding members' primacy and distance themselves from the other group of the same name.[6]
In 1972, they appeared on
Having reached US
The remainder of the 1970s saw a decline in the group's popularity in America, although they became quite popular in Europe.
1980s and 1990s
In the 1980s and beyond, however, the group gained renown with the rise of
Sulaiman El-Hadi died in October 1995. Oyewole and Hassan began recording separately under the same name, releasing Holy Terror in 1995 (re-released on Innerhythmic in 2004) and Time Has Come in 1997. Meanwhile, Nuriddin released the solo CD's On The One (1996), The Fruits of Rap (1997) and Science Friction (2004) under the abbreviated name "Jalal."
21st century
In 2005, the Last Poets found fame again refreshed through a collaboration where the trio (Umar Bin Hassan) was featured with hip-hop artist
In 2010, Abiodun Oyowele was among the artists featured on
In 2004 Jalal Mansur Nuriddin, a.k.a. Alafia Pudim, a.k.a. Lightning Rod (The Hustlers Convention 1973), collaborated with the UK-based poet Mark T. Watson (a.k.a. Malik Al Nasir) writing the foreword to Watson's debut poetry collection, Ordinary Guy, published in December 2004 by the Liverpool-based publisher Fore-Word Press.[10] Jalal's foreword was written in rhyme, and was recorded for a collaborative album "Rhythms of the Diaspora (Vol. 1 & 2 - Unreleased) by Malik Al Nasir's band, Malik & the O.G's featuring Gil Scott-Heron, percussionist Larry McDonald, drummers Rod Youngs and Swiss Chris, New York dub poet Ras Tesfa, and a host of young rappers from New York and Washington, D.C. Produced by Malik Al Nasir, and Swiss Chris, the albums Rhythms of the Diaspora; Vol. 1 & 2 are the first of their kind to unite these pioneers of poetry and hip hop with each other.[10]
In 2011,
In 2016, The Last Poets (World Editions, UK), was published. The novel, written by Christine Otten [1], was originally published in Dutch in 2011, and has now been translated by Jonathan Reeder for English readers.
In May 2018, The Last Poets released Understand What Black Is, their first album since 1997. The album featured tributes to late artists Prince and Biggie Smalls.[12]
In August 2022, numerous samples from The Last Poet "Mean Machine" were used in
Discography
Albums
- The Last Poets (1970) - Re-issue Celluloid Records (1984) (Cat No: CELL-6101)
- (Poets: Abiodun Oyewole, Alafia Pudim (a.k.a. Jalaluddin Mansur Nuriddin), & Umar Bin Hassan/Percussionist: Raymond "Nilaja/Obabi" Hurrey)
- The Original Last Poets - Right On Original Soundtrack (1971) Juggernaut Records
- (Poets: Felipe Luciano, David Nelson & Gylan Kain)
- Douglas RecordsDouglas-7 (Cat No: Z-30583)
- (Poets: Alafia Pudim (a.k.a. Jalaluddin Mansur Nuriddin) & Umar Bin Hassan/Percussionist: Raymond "Nilaja/Obabi" Hurrey)
- (Poets: Felipe Luciano, David Nelson & Gylan Kain [spelt Cain])
- Chastisement (July 1972)
- (Poets: Alafia Pudim (a.k.a. Jalaluddin Mansur Nuriddin) & Sulaiman El-Hadi/Percussionist: Raymond "Nilaja/Obabi" Hurrey)
- Hustlers Convention (1973)
- (Poet: Lightnin' Rod (a.k.a. Alafia Pudim & Jalaluddin Mansur Nuriddin)
- At Last (1973)
- (Poets: Jalaluddin Mansur Nuriddin, Sulaiman El-Hadi, & Umar Bin Hassan)
- Jazzoetry (Compilation) album (1976) Douglas Records Casablanca records(Cat No: ADLP 6001. - Spoet Publishing - BMI)
- (Poets: Jalaluddin Mansur Nuriddin, Abiodun Oyewole & Umar Bin Hassan)
- Delights of the Garden (1977)
- (Poets: Jalaluddin Mansur Nuriddin & Sulaiman El-Hadi)
- Oh My People (1984)
- (Poets: Sulaiman El-Hadi & Jalaluddin Mansur Nuriddin)
- This Is Madness (Re-issue) (1984) (Celluloid Records)
- (Poets: Alafia Pudim, Umar Bin Hassen; Percussion: Raymond "Nilija/Obabi" Hurrey)
- Freedom Express (1988)
- (Poets: Sulaiman El-Hadi & Jalaluddin Mansur Nuriddin)
- Retro Fit (Compilation) (1992)
- (Poets: Sulaiman & Jalaluddin Mansur Nuriddin)
- Holy Terror (1993)
- (Poets: Abiodun Oyewole & Umar Bin Hassan)
- Scatterap / Home (1994)
- (Poets: Sulaiman El-Hadi & Jalaluddin Mansur Nuriddin)
- Time Has Come (Mouth Almighty Records 1997)
- (Poets: Abiodun Oyewole & Umar Bin Hassan)
- The Prime Time Rhyme of The Last Poets - Best Of Vol. 1 (1999) On The One Records (Cat No: SPOA-21LP)
- (Poets: Sulaiman El-Hadi & Jalaluddin Mansur Nuriddin)
- The Prime Time Rhyme of The Last Poets - Best Of Vol. 2 (1999) On The One Records
- (Poets: Sulaiman El-Hadi & Jalaluddin Mansur Nuriddin)
- Understand What Black Is (2018)
- (Poets: Abiodun Oyewole & Umar Bin Hassan)
- Transcending Toxic Times (2019)
- (Poets: Abiodun Oyewole & Umar Bin Hassan & Baba Donn Babatunde)
Appearances
- American Sahara - SmCity, "Dream Cemetery" (2013)
- Hip-Hop samit sharma Docktrine - The Official Boondocks Mixtape (2006)
- Rhythms of the Diaspora Vol. 1 & 2 Featuring Gil Scott-Heron & The Last Poets (album)|Rhythms of the Diaspora Vol. 1 & 2 (2015) Mentis Records.
- (Poets: Jalaluddin Mansur Nuriddin, Malik Al Nasir, Ras Tesfa, Gil Scott-Heron)
- The Corner - Common, "Be" (2005)
- Project Roach & You Can't Stop Us Now - Nas, "Untitled" (2008)
- Made in Amerikkka - Reuniting The Last Poets (2008)
- Poetic Justice (1993)
- Excursions - A Tribe Called Quest, "The Low End Theory" (1991)
- Discipline 99 Pt. 0 - Quasimoto, "The Unseen" (2000)
- Return of The Last Poets 1990 [Original Founding members, Kain, Lupe, Abiodune and Nelson]
Bibliography
- Vibes from the Scribes - Pluto Press, 1985
- On a Mission - Henry Holt Pub., 1996
Filmography
- 1970 - "Tamu". Directed by Larry Clark. - "Two Little Boys" included in soundtrack. Los Angeles, California, 1970
- 1971 - Right On!: Poetry on Film (Original Last Poets). Directed by Herbert Danska.
- 1990 - The Return of Original members of Last Poets Docudrama after 20 years of separation producer atty Gregory J Reed
- 2008 - The Last Poets, made in Amerikkka (réalisation: Claude Santiago. France, 2008. www.lahuit.com).
- 2004 - Word-Up!: From Ghetto to Mecca Jalal Mansur Nuriddin, Gil Scott-Heron, Malik Al Nasir, Benjamin Zephaniah. Directed by Shirani Sabaratnam. Liverpool, UK
- 2014 - Hustlers Convention (Feature Documentary Film) Jalal Mansur Nuriddin, Chuck D, Malik Al Nasir, Ice-T, Immortal Technique, Alan Douglas (record producer), Sonia Sanchez, Melle Mel, Fab Five Freddy Directed by Mike Todd. Manchester, UK
See also
References
- ^ "Jalal Nuriddin". The Grandfather Of Rap. Retrieved 2016-03-14.
- ^ "TheLastPoets.com". Retrieved June 27, 2023.
- ^ Ankeny, Jason, Allmusic.com profile of Last Poets; accessed February 01, 2007.
- ^ Tobler, John (1992). NME Rock 'N' Roll Years (1st ed.). London: Reed International Books Ltd. p. 474. CN 5585.
- ^ ""Soul! Episode List, 1968-1973 | THIRTEEN". Archived from the original on 2017-04-01. Retrieved 2017-04-01.", SOUL! EPISODE LIST, 1968-1973, WNET, thirteen.org.
- ^ Article in Blues and Soul (April 1981)
- ^ "Grandfather of Rap R.A.P - Revolutionary Arts Proverbalization". Grandfatherofrap.com. 1995-10-03. Retrieved 2016-03-14.
- ISBN 978-1-351-53062-0.
- ^ "Big Fun in the Big Town (1986)". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2016-03-14.
- ^ a b "fore-word press". Fore-word.com. Retrieved 2016-03-14.
- ^ "The Last Poets, Jazz Cafe, London. Sun 10th July, 2011 | Get Out Gigging". Getoutgigging.wordpress.com. 2011-07-10. Retrieved 2016-03-14.
- ^ Reeves, Mosi (2018-04-25). "The Last Poets, Rap Forefathers, Talk Black Lives Matter, Playing Basketball With Wu-Tang". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2018-09-09.
- ^ "Radar, sonar, laser beams / Jets, tanks, submarines / Megathons, H-bombs, napalm, ga—". Genius. Retrieved 2023-07-31.
External links
- Interview with The Last Poets in November 2008, World Tracks, Radio France International
- Fore-Word Press
- Roots'n'Rap: The Last Poets
- Jalal Mansur Nuriddin's website
- Umar Bin Hassan's website
- Last Poets Tribute album at Jambetta Music
- The Last Poets discography at MusicBrainz
- The Last Poets' page at Celluloid Records