Secret History of Rock. The Most Influential Bands You've Never Heard (34 page)

Chuck D, Public Enemy:

Around ‘78 or ‘79 I got into Hustler’s Convention and backtracked from there. Hustler’s Convention was pretty much the thing that launched the whole rhyme scene in the Bronx. A lot of people took a lot of the verbiage off that record. Like Melle Mel – ”rock your world, from the top of the world to the depths of hell” – that type of stuff.

After a decade away from recording, Nuriddin and El-Hadi’s Last Poets returned for one Bill Laswell-produced album in the ‘80s. This version of the group emerged once more, for a 1994 album released only in France, before El-Hadi passed away. By then, Omar Ben Hassen (now Umar Bin Hassan, since adopting Islam) had resurfaced, with a new album (also produced by Laswell), Be Bop or Be Dead. The record contained new poems as well as updates of Last Poets classics, and reunited Bin Hassan with original Last Poet Abiodun Oyewole.

Since 1993, Bin Hassan and Oyewole’s revitalized Last Poets have released two new albums – featuring guests such as Grandmaster Melle Mel, Chuck D, and members of P-Funk – and performed in concert (in Lollapalooza ‘94) and the movies (in John Singleton’s Poetic Justice). Their 1997 album,
Time Has Come
, even features Umar’s rapping sons. The two remain keenly aware of the role they play as hip-hop elder statesmen, and are concerned about the direction rap has taken. Oyewole hosts an open house each Sunday in Harlem, where poets can discuss their work and current issues. Over the years, many rappers have attended as well. “It’s a wonderful thing,” Oyewole says. “I appreciate the relationship I have with members of the Wu-Tang, KRS-One, Rakim, MC Lyte, Brand Nubian, A Tribe Called Quest, Chuck D, on and on. There’s quite a number who have given us props and who we have a lot of respect for.”

DISCOGRAPHY

Last Poets
(Douglas, 1970; Restless Retro, 1992)
; the classic debut as a trio, with powerful spoken poems such as
Niggers Are Scared of Revolution
.

This Is Madness
(Douglas, 1971; Restless Retro, 1992)
; recorded as a duo, but featuring equally rich and ferocious proto-raps.

Chastisement
(Blue Thumb, 1972; Celluloid, 1992)
; the first record with the ‘70s line-up of poets Nuriddin and El-Hadi, as well as added musical accompaniment.

At Last
(Blue Thumb, 1973)
.

(Lightnin’ Rod)
Hustlers Convention
(Casablanca, 1973; Celluloid, 1990)
; a classic blaxploitation record, with an extended toast by Nuriddin and funk backing by Kool & the Gang.

Delights of the Garden
(Casablanca, 1975; Celluloid, 1985)
.

Oh My People
(Celluloid, 1985)
; a Nuriddin/El-Hadi reunion, with slick production and cheesy dance beats.

Freedom Express
(Celluloid, 1991)
.

Retro Fit
(Celluloid, 1992)
.

(Umar Bin Hassan)
Be Bop or Be Dead
(Axiom / Island, 1993)
; Bin Hassan’s return to music, which includes remakes of two early Last Poets classics.

Scatterap/Home
(Bond Age [France], 1994)
; a final Nuriddin/El-Hadi record, released only in France.

Holy Terror
(Black Arc / Rykodisc, 1995)
; the first of the new Last Poets releases, with Bin Hassan and Oyewole.

Abiodun Oyewole / 25 years
(Black Arc / Rykodisc, 1996)
.

Time Has Come
(Mouth Almighty / Mercury, 1997)
; a partial return to the percussion and chanting style of the first records, this strong effort features a guest appearance by Chuck D.

WATTS PROPHETS

Lyrics Born:

I knew about them because I collected records. They didn’t make a lot of history books, at least not the ones I read. The Watts Prophets were the unsung heroes of spoken word. They had a different perspective, being from California. Over the years, they never diluted the message. It’s surprising, because after so long not getting much mainstream attention, most people have a tendency to accommodate a larger audience somehow. That’s really admirable. And they continue to be an inspiration because of their perseverance.

At a time when the record industry was more regionalized, it was possible for similar movements to take hold at opposite ends of the country without one having any knowledge of the other. Given the mounting frustrations in black America and the artistic blossoming in the late ‘60s, it seems almost inevitable that a group would arise to voice the same percussive poetry in Watts, Los Angeles, as the
Last Poets
offered in Harlem, New York. Though lesser known than the
Last Poets
, the Watts Prophets laid the groundwork for an L.A. hip-hop scene that would produce both the gangsta rap of N.W.A. and the message-oriented pop of Coolio (both of whom have sampled the Watts Prophets), as well as the more clearly Prophets-influenced underground lyricism of Freestyle Fellowship.

Aceyalone, solo / Freestyle Fellowship:

We did a couple shows with the Watts Prophets. It was an honor. The inspiration I get comes from being from the same area as them. And their subject matter, how they keep it positive. And they’re still around in the community.

In essence, the Watts Prophets were born out of the 1965 Watts riots. Among the people who stepped forward to help rebuild the community after the devastation was Budd Schulberg, a Hollywood screenwriter best known for writing On the Waterfront. He set up the Watts Writers Workshop to provide a place for young aspiring writers in the neighborhood to learn and share their work. One participant was Anthony Hamilton, an eighth-grade dropout who had recently spent time in jail and was having difficulty finding his way out of the criminal life. At a poverty program he met writer Odie Hawkins, who invited Hamilton to the Writers Workshop. Though he initially came for the free food, Hamilton ended up reciting some poetry he’d scribbled on scraps of paper. When the response from others was positive, he was hooked. “I could say a poem saved my life,” he told Brian Cross in It’s Not About a Salary. “Because from that poem I realized I could do something. I had something inside of me.”

Because of its success, the workshop received extensive media attention. When schools and organizations around the country began to invite members of the workshop to come speak, the poets began to group into units for the purpose. Hamilton hooked up with Otis O’Solomon, an Alabama native who moved to L.A. in his teens, and Richard Dedeaux, who’d arrived from Louisiana around the same time. By 1968 the trio (who would soon adopt the name Watts Prophets) began performing at local gatherings as well as in well-known L.A. night clubs. Their art combined socially critical verse with theatrical performance in a way that both thrilled and outraged the audience. At one of these shows – at USC in 1969 – the Watts Prophets shared a stage with the
Last Poets
. Though they had been doing similarly styled black-awareness spoken-word poetry, it was the first time either group had heard of the other.

Around this time, Laff Records – a comedy label best known for releasing Richard Pryor’s first album – approached Hamilton and other Watts poets about recording an album. Because the subject matter was anything but comical, Laff set up the ALA label to release an album called The Black Voices: On the Street in Watts. Along with work by Odie Hawkins (who would become a well-known novelist), Ed Bereal, and Emmery Lee Joseph Evans Jr., Hamilton contributed nine provocative poems – including “I’ll Stop Calling You Niggers” and “Pimping, Leaning, and Feaning” – set to
Last Poets
-style percussion and other instrumental background.

The following year, Hamilton brought his fellow Watts Prophets to the attention of ALA. Though the album they did for the label,
Rappin’ Black in a White World
, marks the first time “rap” was used on record to describe black spoken-word performance, it was more conceptually and stylistically broad than the usual rap album, with extended suites that included character monologues like
The Master
and manifestos such as
Amerikkka
(a spelling later adopted on Ice Cube’s first album). Tying it all together were the bluesy piano compositions of Dee Dee McNeil, a former Motown songwriter who had been collaborating with the trio since 1969. Her contributions, along with the use of strings and soulful singing, make
Black in a White World
as rich and varied musically as it is lyrically.

DJ Quik:

I heard ‘em when I was a kid, it was scary cause it was too radical for me. I was like five, though, when I got into it. I think the real reason I remembered it and the reason I wanted to use it was because of how blatantly scary and formidable it was, it was thought-provoking and fearful. They were the first rappers in the truest sense, they been doing it since the sixties. If what you consider rap is philosophizing over rhythmic African type beats, they paved the way for this shit, [from It’s Not About a Salary (Verso, 1993)]

Though McNeil returned to performing solo in jazz clubs shortly after, the Watts Prophets continued performing throughout the ‘70s. They contributed to albums by Quincy Jones (Mellow Madness, featuring O’Solomon’s “Beautiful Black Girl”), Stevie Wonder (Songs in the Key of Life), and Don Cherry (Multi-Kult) and did concerts at colleges and prisons across the country. When the Watts Prophets stopped performing around 1980, each focused on outside work: Dedeaux and O’Solomon did work in film and television, as actors, writers, and producers, and continued to help with community poetry projects. Hamilton became Father Amde, a leader in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, through which he befriended Bob Marley and his family (Ziggy Marley recorded O’Solomon’s “Hey World (Part I)”).

In an eerie case of history repeating itself, the South Central L.A. rioting of the early ‘90s spurred the Watts Prophets into activity once again. Now elder statesmen in a hip-hop scene that has widely sampled their work (including DJ Quik and DJ Shadow), the trio has reemerged as outspoken community leaders. After an EP produced by the Dust Brothers, the Watts Prophets produced
When the 90’s Came
, their first new album in 25 years. Featuring appearances by DJ Quik, US3, and Blackalicious on tracks that mix new material and old, the record brings the group full circle in the story of west coast rap. And with tracks like the updated
I Remember Watts
(originally written in 1967), the Watts Prophets are as relevant as ever.

DISCOGRAPHY

The Black Voices: On the Street in Watts
(ALA, 1970; ffrr, 1996)
; featuring Hamilton and other area poets, this
Last Poets
-styled poetry album is not officially a Watts Prophets creation, though it has since been credited to the group.

Rappin’ Black in a White World
(ALA, 1971; ffrr, 1996)
; the group’s finest statement, incorporating songs and monologues into a unified conceptual suite that captures the characters and feelings of life in Watts.

When the 90’s Came
(Payday / ffrr, 1996)
; a newly produced reunion album featuring new poems as well as reworkings of old material, this record incorporates modern hip-hop elements and production from DJ Quik.

GIL SCOTT-HERON

Michael Franti, Spearhead:

His voice resonates with sincerity. He’s not the greatest singer technically, but he has developed his own great style. He invests his voice with meaning, and people take it to heart. Gil is someone I’ve always respected. I’ve spent time talking with him about content in music. What is the moral basis of an artist? Do we just put stuff out into a vacuum – the music business and entertainment world – or does the music go out into people’s cars and living rooms and find a way into their heart? He’s somebody who feels very strongly that artists bring out emotions people don’t always have a chance to express. And doing that comes with a responsibility.

Like the
Last Poets
, who directly inspired him, Gil Scott-Heron provided an early template for hip-hop consciousness and ‘90s spoken-word poetry. He’s been sampled by rappers ranging from Queen Latifah to Masta Ace, and cited by street poets such as Reg E. Gaines and Mike Ladd. Much of his career, though, has been dedicated to incorporating his earlier politically aware lyrics with deeply soulful music. In doing so, he has created a series of multidimensional recordings that go beyond black power rhetoric to capture the richness of African-American life with wit and wordplay, and with powerful humanism and lots of common sense. In doing so, he’s been a major inspiration to more song-oriented hip-hop groups like Spearhead and the Fugees, as well as musicians in all genres, and anybody else who’s ever invoked his most famous words, “the revolution will not be televised.”

Mase, De La Soul:

The issues he would touch in his poetry was like the same thing rappers are talking about today. He had a certain type of cadence and style that he flowed to make you interested in what he was talking about. Gil Scott is definitely one of the inspiring lyricists to De La, for sure.