The Last Poets is a group of poets and musicians who arose from the late 1960s African American civil rights movement's black nationalist thread. Their name is taken from a poem by the South African revolutionary poet Keorapetse Kgositsile, who believed he was in the last era of poetry before guns would take over.

The Last Poets have been cited as one of the earliest influences on what would become hip-hop music; critic Jason Ankeny writes, "With their politically charged raps, taut rhythms, and dedication to raising African-American consciousness, the Last Poets almost single-handedly laid the groundwork for the emergence of hip-hop."

History

The original Last Poets were formed on May 19, 1968 (Malcolm X's birthday), at Marcus Garvey Park (formerly Mount Morris Park, at 124th Street and Fifth Avenue) in the East Harlem neighborhood of New York City. The original members were Felipe Luciano, Gylan Kain, and David Nelson.

The group continued to evolve via a 1969 Harlem writers' workshop known as "East Wind." Jalal Mansur Nuriddin, Umar Bin Hassan, and Abiodun Oyewole, along with percussionist Nilaja Obabi, are generally considered the primary and core members of the group, as they appeared on the group's 1970 self-titled debut (contracted by noted Jimi Hendrix producer Alan Douglas) and, in various combinations, on subsequent releases. Luciano, Kain, and Nelson recorded separately as The Original Last Poets, gaining some renown as the soundtrack artists for the 1971 film "Right On!". See also Performance (1970 film) soundtrack: song "Wake Up, Niggers."

Having reached top-10 charts success with their debut album, the Last Poets went on to release the follow-up, This Is Madness, without then-incarcerated Abiodun Oyewole, an album which featured more politically charged poetry and which resulted in the group being listed under the counter-intelligence program COINTELPRO (during the Richard Nixon administration). Hassan left the group following This Is Madness, to be replaced by Suliaman El-Hadi (now deceased) in time for Chastisment (1972). The album introduced a sound the group called "jazzoetry", leaving behind the spare percussion of the previous albums in favor of a blending of jazz and funk instrumentation with poetry.
The music further developed into free-jazz/spoetry with Hassan's brief return on 1974's "At Last", as yet the only Last Poets release still unavailable on CD format.

The remainder of the 1970s saw a decline in the group's popularity. In the 1980s and beyond, however, the group gained renewed renown with the rise of rap, often being name-checked as grandfathers and founders of the new music movement, and themselves collaborating with Bristol based British post punk band The Pop Group, among others. Nuriddin and El-Hadi worked on several projects under the Last Poets name, working with bassist/producer Bill Laswell, including 1984's Oh My People and 1988's Freedom Express,
and recording the final El Hadi/Nuriddin collaboration Scatterrap/Home in 1994.
Sadly, Suliaman 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.

Their lyrics often deal with social issues facing African American people. In the song "Rain of Terror", the group criticized the American government, as well as voicing support for the Black Panthers.

More recently The Last Poets found their fame again refreshed through a collaboration where they (Umar Bin Hassan) featured with rap artist Common on the Kanye West produced song "The Corner", as well as (Abiodun Oyewole) with the Wu-Tang Clan-affiliated political rap group "Black Market Militia" on the song "The Final Call", stretching overseas to the UK on the song "Organic Liquorice (Natural Woman)" with Shaka Amazulu The 7th. They are also featured on the controversial Nas album Untitled, on the songs "You Can't Stop Us Now" and "Project Roach".

Jalal Mansur Nuriddin aka Lightning Rod (The Hustlers Convention 1973) recently collaborated with UK-based poet Mark T. Watson (aka Malik Al Nasir) writing the foreword to Mark's debut poetry collection Ordinary Guy published in December 2004 by Liverpool based publisher Fore-Word Press Ltd . Jalal's foreword was written in rhyme and has now been recorded for release in 2008 in a collaborative album by Mark T. Watson's band Malik & The OG's featuring Gil Scott-Heron, percussionist Larry Mc Donald, drummers Rod Youngs & Swiss Chris, New York Dub poet Ras Tesfa and a host of young rappers from New York & Washington DC. Produced by Malik Al Nasir, Lloyd Masset Larry McDonald & Swiss Chris the albums "Rhythms of the Diaspora; Vol. 1 & 2" are the 1st albums of their kind to unite these pioneers of poetry & RAP with each other, as well as the youth of this Rap generation, to be released in 2008.

Discography

Albums

• The Last Poets (1970)

• This Is Madness (1971)

• Chastisment (1973)

• At Last (1974)

• Delights of the Garden (1977)

• Oh My People (1984)

• Freedom Express (1988)

• Retro Fit (1992)

• Holy Terror (1993)

• Scatterap / Home (1994)

• Time Has Come (1997)

Appearances

• Hip-Hop Docktrine - The Official Boondocks Mixtape (2006)

• Rhythms of the Diaspora Vol. 2 (2008)

• The Corner - Common, "Be" (2005)

• Project Roach & You Can't Stop Us Now - Nas, "Untitled" (2008)

• Made In Amerikkka - Reuniting The Last Poets (2008)

Books

• On A Mission - Henry Holt Pub. 1996

• Vibes From The Scribes - Pluto Press 1985

• Foreword to "Ordinary Guy" by Mark T. Watson (a.k.a. Malik Al Nasir) - Fore-Word Press 2004

Filmography

• 1971 - Right On!: Poetry on Film (Original Last Poets). Directed by Herbert Danska.

• 2008 - ''The Last Poets, made in Amerikkka (réalisation : Claude Santiago. France, 2008. www.lahuit.com).

See also

• The Watts Prophets

• Gil Scott-Heron

• "Panthers"