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// The Last Poets
© DR
Made In Amerikkka
The Last Poets unleashed the word as the ultimate revolutionary force in African American politics. Claude Santiago’s documentary looks at 40 years of their radical poetry.
It’s impossible to convey now what it was like hearing The Last Poets album, ‘This Is Madness’, for the first time back in 1971. Put simply, you had never heard anything like it… if you wanted to know what was happening on the other side of the Atlantic and what Black Power was, this was it! These guys were doing their thing on street corners, at demonstrations, at free-jazz style NYC loft sessions. Their first album had reputedly sold a million copies by word of mouth. They were in your face whether you are white or black, chanting a Black nationalist vision and a promise of revolution over a sparse conga rhythm. They were unique.
Claude Santiago’s documentary, ‘Made In Amerikkka’ brings together The Last Poets in the studio and live onstage to reflect on the times and their respective journeys as well as deliver a freestyle set of now classic “jazzoetry” where Orishas spar with street hustlers overseen by the spirits of Malcolm X and John Coltrane.
The Last Poets : Made in Amerikkka trailer
Over the years The Last Poets had several different line-ups and for the first time ever the surviving individual members are united in the studio. Back in 1969, at a celebration of Malcolm X and a “workshop of the mind”, the first incarnation of The Last Poets appeared. It featured Felipe Luciano (leader of the Puerto Rican Young Lords), Gylan Kain and Dahveed Nelson. They recorded under the name of The Original Last Poets while The Last Poets that I first heard on ‘This Is Madness’ featured Jalal Mansur Nuriddin (aka Alafia Pudim & Lightnin’ Rod), Umar Bin Hassan and percussionist Nilaja. Other incarnations of The Last Poets have included Abu Mustapha, Abiodun Oyewale, and the late Sulieman El Hadi.
This DVD allows us to savour the collective power of The Last Poets – all of whom are now in their late 50s or 60s. We get an insight into the fierce individual intellects that brought the free flowing rhythms, rhymes and rage of The Last Poets to the world. These wordsmiths were rappin’ while others were nappin’ and, along with Gil Scott Heron, they were undoubtedly a cornerstone of the rap revolution.
The Last Poets were inspired by poets like Amiri Baraka (Leroi Jones). They packed the explosive impact of Trane, Albert Ayler, Archie Shepp, Art Ensemble of Chicago and Sun Ra and their conservatory was the street corner. Hearing their individual stories emerge from this film you realize that their lives encompassed jail time, addiction to crack cocaine, being on the US government’s counter intelligence (COINTELPRO) hit list and, at times, there was definitely no love lost between them.
You can hear the Original Last Poets in the film, Performance, declaring ‘Wake Up Niggers’ and the (other) Last Poets on the albums they cut for Douglas recordings (‘The Last Poets’, ‘This Is Madness’, ‘Chastisement’, ‘Garden Of Delights’, ‘Hustlers Convention’, ‘Jazzoetry’) – all of which are acknowledged as classics. The impact of 1980s rap and acid jazz resulted in Umar Bin Hassan working with Red Hot & Cool in NYC and Jalal settling in London. There were also albums with producer Bill Laswell and 12” singles with nu-skool artists Common and Kanye West.
This film taps into a radical vein of cultural resistance that transcends its US roots. If there’s one criticism of the film, it’s that Claude Santiago didn’t do enough diggin’ to pepper the interviews and the performance with a selection of archive material that must be out there somewhere. However, as we all exist within constraints, and more often that not have cut our cloth to fit the budget, especially when it comes to promoting a radical agenda, seek out Made In Amerikkka and then get busy with those Last Poets albums.
The Last Poets : Made In Amerikkka is out now on DVD
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Paul Bradshaw / Straight No Chaser
(1 votes)
poetry hip hop society
// ALSO
- 80s World Music Classics
- Oxmo Puccino - Master Ciel (Clip)
- Chucho’s Steps
- Tongues on Fire: a tribute to the Black Panthers
- Quantic and his Combo Barbaro album launch tour starts Friday 5 June at the ICA
- Joe Bataan & James Pants live at Cargo 11 June plus dates in Leeds and Birmingham
- From Mambo to Hip Hop, A South Bronx Tale
- womex 2009, October 29th
- World Audio Foundation, Sacred sounds
// ALL THE LAST POETS'S REVIEWS
Made In Amerikkka
02/12/2009
// LINKS
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