The Last Poets
Written by Spoken Music Artist Peter Benjamin Peter
Did you know this about the spoken-word and hip hop pioneers?
Black Lives Matter came earlier, as far back as the 1960s. It came in a different nomenclature, a different structure, and a different sacrifice.
The fight against police brutality, racism, racial inequality, and discrimination experienced by black people wasn’t an exclusive sacrifice by George Floyd. Although his death opened the gate for a global revolution, it was a revolution that some persons and groups had already preached, prophesied, and spoken about as far back as the 60s and 70s. One such group was a group of African-American poets who referred to themselves as ‘The Last Poets.’
The Last Poets were a group of poets from the Harlem neighborhood of New York City. They emerged in the late 1960s, creating a powerful and revolutionary brand of spoken word poetry that touched on racial justice and black power. The group was founded in 1968 by Abiodun Oyewole, Umar Bin Hassan, and Larry Smith, who David Nelson and Jalal Nuriddin joined. In their work, they sought to express the struggles and joys of African-Americans living in the United States, especially struggles against police brutality and racism. Their performance style combined poetry, jazz, and rhythm & blues. Their words and music spoke to the struggles of African-Americans during a period of intense political and social upheaval.
GROUP PROFILE:
• Year of Formation: 1968
• Founding Members: Abiodun Oyewole, Umar Bin Hassan, Baba Donn Babatunde
• Debut Album: The Last Poets (1970)
• Albums released: Nine
• Most Iconic Track: When The Revolution Comes
• Genre: Spoken word: Hip-Hop, Rap, Jazz
• Preferred Instruments: Conga, Talking Drum, Bass, Shaker, Keyboard
The Last Poets are unarguably one of the most influential spoken word groups ever created. Aside from being a powerful influence in the development of hip-hop and rap, they made many groundbreaking achievements in the art of poetry. Their debut album peaked at number 29 on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart and number 3 on the Top R&B Albums Chart in the US. They’ve also been once nominated for the Grammy Award’s ‘Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group’ category. Their powerful words also significantly influenced the development of hip-hop and rap music, and numerous artists sampled their work. Their poems were also featured in many films, television shows, and other media.
The Last Poets released several albums during the late 1960s and early 1970s, including the groundbreaking album named after their group name “The Last Poets.” This album was highly influential and featured some of their most famous pieces, such as “Niggers Are Scared of Revolution” and ‘‘When The Revolution Comes’’. They were one of the first spoken word groups to achieve mainstream success and remain one of the most influential spoken word acts of all time.
Today, the Last Poets are still active and continue to spread their message of social justice and the Black experience through their music and live performances. All founding members of the group are still alive, but some others who joined them later, like Jalal Mansur Nuriddin, Suliaman El Hadi, Nilaja and others, are now deceased.
Some other noteworthy tracks by the Last Poets worth mentioning are: