His poems have given voice to a nation and helped forge an entirely new genre of music, dub/rhythm poetry. Revolutionary, fiery, scathing, and stinging, Mutabaruka's words are as potent on paper as on CD, and so the literary community needed to create a new term just for his works -- meta-dub. Born in Rae Town, Jamaica, on December 12, 1952,... [+] Read More

His poems have given voice to a nation and helped forge an entirely new genre of music, dub/rhythm poetry. Revolutionary, fiery, scathing, and stinging, Mutabaruka's words are as potent on paper as on CD, and so the literary community needed to create a new term just for his works -- meta-dub. Born in Rae Town, Jamaica, on December 12, 1952, Allan Hope first realized the power of the word when he was in his teens. It was the '60s; the Black Power movement was at its height, and numerous radical leaders were putting their thoughts and histories in print. Malcolm X and Eldridge Cleaver formed the roots of Hope's own aspirations, although his initial career choice was far removed from their paths. Leaving school, the young man apprenticed as an electrician, and took a job at the Jamaican Telephone Company. Hope was already writing, however, and in 1971 he quit his job to pursue his craft full-time. He moved away from the hustle and bustle of Kingston out to the quiet of the Potosi hills, in the parish of Saint James. Not long after, one of his poems was accepted by Swing magazine and from that point on, they would regularly publish his work.

In 1973, Hope formed the band Truth, his first attempt to combine his words with music. By now, the poet had converted to Rastafarianism and taken the name Mutabaruka. Not a word, but a phrase, mutabaruka comes from the Rwandan language and translates as "one who is always victorious." Even as roots was taking hold, Truth did not find a following. However, Mutabaruka was finding fans in the literary world after the publication of his collection, Outcry, in 1973. The following year brought further recognition with the poem "Wailin',"dedicated to Bob Marley, and written around Wailers song titles. Two years later, Sun and Moon, a shared volume of poetry with Faybiene, arrived to much acclaim. In 1977, Mutabaruka once again turned to the stage, and gave several live performances. Joined by the nyabinghi-fueled group Light of Saba, the poet recorded a version of his poem "Outcry" the next year, and found himself with a Jamaican hit. Meanwhile, guitarist Earl "Chinna" Smith had launched his own High Times label as a home for deep roots music, and swiftly signed the poet. Mutabaruka's star was rising, and his appearance at the National Stadium in Kingston this same year was a smashing success. Over the next few years, he cut a clutch of singles for High Times, and received even further literary acclaim in 1981 with a new volume of poems, The Book: First Poems. That same year, Mutabaruka had a hit with the single "Everytime a Ear De Soun," while his fiery debut at Reggae Sunsplash was captured for posterity for a live album released in 1982. It was this performance that brought Mutabaruka to international attention, and guaranteed return appearance at the festival over the next two years.

His debut album, Check It, was released in 1983, a dubby classic with the poet accompanied by Smith's exquisitely rootsy guitar. The album was remastered and reissued by the RAS label in 2001. 1985 saw another successful return to Reggae Sunsplash and a project with the American Heartbeat label, overseeing the compilation of the dub poetry album Work Sound 'Ave Power: Dub Poets and Dub. A dub accompaniment followed, remixed by Scientist, along with a second dub poetry set, Woman Talk: Caribbean Dub Poetry, this time exclusively featuring women dub and rapso poets. Mutabaruka also struck a distribution deal with the American RAS label, and cemented the partnership with the ferocious The Mystery Unfolds album in 1986. Self-produced and featuring a host of guest musicians and vocalists, including Marcia Griffiths and Ini Kamoze, Mystery was totally uncompromising. Amidst a host of tough tracks was "Dis Poem," a number meant to puncture not only the listener's expectations, but the poet's pretensions as well. One of Mutabaruka's most entertaining, yet thought-provoking poems, it would later be included in the definitive The Routledge Reader in Caribbean Literature.

Although neither 1987's Outcry nor 1989's Any Which Way...Freedom was quite as radically revolutionary as Mystery, Mutabaruka was quickly establishing himself as both a literary and musical giant, both in Jamaica and abroad. His Reggae Sunsplash appearances in 1987 and 1988 were highly anticipated, and did not disappoint. And while Mutabaruka continued to produce or co-produce his albums, he also occasionally cut singles for other producers, including the hard-hitting "Great Kings of Africa" for Gussie Clarke, which paired him with Dennis Brown. The Blakk Wi Blak...K...K album appeared in 1991, overseen jointly by the poet and Earl "Chinna" Smith, and featured a follow-up to "Kings," "Great Queens of Afrika," with guest vocalists Sharon Forrester and Ini Kamoze. It was a stellar album filled with tough talk, including the scathing "Ecology Poem" and the equally biting "People's Court." That latter number was followed up on Mutabaruka's equally excellent album, Melanin Man, which also boasted the stunning "Garvey." That arrived in 1994, by which time the poet had performed at three more Reggae Sunsplash festivals in 1991, 1993, and 1994; he'd return in both 1995 and 1996. 1994 also saw the launch of Mutabaruka's own Jamaican radio show on the IRIE-FM station. It was wildly popular, but ironically enough that station banned his song "People's Court from the airwaves. Two years later, the poet scored a pair of Jamaican hits, both cut for the Exterminator label. "Wise Up" paired Mutabaruka with DJ Sugar Minott, while "Psalms 24" saw him in collaboration with the deeply religious DJ Luciano. 1996 also brought two albums in its wake, Muta in Dub and Gathering of the Spirits, the latter a spectacular recreation of the roots era, boasting a host of roots stars from the Mighty Diamonds, Sly & Robbie, Culture, and Marcia Griffiths amongst them. That same year, Mutabaruka toured Ethiopia with Tony Rebel, Yasus Afari, and Uton Green. ~ Jo-Ann Greene, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Although he has only released one album of new material in the last ten years, and has virtually retired from the live stage after his 1985 tour, Linton Kwesi Johnson remains a towering figure in reggae music. Born in Kingston, Jamaica and raised in the Brixton section of London, Johnson invented dub poetry, a type of toasting descended from the... [+] Read More

Although he has only released one album of new material in the last ten years, and has virtually retired from the live stage after his 1985 tour, Linton Kwesi Johnson remains a towering figure in reggae music. Born in Kingston, Jamaica and raised in the Brixton section of London, Johnson invented dub poetry, a type of toasting descended from the DJ stylings of U-Roy and I-Roy. But whereas toasting tended to be hyperkinetic and given to fits of braggadocio, Johnson's poetry (which is what it was -- he was a published poet and journalist before he performed with a band) was more scripted and delivered in a more languid, slangy, streetwise style. Johnson's grim realism and tales of racism in an England governed by Tories was scathingly critical. The Afro-Brits in Johnson's poems are neglected by the government and persecuted by the police. Johnson was also instrumental (with his friend Darcus Howe) in the publication of a socialist-oriented London-based newspaper, Race Today, that offered him and other like-minded Britons both black and white an outlet to discuss the racial issues that, under Margaret Thatcher's reign, seemed to be tearing the country apart. For one so outspoken in his politics, Johnson's recorded work, while politically explicit, is not simply a series of slogans or tuneful/danceable jeremiads. In fact, is was his second release, Forces of Victory, where his mix of politics and music united to stunning effect. Dennis Bovell and the Dub Band could swing (as in jazzy) more than many reggae bands, and guitarist John Kpiaye, the group's secret weapon, offered deftly played, dazzlingly melodic solos. But it was Johnson's moving poetry, galvanizing moments such as "Sonny's Lettah" and "Fite Dem Back" that made it obvious that this was a major talent.

Although he never intended to, Johnson became a star, in England anyway; in America he had a small yet devoted group of fans. But political activism was as important, perhaps more important, than churning out records and touring, and after the release of his third album, Bass Culture, in 1980, Johnson took time off from the music scene, turning his back on a lucrative contract from Island. He continued to perform, but it was poetry readings at universities, at festivals in the Caribbean, and for trade union workers in Trinidad. His organizing activities included the setting up the First International Book Fair of Radical Black and Third World Books, and greater involvement with the political organizations with which he had been long identified, namely the Race Today Collective and the Alliance of the Black Parents Movement. In 1982, the BBC commissioned Johnson to create a series of radio programs on Jamaican popular music, a subject he'd been researching for years. The programs, entitled From Mento to Lovers Rock, were more than just musical history; Johnson contextualized Jamaican music socially and politically and offered a more nuanced and thorough examination of the popular music of his native and adopted countries.

Johnson returned to the pop music scene in 1984 with perhaps his best record, Making History. Again working with Dennis Bovell, Johnson's seething political anger suffuses this recording, but it is never undone by simple vituperation. Johnson is, if anything, a thoughtful radical, more analytical than simplistic, and that adds to the power of these seven songs. Unfortunately, this would be the last new music from Johnson until 1991's Tings an' Times, which proved yet again that regardless of how much time he takes off from music, when LKJ returns it's as if he's never missed a beat. His most recent period of recording silence has been broken by the release of a music-less poetry album. ~ John Dougan, All Music Guide [-] Hide

In 1996, Shanachie looked back on Mutabaruka's Shanachie output with The Ultimate Collection. The title is an exaggeration, and the CD is hardly the last word on Muta's work at Shanachie. In fact, some essential gems are missing -- including "Blacks in America," "Angola Invasion" and Outcry's title song -- so when these absences are taken into... [+] Read More

In 1996, Shanachie looked back on Mutabaruka's Shanachie output with The Ultimate Collection. The title is an exaggeration, and the CD is hardly the last word on Muta's work at Shanachie. In fact, some essential gems are missing -- including "Blacks in America," "Angola Invasion" and Outcry's title song -- so when these absences are taken into consideration, you realize just how lofty a title The Ultimate Collection is. All that said, this collection has a lot going for it. Drawing on Melanin Man, Any Which Way Freedom, The Mystery Unfolds and other albums, The Ultimate Collection contains such familiar gems as "Bun Dung Babylon," "Walking on Gravel" and "Witeman Country." But instead of offering the well-known studio version of "Witeman Country," Shanachie provides an exciting live version from 1989. The Ultimate Collection doesn't tell the whole story where Muta is concerned, but even so, it paints a compelling picture of the angrily socio-political dub poet. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Between 1979 and 1984, Linton Kwesi Johnson unleashed four seminal albums on the Island label -- Forces of Victory, Bass Culture, LKJ in Dub, and Making History. This compilation draws crucial tracks from all four sets, as well songs off 12" singles. 1979's Forces and 1980's Bass are heavily represented, with their superb companion dubs... [+] Read More

Between 1979 and 1984, Linton Kwesi Johnson unleashed four seminal albums on the Island label -- Forces of Victory, Bass Culture, LKJ in Dub, and Making History. This compilation draws crucial tracks from all four sets, as well songs off 12" singles. 1979's Forces and 1980's Bass are heavily represented, with their superb companion dubs appearing immediately after the vocal tracks. During these years Johnson's sound evolved, shifting from militant roots through an experimental period and finally toward a jazzier style, and with the set arranged in chronological order, listeners are able to note this musical transformation for themselves. Of course, there was a sizeable shift in sound between Johnson's debut album Dread Beat an' Blood and Forces with the inclusion of brass and fuller musical arrangements. Dread was one of the most militant albums ever to land on British shop shelves. Forces was equally radical, but Johnson's poems were now laced with irony and humor. "Fite dem Back" is so over the top one couldn't help but laugh, yet the words are so anthemic you're forced to shout along with its rousing refrain. "Independant Intavenshan" is as sarcastic as it is scathing. Even the album's masterpiece, "Sonny's Lettah (Anti-Sus Poem)," makes use of black humor to drive home its message, with the fight scene taking on a Tarantino-esque quality. There again, "It Noh Funny" isn't, while the ominous "Time Come" again predicts the riots that will sweep the nation in 1981, with Johnson's Cassandra-like warnings going unheeded. Bass continues down a similar thematic roads, but wanders along musical byways as well, from the Western-flavored "Street 66," to the joyous reggae of the aptly titled "Reggae fi Peach," through the almost Two Tone-esque "Di Black Petty Booshwah," and onto the jazzy lushness of "Loraine." That latter number is a perfect parody of a love song, the title track and "Reggae Sounds" are superb expostulations of the power of music, "Street" is a Western gunfight brought to an inner-city flat, "Booshwa" scathingly condemns that class, while "Inglan Is a Bitch" vividly describes the typical working-class hero the bourgeois where stepping on on their way up. "Peach" is an impassioned eulogy to Blair Peach, killed by the police during a protest at Southall Town Hall this same year. Two more tributes are included on this compilation, both from the History set. With "Reggae fi Radni," Johnson attempts to come to grips with the mysterious car bombing that killed the Guyanan author/activist Walter Rodney. "Reggae fi Dada" is a eulogy to the poet's late father, wherein the poet turns his scathing pen on Jamaica. Meanwhile, Johnson's prophesies have come to pass, and he celebrates with "Di Great Insohreckshan," a jubilant look at the Brixton riot. But History's centerpiece is "New Crass Massahkah," the event that helped sparked the riots that swept England that year. Johnson's vivid description of this tragic fire powerfully conjure up this event, and so raw were people's emotions at the time that much of the piece is spoken word, with the band brought in only to create the atmosphere of the party where the fire took place itself. With this stunning piece, the compilation is brought to a close. All of these albums were masterpieces, and to have much of the best of them compiled onto two CDs is a welcome event. Excellent sleeve notes complete this stellar package, and this compilation can not be too highly recommended. ~ Jo-Ann Greene, All Music Guide [-] Hide