Born in the wake of the civil rights movement, Harlem's Last Poets performed politically charged spoken word to musical backings.
Cited alongside Gil Scott Heron as hip-hop progenitors, there's some ambivalence to the tag. Not merely a rap history footnote, their work stands alone as "jazzoetry". Compelled by a new civil rights struggle, this is the Last Poets' first album in more than 20 years.
It finds two of the outfit's members - Abiodun Oyewole and Umar Bin Hassan - musing long and deep to reggae backings.
A skank percolates elegantly underneath the gravelly, fatherly tones of wiser and more philosophical poets. There's ample disgusted fury but inner strength and enduring creativity are the takeaways.
- Kitty Empire / Guardian News & Media
