Original Last Poets

The Last Poets
Origin	Harlem, New York, United States
Genres	Spoken word, hip hop
Years active	1968–present
Labels	Mouth Almighty Mercury PolyGram Celluloid Casablanca Douglas Records Innerhythmic
Associated acts	Lightnin' Rod Common Malik & the O.G's
Members	Jalal Mansur Nuriddin (Alafia Pudim) Abiodun Oyewole Umar Bin Hassan Kenyatte Abdur Rahman
Past members	Suliaman El Hadi (deceased) Nilaja (deceased) Abu Mustapha (deceased)

The Last Poets is the name for several groups of poets and musicians who arose from the late 1960s African-American civil rights movement's black nationalist movement. The 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 original users of that name were the trio of Felipe Luciano, Gylan Kain, and David Nelson.

However, it is the versions of the group led by Jalaluddin Mansur Nuriddin and/or Umar Bin Hassan that have penetrated mass culture to a legendary degree. The Last Poets have been cited as one of the earliest influences on hip-hop music. Critic Jason Ankeny wrote: "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." The British music magazine NME stated, "Serious spokesmen like Gil Scott-Heron, The Last Poets, and later Gary Byrd, paved the way for the many socially committed Black [emcees] a decade later."

The Original Last Poets were formed on May 19, 1968 (Malcolm X's birthday), at Marcus Garvey Park in East Harlem. On October 24th 1968, the group performed on pioneering New York television program Soul!.

Luciano, Kain, and Nelson recorded separately as The Original Last Poets, gaining some renown as the soundtrack artists of the 1971 film Right On!

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Wikipedia