The Welfare Poets
| The Welfare Poets | |
|---|---|
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| Background information | |
| Origin | El Barrio/Bronx |
| Genres | Hip Hop/Bomba/Soul/Jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Emcees/Activists |
| Years active | 1997—present |
| Labels |
Independent Poor Rican Productions |
| Associated acts | The Last Poets, Gil Scott-Heron |
| Website | Official MySpace |
The Welfare Poets are an Afro-Caribbean hip hop group that began to come into fruition up at Cornell University in the early 90's, but it wasn't until around 1997 when Ray Ramirez and Hector Rivera were back from college and Dahu Ala was also back home that the group began to perform locally and move towards the recording of a first album. The group has toured the United States, Puerto Rico, South America, across Europe and even part of the arctic circle (Iceland). The group plays Hip Hop with a fusion of (and separately at times) Jazz and various styles from the Caribbean, including Puerto Rico, Cuba and Jamaica. The Welfare Poets' music is complimented with lyrical content concerning social, political, economical and ecological issues which has made the group relevant over the years. The band released their first studio album "Project Blues" in June 2000 to critical acclaim and then followed up in 2005 with the genre bending and thought provoking album "Rhymes For Treason" which gave the world "Sak Pase", "Freedom", and "The Media". In 2009 they released a tour de force entitled "Warn Them", an epic 16 song opus which brought the group back to their hip hop roots (first non-band album - just beats)
In addition to performing, The Welfare Poets have also taken an active role in community education and organizing around issues regarding social justice. They have been very critical of the American government, as well as voicing support for the Black Liberation struggle and the Puerto Rican Independence Movement. "With our music, we attempt to use culture as a tool against repression" -Ray Ramirez. Over their existence, the Welfare Poets have been active in community struggles around police brutality, environmental justice, gentrification and displacement, the death penalty and political prisoners, most notably Mumia and the Puerto Rican Political Prisoners. The Welfare Poets lyrics often deal with social issues facing Black and Brown people.
The album was released in June 2000. There were only 5 band members at that point, most of whom met at Cornell university. Also joining the cadre, elder Harlem native "Poppa" Dahu Ala (Poet/Musician/social activist/teacher) on trumpet and vocals, Djibril Toure on bass (rehooking up with the band from the early days at Cornell) and Mike Angel on guitar. The album fused various styles of music from a blues/jazz feeling and Caribbean rhythms. "Project Blues" brought sharply relevant lyrics and left behind it a musical foot print that hearkened back to the Last Poets, Gil Scott Heron and the like. Project Blues contains 15 songs, relentless poetry/rhyming coming from the inner city of New York (El Barrio).
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