Celluloid / Europe / RE 2011
When the Last Poets emerged in 1970, they were unlike anything before them. The trio of New York poets—Umar Bin Hassan, Abiodun Oyewole, and Jalaluddin Mansur Nuriddin—along with percussionist Nilaja, brought together African chanting and free-jazz elements in a raw, powerful expression of black nationalism. Backed only by hand drums, they delivered intense, rhythmic spoken word filled with street-hardened imagery, fierce howls, and urgent taunts that resonated deeply with their audience, capturing the essence of the urban Black experience and making an indelible impact on the music and culture that followed.