Abiodun Oyewole
Encyclopedia
Abiodun Oyewole is a poet, teacher and founding member of the American
music and spoken-word group The Last Poets
that developed into what is considered the first ever hip hop
group.
Abiodun was born in Cincinnati, Ohio
and he moved with his maternal aunt and her new husband at age three to Queens, New York. At the age of 15, he attended a Yoruba
Temple in Harlem
. It was there that he was given the name by which he is best known.
Early in his life, Abiodun was influenced by jazz
and gospel music
played by his parents and the poems of Langston Hughes
.
The group was born on May 19, 1968, Malcolm X's birthday, when Abiodun and two others, David Nelson, Gylan Kain
, read poetry in tribute to Malcolm X
. The group was based in black nationalism
and quickly became known throughout the African-American community. They are generally credited, along with Gil Scott-Heron
, as being major influences on the development of hip hop
.
At one point, Oyewole was forced to leave the group as he spent four years in a North Carolina
prison
, convicted of larceny
. After serving two and a half years of a three year sentence, because of good behavior he was eligible for study release during the day. Oyewole continued his education at a nearby college and earned his undergraduate degree. He subsequently went on to earn a doctorate from Columbia University
in New York City, where has served as a member of the faculty.
In 1994, Oyewole appeared on the Red Hot Organization
's compilation CD, Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool, appearing on a track titled "This is Madness" alongside Umar bin Hassan
and Pharaoh Sanders. The album was named "Album of the Year" by Time Magazine.
Recently, Abiodun has been touring the world giving lectures on poetry
and politics
.
Most recently he has taught at the Arthur Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
music and spoken-word group The Last Poets
The Last Poets
The Last Poets is a group of poets and musicians who arose from the late 1960s African American civil rights movement's black nationalist thread...
that developed into what is considered the first ever hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
group.
Abiodun was born in Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
and he moved with his maternal aunt and her new husband at age three to Queens, New York. At the age of 15, he attended a Yoruba
Yoruba people
The Yoruba people are one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa. The majority of the Yoruba speak the Yoruba language...
Temple in Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
. It was there that he was given the name by which he is best known.
Early in his life, Abiodun was influenced by jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and gospel music
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
played by his parents and the poems of Langston Hughes
Langston Hughes
James Mercer Langston Hughes was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form jazz poetry. Hughes is best known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance...
.
The group was born on May 19, 1968, Malcolm X's birthday, when Abiodun and two others, David Nelson, Gylan Kain
Gylan Kain
Gylan Kain is an American poet and playwright. He was a founding member, in 1968, of the Original Last Poets...
, read poetry in tribute to Malcolm X
Malcolm X
Malcolm X , born Malcolm Little and also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz , was an African American Muslim minister and human rights activist. To his admirers he was a courageous advocate for the rights of African Americans, a man who indicted white America in the harshest terms for its...
. The group was based in black nationalism
Black nationalism
Black nationalism advocates a racial definition of indigenous national identity, as opposed to multiculturalism. There are different indigenous nationalist philosophies but the principles of all African nationalist ideologies are unity, and self-determination or independence from European society...
and quickly became known throughout the African-American community. They are generally credited, along with Gil Scott-Heron
Gil Scott-Heron
Gilbert "Gil" Scott-Heron was an American soul and jazz poet, musician, and author known primarily for his work as a spoken word performer in the 1970s and '80s...
, as being major influences on the development of hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
.
At one point, Oyewole was forced to leave the group as he spent four years in a North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
, convicted of larceny
Larceny
Larceny is a crime involving the wrongful acquisition of the personal property of another person. It was an offence under the common law of England and became an offence in jurisdictions which incorporated the common law of England into their own law. It has been abolished in England and Wales,...
. After serving two and a half years of a three year sentence, because of good behavior he was eligible for study release during the day. Oyewole continued his education at a nearby college and earned his undergraduate degree. He subsequently went on to earn a doctorate from Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
in New York City, where has served as a member of the faculty.
In 1994, Oyewole appeared on the Red Hot Organization
Red Hot Organization
Red Hot Organization is a not-for-profit, 501 3, international organization dedicated to fighting AIDS through pop culture.Since its inception in 1989, over 400 artists, producers and directors have contributed to over 15 compilation albums, related television programs and media events to raise...
's compilation CD, Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool, appearing on a track titled "This is Madness" alongside Umar bin Hassan
Umar Bin Hassan
Umar Bin Hassan is an African-American poet associated with The Last Poets. He sold his younger sister's record player to purchase a bus ticket to New York City, where he joined the Last Poets...
and Pharaoh Sanders. The album was named "Album of the Year" by Time Magazine.
Recently, Abiodun has been touring the world giving lectures on poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
and politics
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
.
Most recently he has taught at the Arthur Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem.
Quotes
- "(Malcolm X) was our pathway to revolutionary understanding. Malcolm X went through a series of rites of passage - from Malcolm Little to Detroit Red to Satan to Malcolm X to El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz. All this because the man never stopped trying to develop and recognize the best of himself. He was self-determined. Malcolm was saying we need to be more. And we heard that. And he said it better than anybody ever said it. He made it clear to us. So all we wanted to do was to be disciples of Malcolm, in a sense, using poetry to illuminate the same values that he planted in our head." On Malcolm X's influence on the Last Poets (2001).
See also
- The Last PoetsThe Last PoetsThe Last Poets is a group of poets and musicians who arose from the late 1960s African American civil rights movement's black nationalist thread...
- Gil Scott-HeronGil Scott-HeronGilbert "Gil" Scott-Heron was an American soul and jazz poet, musician, and author known primarily for his work as a spoken word performer in the 1970s and '80s...
- Hip hop musicHip hop musicHip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
- Jalal Mansur NuriddinJalal Mansur NuriddinJalaluddin Mansur Nuriddin, born in Brooklyn, New York, 1944, is one of the founding members of The Last Poets, a group of poets and musicians that evolved in the 1960s out of the Harlem Writers Workshop in New York City.-Biography:...
- Black NationalismBlack nationalismBlack nationalism advocates a racial definition of indigenous national identity, as opposed to multiculturalism. There are different indigenous nationalist philosophies but the principles of all African nationalist ideologies are unity, and self-determination or independence from European society...