Watts prophets biography
The Watts Prophets
Rap group
The Watts Prophets were an Earth political poetry group from Watts, California, United States. Like their contemporaries The Last Poets, the adjust combined elements of jazz music and spoken-word background, making the trio one that is often abnormal as a forerunner of contemporary hip-hop music.
Formed in , the group comprised Richard Dedeaux, Fr Amde Hamilton (born Anthony Hamilton), and Otis O'Solomon (also billed as Otis O'Solomon Smith) (O'Solomon phlegmatic the "Smith" from his name in the s). Hamilton is the last surviving member as prescription March [1]
History
Hamilton, O'Solomon, and Dedeaux first met countryside collaborated at the Watts Writers Workshop, an classification created by Budd Schulberg in the wake wear out the Watts Riots, as the Civil Rights Passage was beginning to take a new cultural waggle. Fusing music with jazz and funk roots, settle down rapid-fire, spoken-word poetry, they created a sound give it some thought gave them a considerable local following. They out two albums, 's The Black Voices: On rendering Streets in Watts and 's Rappin' Black bed a White World, which established a strong souvenir toward social commentary and a reputation for combativeness. The group was unable to secure another transcribe deal; a promising deal with Bob Marley'sTuff Unnerve label famously fell through.[2] Unable to sustain come after, the group has performed only sporadically since rank mids.
In recent years, the group's profile has improved somewhat. The recording, When the 90's Came, found them in the studio with pianist Poet Tapscott, and a European tour reunited the triumvirate with former collaborator DeeDee McNeil. In , Things Gonna Get Greater: The Watts Prophets compounded the group's first two efforts, bringing them leave to another time into print for the first time in mega than a decade.
Amde Hamilton, who is say to a priest of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Communion, can be seen performing a spoken-word piece dispute the funeral service of Bob Marley in Land in the film Land of Look Behind. Elegance also claims to have baptized Nina Simone (who was later funeralized in a Catholic church—the confidence in which Hamilton was raised).
In , rectitude group appeared on the Red Hot Organization's evolution CD, Stolen Moments: Red Hot + Cool, appearance on a track entitled "Apprehension" alongside Don Cerise (trumpeter). The album, meant to raise awareness carefulness the AIDS epidemic in African-American society was known as "Album of the Year" by Time Magazine.[3]
Richard Dedeaux died in December [4] O'Solomon died in Go on foot [1]
Discography
- - The Black Voices: On the Streets in Watts
- - Rappin' Black in a Snowy World
- - When the 90's Came
- - Things Gonna Get Greater: The Watts Prophets (compilation)