washerman's dog: The Watts Prophets

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

There is No Hope for White America: The Watts Prophets

The Watts Prophets

When Watts was burning and roiling with rage back in the 60s a group of street poets got together to rap. Their subjects were drugs, sex, police oppression, violence, blood, racism and every other form of urban shit ever invented.

This is one of the albums of the Watts Prophets, a group that shares the sobriquet, inventors of rap music, with Gil Scott Heron and the Last Poets.

As the great American election circus glows white hot in the final dash to the first Tuesday of November, this collection of songs by local street politicians and philosophers, is a timely reminder of how much things have or have not changed.

Essential listening. Repeat.

Track Listing:

01 Listen

02 Part – E.S

03 Black Pussy

04 Kill

05 Funny How Things Can Change

06 Falstaff

07 Pimping, Leaning and Feaning

08 Keep You Doing Things

09 The Meek Ain't Gonna

10 The Days, the Hours

11 Taste.

12 We Must Love Black People

13 I'll Stop Calling You Nigger

14 Saint America

15 They Shot Him

16 Nearer My God To Thee

17 Clowns All Round

18 Response to a Bourgeois Nigger

19 Things Going to Get Greater Later

20 Trees and Del Prodo's

21 Pledge of Allegiance

here

Monday, May 30, 2011

Grandfathers of Hip Hop: The Watts Prophets

With the passing of Gil Scott Heron the net is alive with references to his being the “grandfather of hip hop”. The New York Times ended its obituary with a quote from GSH himself that sets the record straight: “[rap is] something that’s aimed at the kids. I have kids, so I listen to it. But I would not say it’s aimed at me. I listen to the jazz station.”

Along with Gil, commentators are (correctly) pointing out that there were other grandfathers responsible for hip hop, most notably The Last Poets, a band of urban street poets from Harlem who "With their politically charged raps, taut rhythms, and dedication to raising African-American consciousness, almost single-handedly laid the groundwork for the emergence of hip-hop."

The Watts Prophets

Less feted, less famous and hailing from the other great African American con-urbation on the other side of the American continent, south central Los Angeles, the Watts Prophets, also played a huge role in raising black consciousness, exposing the nightmarish aspects of the American dream and generally, freaking people out with their uncompromising, ballsy rap. With poems like, Fucked (My name is fucked/fucked/ I was given that name because of my luck/you might think its cool/but I’ll break all your windows as soon as you move) and Amerikkka, a litany of famous African Americans who have died in less than dignified circumstances in ‘one nation under God’, it is hard not to feel your knees quiver slightly. Especially, when you consider these raps were first put out in 1969!

Put this record on and sit back and listen to it without leaving your seat. It’s the only way.

Hip hop ain’t got nothin’ on these granddads.