Mutabaruka: Reggae's Poet Laureate

Mutabaruka
Originally uploaded by hzphotography

Right now I am sitting at the computer and listening to some old tracks by Mutabaruka. Muta, for short, is a poet who rhymes over reggae and dub beats. His 1982 recording "Check It" was radical at the time it was recorded. Rap was in it's infancy, and the idea of speaking poetry and singing over the track seemed strange to many. When I hear his early stuff, it still sounds current, urgent as it did in the early 80's.
From his book of poetry, The Next Poems he states:
“My poems,” Mutabaruka has said, “are to show you the
problems that face us in the world and then motivate you to find solutions to these problems – I don’t think I could show people how to get out of their problems with poems, but at least I could motivate actions.”
His rhymes are creative, humorous, sad; they run the gamut of human emotions and deal with many different topics. If you really are looking for something different, thought-provoking and interesting, check him out. His website is: www.mutabaruka.com