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Dread, Beat an Blood
Benjamin Zephaniah reassesses dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson's 1978 debut album. Dread Beat an' Blood expressed the black British experience as it had never been heard before.
Benjamin Zephaniah reassesses dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson's 1978 debut album. Dread Beat an' Blood expressed the black British experience as it had never been heard before. Using his trademark spoken word style set to an instrumental reggae beat, the record voiced the frustration of a generation. Linton discusses the issues he tackled on the record, such as police harassment, the National Front and the criminal justice system. Thirty years on, how much has changed?
Last on
Tue 22 Jul 2008
11:30
³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Radio 4 FM
Mary Anne Hobbs recommends
"Linton Kwesi Johnson began writing poetry and became an activist in
his teens. For the host of this programme, Benjamin Zephaniah, Linton
communicated the black British experience as it had never been heard
before. We learn about the political and social climate refracted
through Linton’s seminal debut album of 1978, Dread, Beat an’ Blood, and
the influence of Louise Bennett-Coverley, The Last Poets, and Franz
Fanon the philosopher who spoke about the internalisation of
oppression."
Read all of Mary Anne's recommendations
Read all of Mary Anne's recommendations
Broadcast
- Tue 22 Jul 2008 11:30³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Radio 4 FM
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