Abiodun Oyewole

Public Enemy’s Chuck D leads a cast of hip-hop icons and leading African-American and Latino cultural commentators as they chart the factors that led to the birth of the revolutionary art form of hip-hop in 1970s New York, as well as the creation of the seminal hit The Message. They evoke a picture of how, after the turbulence of the 60s and the civil rights struggles, desperate social conditions and the experience of countless dispossessed people of colour living in a city mired in crisis helped give birth to a new art form.

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Umar Bin Hassan hasn’t even hit 70 yet, but he walks with difficulty and there’s sadness and fatigue in his eyes. As a member of The Last Poets, a group of performance poets who expressed the progressive spirit of the times starting in the late 1960s, he was a major influence on later hip-hop artists. In one of his best-known pieces, Ni****s are Scared of Revolution, he criticizes his black brothers’ destructive, macho behavior. Scared of Revolution concentrates on Hassan’s personal life, in which he still fights his demons. He grew up poor with a violent, unpredictable father, which in turn left him with an inferiority complex. In the course of his adult life, he has had a string of bad relationships and left children without a father figure. In his darkest hour, he also battled a crack addiction.

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A deep exploration into the historical, cultural, political and musical elements that created the genre, featuring present-day conversations with music legends.

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The story of Sport and Spoon - two young hustlers who attend the eponymous convention, only to get tangled up in a financial disagreement that leads to a shootout, police chase and finishes with Sport on death row, weighing up what it all means. Taking its title from the album, the film blends archive photos with interviews and uses unique animated sequences set to the album. It portrays Hustlers Convention in its wider social context and Jalal's personal story as one of rap's undisputed pioneers.

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Examines the evolution of the Black Power Movement in US society from 1967 to 1975. It features footage of the movement shot by Swedish journalists in the United States during that period and includes the appearances of Angela Davis, Bobby Seale, Huey P. Newton, Eldridge Cleaver, and other activists, artists, and leaders central to the movement.

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Solidarity follows pioneering New Zealand rappers Upper Hutt Posse after they're invited to the United States by the Nation of Islam. They perform signature song 'E Tū' — about Māori resistance against oppression — and take their message of justice to Detroit community station WDTR. In New York, UHP are interviewed by veteran DJ Imhotep Gary Bryd. Later they meet Abiodun Oyewole, from rap pioneers The Last Poets. This is a street level view of urban artists spreading a message of Indigenous and Black unity, and social justice. Solidarity was directed by Rongotai Lomas and UHP lead vocalist Dean Hapeta.

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Abiodun Oyewole is known over the world as a member of the revolutionary group The Last Poets. What the world doesn't know is how Abiodun went from being a revolutionary poet to a revolutionary.

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