The Last Poets - Delights Of The Garden (1977)

With their politically charged raps, taut rhythms, and dedication to raising African-American consciousness, the Last Poets almost single-handedly laid the groundwork for the emergence of hip-hop. The group arose out of the prison experiences of Jalal Mansur Nuriddin, a U.S. Army paratrooper who chose jail as an alternative to fighting in Vietnam; while incarcerated, he converted to Islam, learned to "spiel" (an early form of rapping), and befriended fellow inmates Omar Ben Hassan and Abiodun Oyewole.

Upon the trio's release from prison, they returned to the impoverished ghettos of Harlem, where they joined the East Wind poetry workshop and began performing their fusion of spiels and musical backing on neighborhood street corners. On May 16, 1969 - Malcolm X's birthday - they officially formed the Last Poets, adopting the name from the work of South African Little Willie Copaseely, who declared the era to be the last age of poets before the complete takeover of guns. After a performance on a local television program, the group was signed by jazz producer Alan Douglas, who helmed their eye-opening eponymous debut LP in 1970. A collection condemning both white oppression ("White Man's Got a God Complex") and black stasis ("Niggas Are Scared of Revolution"), The Last Poets reached the U.S. Top Ten album charts, but before the group could mount a tour, Oyewole was sentenced to 14 years in prison after being found guilty of robbery and was replaced by percussionist Nilaja.

After the 1971 follow-up "This Is Madness" (which landed them on President Richard Nixon's Counter-Intelligence Programming lists), Hassan joined a Southern-based religious sect; Jalal recruited former jazz drummer Suliaman El Hadi for 1972's "Chastisement", which incorporated jazz-funk structures to create a sound the group dubbed "jazzoetry." Following the 1973 Jalal solo concept album "Hustler's Convention" (recorded under the alias Lightnin' Rod), the Last Poets issued 1974's "At Last", a foray into free-form jazz; after its release, Nilaja exited, and with the exception of 1977's "Delights of the Garden" - Last Poets on fire, highly recommended! - , the group kept a conspicuously low profile for the remainder of the decade.

Tracklist:

	It's A Trip	4:44
	Ho Chi Min	5:16
	Blessed Are Those Who Struggle	3:41
	The Pill	5:08
	Delights Of The Garden	3:47
	Be	6:19
	Yond	4:58
	Er	7:36

The Last Poets - Delights Of The Garden (1977)
(320 kbps, cover art included)