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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?

Available now

30 minutes

Last on

Tue 22 Jul 2008 11:30
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4 FM

Mary Anne Hobbs recommends

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."

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Broadcast

  • Tue 22 Jul 2008 11:30
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4 FM

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