The Watts Prophets, Richard Dedeux, and Amde Hamilton live, work and create in Watts, California. Something they have done for more than thirty years. In 1967, these men, the best of the students in the prestigious Watts Writers Workshop, won their first amateur talent contest as a nameless group. But then, after they recited/chanted/ spoke/sung/witnessed their unique jazz-accompanied topical poem, an audience member - dazzled by their performance - shouted, “They must be the Watts Prophets!”
The earliest work by the twenty-something aged poets (as documented in their earliest recordings) was an expression of their rage against powerlessness. Racism, poverty, and violence were their everyday reality and provided the thematic foundation for what become a very unique style - what many today acknowledge as the roots of rap.
Join the Watts Prophets on ArtistShare and be a part of this incredible legacy of spoken word, truth and freedom. Through ArtistShare you will have the once in a lifetime opportunity to witness first hand the beauty of their creative process. The ArtistShare Session Producer "Spoken Word" and "Transformation" participant in the creation of new poetry as well a the transformation of young lives through the power of poetry, dance, art and music. |