Mutabaruka

Through his verse Mutabaruka has articulated the collective experience of an entire country while helping establish the hybrid style known as dub/rhythm poetry. His lines, marked by revolutionary zeal, searing critique, and caustic wit, retain identical force whether read on the page or heard on disc, leading the literary world to devise the designation meta-dub exclusively for his output.

Allan Hope entered the world in Rae Town, Jamaica, on December 26, 1952. During adolescence he discovered the authority of language amid the peak of the Black Power movement, when radical thinkers began committing their ideas and pasts to print. Malcolm X and Eldridge Cleaver supplied the initial impetus for his ambitions, even though his first vocational path diverged sharply from theirs. After leaving school he trained as an electrician and secured employment at the Jamaican Telephone Company. Writing persisted alongside these duties until 1971, when he resigned to devote himself entirely to composition. He left Kingston’s intensity for the seclusion of the Potosi hills in Saint James parish. Shortly afterward Swing magazine accepted one of his poems, after which the periodical featured his work on a regular basis.

In 1973 Hope assembled the group Truth, marking his earliest attempt to fuse spoken text with musical accompaniment. By then he had embraced Rastafarianism and adopted the name Mutabaruka, a Rwandan phrase signifying “one who is always victorious.” Although roots music was gaining momentum, Truth attracted little audience. Recognition nevertheless arrived in literary circles with the 1973 appearance of his collection Outcry. The next year brought further notice through the poem Wailin’, composed in tribute to Bob Marley and constructed from Wailers song titles. Two years later the joint volume Sun and Moon, shared with Faybiene, earned widespread praise. In 1977 Mutabaruka returned to live performance. The following year, accompanied by the nyabinghi-driven ensemble Light of Saba, he recorded a version of Outcry that became a Jamaican hit. Guitarist Earl “Chinna” Smith had meanwhile founded High Times Records to champion deep roots sounds and promptly enlisted the poet. Mutabaruka’s profile continued to climb; his appearance that same year at Kingston’s National Stadium proved an unqualified triumph. Over the ensuing seasons he issued several singles on High Times and garnered additional literary acclaim in 1981 with the collection The Book: First Poems. He also scored a hit with the single “Everytime a Ear De Soun,” while his debut at Reggae Sunsplash was preserved on a 1982 live album. That performance introduced him to an international audience and secured repeat invitations to the festival for the next two years.

His first full-length release, Check It, appeared in 1983, a dub-infused classic showcasing Smith’s deeply roots-oriented guitar work; the set was later remastered and reissued by R.A.S. in 2001. In 1985 Mutabaruka again performed successfully at Reggae Sunsplash and supervised the Heartbeat label’s dub-poetry compilation Work Sound ’Ave Power: Dub Poets and Dub. A Scientist-mixed dub counterpart followed, together with the companion anthology Woman Talk: Caribbean Dub Poetry, devoted solely to female dub and rapso artists. He also negotiated distribution through R.A.S., a relationship solidified by the uncompromising 1986 album The Mystery Unfolds. Self-produced and featuring guests such as Marcia Griffiths and Ini Kamoze, the record offered no concessions; among its incisive tracks stood “Dis Poem,” intended to dismantle both listener expectations and the poet’s own affectations. Subsequently included in The Routledge Reader in Caribbean Literature, the piece remains among his most provocative.

Although neither 1987’s Outcry nor 1989’s Any Which Way...Freedom matched the radical edge of The Mystery Unfolds, Mutabaruka had by then established himself as a towering figure in both literature and music within Jamaica and beyond. His Reggae Sunsplash appearances in 1987 and 1988 were eagerly awaited and fulfilled expectations. While continuing to produce or co-produce his own projects, he occasionally recorded for outside producers, among them the pointed “Great Kings of Africa” for Gussie Clarke, which featured Dennis Brown. The 1991 album Blakk Wi Blak...K...K, jointly overseen with Earl “Chinna” Smith, included the sequel “Great Queens of Afrika” with Sharon Forrester and Ini Kamoze. The set contained equally trenchant material such as “Ecology Poem” and “People’s Court.” The latter theme resurfaced on the 1994 release Melanin Man, which also contained the powerful “Garvey.” By that point Mutabaruka had appeared at Reggae Sunsplash in 1991, 1993, and 1994, returning again in 1995 and 1996. In 1994 he launched his own program on IRIE-FM, an immensely popular broadcast ironically banned from airing his own track “People’s Court.” Two years later he scored two Jamaican hits for the Exterminator label: “Wise Up,” recorded with Sugar Minott, and “Psalms 24,” recorded with Luciano. Also in 1996 came the albums Muta in Dub and Gathering of the Spirits, the latter an expansive homage to the roots era populated by the Mighty Diamonds, Sly & Robbie, Culture, and Marcia Griffiths. That year Mutabaruka toured Ethiopia alongside Tony Rebel, Yasus Afari, and Uton Green.