Linton Kwesi Johnson - Lincense Fi Kill

Linton Kwesi Johnson was born in 1952 in Chapelton, Jamaica. He moved to London in 1963 to be with his mother and went on to read Sociology at Goldsmiths College, University of London.

He joined the Black Panther movement in 1970, organising a poetry workshop and working with Rasta Love, a group of poets and percussionists. He joined the Brixton-based Race Today Collective in 1974. His first book of poems, Voices of the Living and the Dead, was published by the Race Today imprint in 1974. His second book, Dread, Beat, an' Blood (1975) includes poems written in Jamaican dialect, and was released as a record in 1978. He is widely regarded as the father of 'dub poetry', a term he coined to describe the way a number of reggae DJs blended music and verse. Johnson maintains that his starting point and focus is poetry, composed before the music, and for this reason he considers the term 'dub poetry' misleading when applied to his own work. He recorded several albums on the Island label, including Forces of Victory (1979), Bass Culture (1980), LKJ In dub (1980) and Making History (1984) and founded his own record label - LKJ - in the mid-1980s, selling over two million records worldwide.

In 1977 he was awarded a C. Day Lewis Fellowship and became Writer in Residence for the London Borough of Lambeth. Race Today published his third book of poetry, Inglan Is a Bitch, in 1980. He worked primarily as a journalist in the 1980s and was a reporter for Channel 4 television's The Bandung File. Tidings An' Times: Selected Poems was published in 1991 as both a book and musical recording.

He was made Associate Fellow at Warwick University in 1985 and Honorary Fellow at Wolverhampton Polytechnic in 1987. He is a regular broadcaster on radio and hosted an evening of Caribbean music and culture for BBC Radio 2 in October 2001.

Linton Kwesi Johnson lives in Brixton, South London. A selection of his poetry, entitled Mi Revalueshanary Fren, was published in 2002 as a Penguin Classic edition with an introduction by Fred D'Aguiar. In 2005 he was awarded a Musgrave medal by the Insitiute of Jamaica, for eminence in the field of poetry.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Linton Kwesi Johnson
• lkj
• License Fi Kill
• Jamaica
• Uk Reggae
• Poet
• Roots

[handsinunity]

after the events in Tottenham .. this tune haf fi get play

[creeball]

no comments? DRY!!!!

[youngian]

I saw LKJ buying a paper the other week at Herne Hill station. Classiest celeb spot of the year.

[juliorm182]

Long Live Linton Kwesi Johnson. He real Fighter. He fighting for Justice.

Justice Fighters

1

[LeftEdit]

YOU CAN ASK IPCC ABOUT THE LICENCE TO KILL!

[dwadoful]

Who gave de old drunkard a lincense fi kill? . . Burn Bombocrat! .

[rastkoli]

BOUY DAT IS TUNE U KNO!!!!!!!!!!!!1TRU.

[ButherLi55ett]

@ladyinthewood Well, there is some rising consciousness at the moment. Strikes and protests all over the world. If you mean specifically in music? I would probably agree...tho I think political music is hidden away a bit these days, you really have to search for it. It was probably more abundant in the 70s and 80s tho'.

[ladyinthewood]

This is brilliant. This level of consciousness is now rare.

[airadam13]

Great piece of work - the first time I heard it was when this show was broadcast, but I managed to find this on vinyl a few years later.