Watts Prophets – When The 90’s Came (CD) (1997) (FLAC + 320 kbps)

The Watts Prophets are a group of musicians and poets from Watts, Los Angeles, California. Like their contemporaries The Last Poets, the group combined elements of jazz music and spoken-word performance, making the trio one that is often seen as a forerunner of contemporary hip-hop music. Formed in 1967, the group comprises Richard Dedeaux, Father Amde Hamilton (born Anthony Hamilton), and Otis O’Solomon (also billed as Otis O’Solomon Smith)Hamilton, O’Solomon, and Dedeaux first met and collaborated at the Watts Writers Workshop, an organization created by Budd Schulberg in the wake of the Watts Riots, as the African American civil rights movement was beginning to take a new cultural turn. Fusing music with jazz and funk roots with a rapid-fire, spoken-word sound, they created a sound that gave them a considerable local following, but little commercial success. They released two albums, 1969’s The Black Voices: On the Streets in Watts and 1971’s Rappin’ Black in a White World, which established a strong tendency toward social commentary and a reputation for militancy. Despite considerable acclaim, the group was unable to secure another record deal; a promising deal with Bob Marley’s Tuff Gong label famously fell through. Unable to sustain success, the group has performed only sporadically since the mid-1970s.

In recent years, the group’s profile has improved somewhat. In the late 1990s the Watts Prophets signed with David Lieberman Artists’ Representatives (dlartists.com) to handle their exclusive booking engagements around the world. The 1997 recording, When the 90’s Came, found them in the studio with pianist Horace Tapscott, and a European tour reunited the trio with former collaborator DeeDee McNeil. In 2005, Things Gonna Get Greater: The Watts Prophets 1969-1971 combined the group’s first two efforts, bringing them back into print for the first time in more than a decade.

Tracklist:

01. When the 90’s Came
02. Hey World
03. The Law/Doin’ Every Day the Hard Way
04. Me Today, You Tomorrow
05. Everybody Watches
06. Breed What You Need
07. Trippin’
08. Searchin’
09. Nothin’ New
10. I Remember Watts
11. Family Nest
12. Free Geronimo
13. Public Enemy Number One
14. I’ll Stop Callin’ You Niggaz
15. While Growin’ Up
16. Freedom Flame
17. Hongry For Your Love
18. In Pain I View
19. Vanity
20. When the 90’s Came (acapella)

Download:

FLAC – Wayshare

320 kbps – Wayshare