The grandfather of rap Jalal Nuriddin gives a lesson in hip hop history
Shad talks to Jalal Nuriddin about the influence his album Hustlers Convention and his performance style had on rapping and hip-hop music as we know it.
Jalal Nuriddin is a founding member of The Last Poets, a group many hip-hop historians consider the grandfathers of rap.
His unique performance style influenced hip-hop pioneers like Chuck D and Ice-T, and it helped shape rapping, emceeing and hip-hop as we know it.
Nurddin first garnered attention with his seminal solo album Hustlers Convention in 1973 — which is also the title of a documentary film about the legacy of The Last Poets.
Nuriddin is in Toronto to perform for the first time as part of the Harbourfront Centre's Kuumba Festival for Black History month. He's also attending a screening of the Hustlers Convention doc in Ottawa. Click here for the dates and locations.
