Dub poetry is a form of performance poetry of origin,Chris Roberts, Heavy Words Lightly Thrown: The Reason Behind Rhyme, Thorndike Press, 2006 () which evolved out of dub music in Kingston, Jamaica, in the 1970s, Dub Poetry , Allmusic last on-line access in 9/17/2012.Dave Thompson, "History of Dub Poetry" in roots-archives.com, last on-line access in 9/17/2012. as well as in London, England, and Toronto, Canada, cities which have large populations of Caribbean people immigrants. The term "Dub Poetry" was coined by Dub artist Linton Kwesi Johnson in 1976, and further popularized by artist Oku Onuora, which consists of spoken word over reggae rhythms, originally found on the backing or "version" side of a twelve- or seven-inch vinyl record.
Unlike deejaying (also known as toasting), which also features the use of the spoken word, the dub poet's performance is normally prepared, rather than the extemporized chat of the dancehall dee jay. In musical setting, the dub poet usually appears on stage with a band performing music specifically written to accompany each poem, rather than simply performing over the top of dub plates, or , in the dancehall fashion. Musicality is built into dub poems, yet dub poets generally perform without backing music, delivering chanted speech with pronounced rhythmic accentuation and dramatic stylization of gesture. Sometimes dub music effects such as echo and reverb are dubbed spontaneously by a poet into live versions of a poem. Many dub poets also employ call-and-response devices to engage audiences.
Benjamin Zephaniah continued to publish in the UK. He wrote novels as well as poetry. He was put forward for the post of Oxford Professor of Poetry in 1989 and British Poet Laureate in 1999, and in 2003 was also offered an OBE, which he declined.
Many dub poets have published their work as volumes of written poetry as well as albums of poetry with music.
|
|