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Linton Kwesi Johnson

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Britain VA, United States

Linton Kwesi Johnson (aka LKJ) (born 24 August 1952, in Chapelton, Jamaica) is a British-based dub poet. He became only the second living poet to be published in the Penguin series. His poetry involves the recitation of his own verse in Jamaican creole over dub-reggae, usually written in collaboration with renowned British reggae producer/artist Dennis Bovell .

Most of Johnson’s poetry is political, dealing mainly with the experiences of being an african-caribbean in Britain. However, he has also shown himself more than capable of writing about other issues, such as British foreign policy or the death of anti-racist marcher Blair Peach. His most celebrated poems were written during the government of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The poems contain graphic accounts of the often racist police brutality occurring at the time.

Johnson’s best known albums include his debut “Dread Beat An’ Blood”, “Forces of Victory”, “Bass Culture” and “Making History”. Across these albums are spread classics of the dub poetry school of performance - and, indeed, of reggae itself - such as “

Dread Beat An’ Blood”, “

Sonny’s Lettah, “

Inglan is a Bitch” and “Independant Intavenshan”.

When written, Johnson’s poetry makes clever use of the unstandardised transcription of Jamaican Creole.

Of late, Johnson has only performed live on an intermittent basis.

Tagged as:

reggae, dub, dub poetry, roots, jamaica
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Independant Intavenshan
Linton Kwesi Johnson
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Bass Culture
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Dread Beat An' Blood
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Forces of Victory
Linton Kwesi Johnson
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Top Tracks

1	Inglan is a Bitch full track	71
2	Reggae Sounds full track	70
3	Bass Culture	63
4	Street 66 full track	61
5	Fite Dem Back full track	60
6	Want Fi Goh Rave full track	50
7	It Noh Funny full track	47
8	Iron Bar Dub	44
9	Reggae Fi Peach full track	43
10	Loraine full track	42
11	Sonny's Lettah (Anti-Sus Poem) full track	40
12	Di Black Petty Booshwah	39
13	Victorious Dub	36
14	Dread Beat An' Blood	35
15	Time Come full track	34

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PartGreyBeard wrote:
12 days ago

I saw LJK perform once - a magical thing

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CureUbozech wrote:
October 2009

hehe i thought it was my profile lol ppl jah jah bless the weeeds lololol

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fuckxyeahh wrote:
August 2009

Whenever I listen to him, it's like I'm falling in a trance or something.. Legend.

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xikka wrote:
May 2009

p.s: thanks frogx, for me show |||||||| ..... ((( so beautiful !!! Linton Kwesi Johnson ,,,,,=D )))))))

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DutchDavehead wrote:
May 2009

"The poems contain graphic accounts of the often racist police brutality occurring at the time." "The poems contain graphic accounts of the alleged racist police brutality occurring at the time." Funny...first quote is from here, second is from wikipedia... Anyway, LKJ rules! ;-)

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stoethaspel wrote:
May 2009

Carol, you either feel the beat or you don' t, Good you can appreciate the acapella versions anyway. You do. however, miss out on the fact that LKJ' s music is one of the best examples of contemporary British dub-music. As opposed to Jamaican. LKJ is also NOT a rastafarian, he' s a militant. If you' re from the US, in New York there used to be a label called Clappers Records. If anything, LKJ is comparable to their militant and socialist attitude.

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klaus_schweiz wrote:
April 2009

ich hörte ihn 1980 zum ersten mall reggae interesierte mich nur am rande aber der mann ist für mich ein super star einfach ganz grosse klasse diese musik und der stil uah heute bekommen sie mit pc denn sound nicht so hin wie er ohne einfach eine ganz grosse nummer eben ein Mann denn man nicht vergessen wird Politisch wie Musikalisch .

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Yah_Order wrote:
April 2009

BIG UP! LKJ RrRrRrulez!

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tuevstar wrote:
March 2009

I like reggae not that much, but i love LKJ!!!!!

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viragom wrote:
March 2009

Wow... just wow.

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ChazboRotten1 wrote:
March 2009

LKJ in dub is amazing

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thirdprofile wrote:
March 2009

i've been an lkj fan for a while and already liked a few of his albums but i am listening to bass culture right now for the first time and i'm already pretty sure this will be my favourite, this album is great. "loraine," oh my god is that slick.

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bilbao100 wrote:
February 2009

LKJ - ever since i heard him about in beginning of the 80s i know what reggae culture is really about. through his deep and dark poetry's which speak the truth - underlined with these heavy atmospheric dub beats, in witch the breaks come in always just on time to make a point, you can see the world the way it really is. but still, somehow he manages to create a little light on the end of the tunnel no matter how dark it gets. . . . LKJ is a true genius of words and sound.

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cackhandedchimp wrote:
February 2009

Kiss mi batty.

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balzadelia wrote:
November 2008

cheesy you need an ear doctor carol_s

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wahine wrote:
October 2008

revolutionary

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brob wrote:
October 2008

what?

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brob wrote:
October 2008

Brain Smashing Dub! Also, what cheesy beats are you talking about carol_s?

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carol_s wrote:
September 2008

so much better acapella, without the cheesy beats

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J-east wrote:
September 2008

Just found out of him and I love it!

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Recent Activity

leesaly32 tagged Linton Kwesi Johnson with ‘political reggae’. yesterday evening
bri715 added Linton Kwesi Johnson to bri715’s library. yesterday morning
Ras_Tafari_1992 tagged Linton Kwesi Johnson with ‘reggae’. Tuesday evening
petic wrote about Linton Kwesi Johnson in My Jamaican compilation. Tuesday morning
petic wrote about Linton Kwesi Johnson – Di Black Petty Booshwah in My Jamaican compilation. Tuesday morning
casa_bey, kamachos, benzyna55 and 29 other people added Linton Kwesi Johnson to their libraries. Monday evening
IanAR connected Linton Kwesi Johnson to the group El-P. 21 days ago
mrhumann, Drew_kav, patgoud and 7 other people added Linton Kwesi Johnson to their libraries. 22 days ago
Shrike_Priest tagged Linton Kwesi Johnson with reggae and dub. 26 days ago
ditch73, CommetBoxJunky, roccastrada and 8 other people added Linton Kwesi Johnson to their libraries. 26 days ago