Jalal Mansur Nuriddin

Jalaluddin Mansur Nuriddin born in Brooklyn, New York, 1944, is one of the founding members of The Last Poets, a group of poets and musicians that evolved in the 1960s out of the Harlem Writers Workshop in New York City. Devout Muslim, poet, acupuncturist, and martial art exponent, He was incarcerated and was given early release on condition that he join the Army, where he trained as a paratrooper but was imprisoned again for refusing to salute the Flag. He received an honourable discharge and went to work for a bank on Wall Street. He converted to Islam and learned to spiel, an early form of rap, which he called "spoagraphics" or "spoken pictures". His talent and genius with words and rhythm are renowned. He joined The Last Poets shortly after their first album Right On, which was the soundtrack to a movie of the same name. His name at the time was Alafia Pudim, but he changed it to the Islamic name (Jalaluddin - The Glory Of The Faith , Mansur - Victorious, Nuriddin - The Light Of The Faith) by which he is known today. Jalal soon became the band leader, and as members came and went, the main catalogue of The Last Poets consisted of works by himself and fellow poet and friend, the late Sulaiman El-Hadi.

They produced numerous records for Celluloid Records, Douglas Records (with Jimi Hendrix) as well as a host of other record labels. Jalal is currently working on his autobiography. He recently wrote the foreword to Malik Al Nasir's poetry anthology "Ordinary Guy", published in the UK by Fore-Word Press. . Jalal also featured in the documentary "Word up - From Ghetto to Mecca" along with poets Gil Scott Heron, Mark T. Watson a.k.a Malik Al Nasir and dub poet Benjamin Zephaniah where he discussed the significance of the spoken word as an extension of the African oral tradition, as well as the origins of RAP and the work of his student and friend Mark T. Watson.

Lightnin' Rod was the pseudonym of Alafia Pudim and he released his seminal Hustlers Convention LP featuring tracks like Sport and Spoon and Coppin' Some Fronts For The Set in 1973. the album release on United Artists featured Tina Turner and the Ikettes, Colonel Dupree, and Kool and the Gang. Most of the lyrics deal with the way of living in ghettos, i.e. hustling, drugs, gambling and money with the outome being a shoot out with the cops followed by jail where the hustlers learn "The whole truth". A sequel, The Hustlers Detention is purportedly in the pipeline.

Jalal's "Mankind" single produced by Skip McDonald and release on Adrian Sherwood's label On-U-Sound, was synchronised to the soundtrack of the movie "187" featuring Samuel L. Jackson.

Jalal and the Last Poets also had a cameo appearance in John Singleton's film "Poetic Justice" starring Janet Jackon and Tupac Shakur.

Jalal spends his time between England and France. He has recently appeared live with the great saxophonist Byard Lancaster and the legendary Archie Shepp .

Selected Discography

All albums unless otherwise stated.

The Last Poets

• The Last Poets
• This is Madness
• Chastisement
• At Last
• Jazzoetry
• Delights Of The Garden
• Oh My People
• Freedom Express
• Scatterrap / Home
• Long Enough (12")

Lightnin' Rod

• Doreilla Du Fontaine (with Jimi Hendrix, Buddy Miles)/Hustlers Convention

Jalal

• Mean Machine (12", with Grandmaster DST)/Mean Machine '90
• On the One
• The Fruits of Rap
• Science Friction
• Mankind (10")

Guest appearances

• Material: The Third Power; E Pluribus Unum and Power Of Soul.
• Working Week 12": Stella Marina.
• Apollo 440: Dude Descending A Staircase;Hustler Groove and The Children Of The Future.
• Cosmo Vitelli: Video ; Science Affliction.
• Silent Poets: Words and Silence; Inquizative, Derivative, and The Children Of The Future.
• The Pop Group: For How Much Longer Do We Tolerate Mass Murder?; One Out Of Many.
• Faya Dub: Sings and Plays; Reggae Monk.
• Seven Dub 12": Land Of The Lost.
• Michel Benita : Drastic; Sky Screen.

Film appearances

• "Poetic Justice" - produced by John Singleton. With Janet Jackson & Tupac Shakur.
• "Word Up - From Ghetto To Mecca" produced by Shirani Sabaratnam - Documentary for Fore-Word Press with Mark T. Watson, Gil Scott Heron & Benjamin Zephaniah.
• "Art Blakey" produced by Dick Fontaine. Featuring Art Blakey, Wayne Shorter, Bradford Marsellis, Courtney Pine and Steve Willamson.

External links

• grandfatherofrap.com Jalal Mansur Nuriddin's website
• Fore-Word Press's website where Jalal is featured with Mark T. Watson