Linton Kwesi Johnson

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Linton Kwesi Johnson at the 2008 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival

Linton Kwesi Johnson (* 24. August 1952 in Chapelton, Clarendon Parish , Jamaica ) is a British poet and reggae - musician .

Life

In 1963, Linton Kwesi Johnson was brought there by his mother, who had previously moved to London . As a student, he joined the English Black Panthers Movement in 1970 . There he organized, among other things, a poet's workshop and participated in the reggae band Rasta Love .

After graduating from school, Johnson worked briefly as an administrator with the church and the administration of the Greater London Council . In 1973 he began studying sociology at Goldsmiths College, London . In the same year he published his first texts in a newspaper of the group Race Today Collective (then still active as Towards Racial Justice ), which in 1974 also published his first own volume of poetry, Voices of the Living and the Dead .

In 1975 his second text collection Dread, Beat and Blood followed . His dub poetry was first recognized, in 1977 Johnson received the Cecil Day Lewis grant. The record label Virgin released its first album in 1978 , also titled Dread, Beat and Blood . In 1979 and 1980 further albums followed, Forces of Victory and Bass Culture, which, together with the simultaneously published text collection Inglan is a Bitch, cemented his reputation as the lyrically most important voice of English reggae.

At the same time, in Johnson's opinion, the musical work took a disproportionate amount of space at the expense of his social and political work, and despite his great success and the offer of a major record deal, he paused for a while. Making History was released in 1984, widely recognized as his best album. Since then, he has only released two other musical albums: Tings an 'Times in 1991 and More Time in 1999 . In 1996 an album of texts was released that he read unaccompanied. Linton Kwesi Johnson has not been on major tours since 1985.

In 1981 Johnson founded his own label LKJ Records and produced the great Jamaican dub poet Michael "Mikey" Smith, who was killed by a stone throwing an argument immediately after the recordings on his return to Jamaica. Since then, his own records have mostly appeared on his own label.

In 2012 he was awarded the Golden PEN Award by the English PEN . In 2014 he was awarded the Jamaican Order of Distinction . In 2017 he received an honorary doctorate in literature from Rhodes University and in 2018 he was one of the recipients of a Cholmondeley Award .

Texts, rhythm and politics

Unlike the majority of reggae musicians, “LKJ”, as it is also called after its initials, is not religious; He criticized the Rastafarian religion that is widespread in reggae as being unrealistic and reactionary. In his texts, Johnson formulates an explicitly radical left-wing criticism of capitalist society in England. The focus is on his experiences with racism , unemployment and violence .

Typical of Johnson's texts are a strong rhythm and metrics as well as the use of his own language, which often makes the texts seem inaccessible at the surface. Johnson said: “My way of writing and speaking is like a result of the tension between Jamaican Creole and Jamaican English and between them and English English.” Both formally and content-wise, they reflect the experience of “growing up in a colonial society and then come over here to live. ”Johnson has a decidedly political claim, he is quoted as saying:

“What does it mean to be black in the UK? It is said that you actually have to fight an incredibly lavish battle over things that most of society take for granted: housing, education, union rights, etc. It means that even though you were born in England, you are an immigrant forever are valid. It means that you are at the bottom of this society and are always trying to break the colonial rules. "

Works

Original editions

  • Voices of the Living and the Dead, London (1974)
  • Dread Beat An 'Blood, London (1975)
  • Inglan Is A Bitch, London (1980)
  • Tings An 'Times, Newcastle upon Tyne and London (1991)

German translations

Discography

  • 1978: Dread Beat An 'Blood
  • 1979: Forces of Victory
  • 1980: Bass Culture
  • 1980: LKJ in Dub
  • 1980: The Best of Linton Kwesi Johnson (compilation)
  • 1984: Making History
  • 1984: Reggae Greats
  • 1985: Dub Poetry (Compilation)
  • 1985: LKJ Live in Concert with the Dub Band
  • 1991: Tings An 'Times
  • 1992: LKJ in Dub Volume 2
  • 1996: LKJ A Cappella Live
  • 1996: LKJ Presents
  • 1998: Independant Intavenshan (compilation)
  • 1998: More Time
  • 2002: LKJ in Dub: Volume 3
  • 2003: Straight to Inglan's Head
  • 2004: Live in Paris
  • 2004: Live in Paris with the Dennis Bovell Dub Band (DVD)

Web links

Commons : Linton Kwesi Johnson  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Barry Graves , Siegfried Schmidt-Joos : Das neue Rocklexikon, Volume 1, p. 408 f. Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag, Reinbek 1990. ISBN 3-499-16320-9
  2. ↑ Linton Kwesi Johnson wins Golden PEN award , guardian.co.uk, December 3, 2012. Accessed December 5, 2012.
  3. ↑ http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/entertainment/With-Distinction_17310824
  4. ↑ https://www.pressreader.com/south-africa/grocotts-mail/20170428/281706909574750
  5. ^ Linton Kwesi Johnson, quoted from George Lipsitz : Dangerous Crossroads. Hannibal 1999, p. 166 f.
personal data
SURNAME Johnson, Linton Kwesi
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British poet and reggae musician
DATE OF BIRTH August 24, 1952
PLACE OF BIRTH Chapelton, Clarendon Parish, Jamaica