Speaking Out
By Daily Bruin Staff
Sept. 30, 2001 9:00 p.m.
 Watts Towers Art Center The Watts Towers tower over the
citizens of East Los Angeles, a community that has spawned artists
like the Watts Prophets.
By Kenny Chang
Daily Bruin Reporter
Three men, 34 years, and a positive message. The Watts Prophets
have come a long way, and are still moving strong.
Consisting of Richard Anthony Dedeaux, Amde Anthony Hamilton,
and Otis O’Solomon, the Watts Prophets are poets, high up on
the evolutionary chain of hip-hop.
The group, which will perform at Royce on Oct. 5, was formed in
1967 when the three men met together at the Watts Writers Workshop,
a program started for citizens of the Los Angeles community to
express their feelings through art.
Spitting out lyrics over several kinds of musical backgrounds,
the Watts Prophets flow over the rhythm, not to the rhythm, like
hip-hop artists. Uncategorizable, the group has elements of several
different types of music, the most recognizable being jazz and
R&B.
Each of the Watts Prophets, apart from the group, have been
successful in their own respective achievements and careers.
Amde Hamilton has taught poetry at San Francisco State
University and has worked in several community-oriented programs,
varying from a position as a counselor to coordinating special
programs at Drew Postgraduate Medical School.
 Watts Towers Art Center Otis O’Solomon has written
for the Los Angeles Times, as well as screenplays for television
and film, and even commentary material for song books on Quincy
Jones, Marcin Hamlisch and Cannonball Adderly.
Richard Dedeaux has led a flavorful career as well. In addition
to touring the country and reading poetry opposite Richard Pryor,
Marvin Gaye, Minnie Riperton and Stevie Wonder, he has also been a
creative writing instructor for several institutions and a
freelance producer for major broadcasting stations as well.
Altogether, these three gentlemen form like Voltron and spread
their positive “Talk Up, Not Down” lyrical messages,
according to Hamilton.
The other Watts members agree that they use their artistry to
promote awareness and instill inspiration.
“We just come from our soul,” O’Solomon said.
“We are conscientious poets with a message of inspiration and
motivation ““ to bring some new awareness and to get inside
people’s heads and make them think about what’s going
on.”
“We do not use profanity; we do not degrade ourselves with
the “˜n-word.’ All of the prophets talk up, not
down,” Dedeaux said.Â
And that’s the way it has been for over 30 years.
In the beginning, the poets began with social commentary.
Addressing racism, poverty, violence and everyday reality, the
Watts Prophets attacked problems through poetry and music.
Continuing the tradition, they have kept delivering their
messages over the years.
“Today, a lot of problems, situations and challenges in
people and humanity, are still there,” said O’Solomon.
“We’ve dealt with sexism, racism, ecology ““ a lot
of things that are going on.”
“That’s why Shakespeare is still good today and the
Bible is still good today,” he added. “Even though they
are old, they touch a quality, a humanity that they are always able
to adjust to with small adjustments in the language.”
Though the Watts Prophets emphasize positive messages, an
integral part of their motivation and inspiration is in helping
youths. By putting forth these positive messages, the Watts
Prophets hope to promote a sense of awareness in the children of
today in preparation for their future.
“We love young people,” said Hamilton. “We are
fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers. All of us have
children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and we are
concerned about their future. Sometimes it seems like the young
people are abandoned and people are not thinking about
them.”
“We’re concerned about our children, and our
children meaning all that come in front of us,” he continued.
“So that’s one of our great motivations, to make
creative, aware young individuals who won’t be afraid to
change things where they need change.”
That is where the Hip Hop Poetry Choir comes into play.
Commissioned by UCLA and sponsored in part by the Henry Mancini
Endowment, the Hip Hop Poetry Choir is a group, ranging in age from
10 to 25, that the Watts Prophets founded to help share the beauty
and power of poetry.
Officially starting about four months ago, the Prophets recruit,
coach, and mentor young people, providing them with poetry, dance,
drum and choir workshops.
By using hip-hop as a means of presenting a message, the Hip Hop
Poetry Choir is motivated by the Watts Prophets to use hip-hop as a
means of communication.
“Hip-hop is the contemporary thing that’s happening
now,” O’Solomon said. “It’s always good to
blend the old with the new. Amde had the point that young and old
go together, like the seasons of the world, and it all comes
together.”
“People always speak of the generation gap,” he
added. “If the old folks give the young folks a chance, and
the young folks give the older people a chance, they find out that
they can learn a lot from each other, and bring both those
communities together.”
A slight issue that might arise is the use of profanity and
topics that can be considered a bit more frivolous in today’s
hip-hop and music industry.
“I’d just like to see a lot less profanity, and also
to take it a little off the materialism and put it more on the
foundation of spirituality and humanity. I think sometimes the sex
is a little too much,” O’Solomon said. “But I
love hip-hop, I love all kinds of music. A lot of older people
don’t listen to hip-hop, but they need to, because they
don’t know what their kids are listening to.”
Other members of the group have similar sentiments.
“Young and old go together, and that’s the missing
link,” Dedeaux said. “Kids have lost respect for their
elders and that’s the missing link. If you don’t know
your past, you’re bound to repeat it. We have to reestablish
that link and give them those parts that are missing in their lives
and put them back on track.”
Giving to the Hip Hop Poetry Choir what the Watts Writers
Workshop gave to them, the Watts Prophets appear to have come full
circle.
However, that doesn’t say anything about their music.
Going on strong for 34 years, the Watts Prophets’ poetry and
music still address social issues and current problems.
Contributing a broader history of hip-hop and being so active in
the education of the youth, the Watts Prophets are still
revolutionary and fresh.
“We’re still doing some of the forms that
we’ve been doing close to over thirty years,” Hamilton
said. “We have just been evolving and continuing to evolve.
Creativity is an endless avenue.”
