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| Sunday, 10 February 2002 |
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Rapping for the oppressed
They label him a crusader for oral poetry. His mission, he says, is to make people realise the effect poetry has when it is read out to a rhythm. He enjoys his performances over radio, TV and on stage. Considered as Britains leading performing poet, Benjamin Zephaniah has written about 30 books including books for teenagers and children, made documentaries on the new culture in Britain and continues to attract the oppressed with his words. He raps with Mahes Perera. Q: You are considered as Britain's leading performing poet, when did it all begin for you and how? A: It was just the love of words. Delightful words - loving them. Words and the effect they had on people. When I started to look at the world around me and realised that it was no fun and games then I suppose I realised my poetry could have a purpose and it started as soon as I began to use words. According to my mother, I must have been about five years old, I used to do poems about "I love my mother and my mother loves me." I had this reputation of writing on anything. Somebody came into my room and I would write about it. Just off my head, think about the way they came into the room. In the early days I made recordings playing with words. It seems so natural with me. Yes my mother influenced me. She would cook by remembering her recipes in poetry and she would teach me history in poetry and verse. Q: You are quoted as saying that your language is understood by the oppressed poor, those who have not had an education at all, what are the themes you draw on? A: I suppose one of the major themes for me is the idea of the black man growing up in Britain and trying to create a new culture along with millions of other people - a new identity. Not that I have an identity crisis, but I want to be part of the change in Britain. At times it is a struggle and I find myself writing about out and out racism and at other times I find myself celebrating, sometimes in the same poem. And so within that there are many themes illustrating relationship between men and women... like racism - we are different but equal. Q: Being realistic in nature how much were you influenced by the romantic poetry of Shelley? A: When I started to read poetry of my own, I got fascinated by Shelley's poems. I think Shelley - I can identify what he was trying to do with the English language. Identify with his understanding that poetry should be critical, that even when poetry was beautiful it is still a comment on different human beings.Even when he wrote about beauty he traced that beauty in the real world and also that the poet should be an activist. And I also completely identify with Shelley's idea about love - free love. People always mistake that for free sex which is not quite true. It wasn't about free sex. My poems are love poems - I love people, I love life, I love animals and I'm a vegan. Q: The 1980's were politically significant years for you with regard to your poetry. Could you comment? A: Well what happened was people in the streets of Britain - a lot of ethnic communities were on the streets demonstrating for their rights - it was our Civil Rights Movement. It was in practical terms. You know there was a group National Front, beating up aged people and black people, so we had to respond to that. We started talking about the housing conditions and connected subjects and so I suppose I was one of the voices that was trying to articulate what was happening at that time. We got our response. From what I gather, what people say, yes. I've been quoted in the House of Parliament - it means that my poetry is being heard. People on an individual basis who say to me you are right, I dare not say it, we've got to do something. My poetry reflected the racism and the state of justice of Black and Asian people, at that time. Q: The sound of your poetry gives you more satisfaction, quite naturally, could you elaborate? A: I do a lot of broadcasting for BBC Radio 4. I've written three plays for Radio Luxembourg and four stage plays. My 30 books include two novels for teenagers and books for children. I've acted quite a bit in soap operas. When I started creating poetry, I knew it wasn't on my top priority that I wanted my poetry in books. For me it was the radio or a performance on Television - I wanted to reach the people who didn't read books. The most important thing I realised that only a minority of people in Britain read books until they left school. I wanted to reach those people. I wanted to read my poetry in their homes. I wasn't sure about writing for children (Talking Turkeys). I knew that if I wanted to write for children I still wanted to make it political without sloganising it. Get the children to speak, be faithful and be funny. A poem like Libraryology is kinda of sexy poem - but it is not. Makes the library really cool. (Have a date in the library) - takes away the boring factor of the place. Teachers love it for that reason. All the issues in the right place in the children's world. In a way I had to think harder. Q: Your Jamaican rap; how different is it? A: I love rap music. But there is a section which is very negative - refers to women as bitches, whores and things. Gangsta rap talks of killing men for whatever reason. I'm very much not into that. There's a group called KRSY who I really admire. They don't do any gansta rap, their rap is intelligent. Then there's X-tra, they too are intelligent people. I love the women rappers they make their own statement they don't tend to join in gangsta rap. I've been a DJ for a short time, what I did more was read my poetry. And I've been doing that ever since I was a teenager. Love is what my rap is about. I want to do what I keep doing now, better. I want to reach to as many people. I realize I can't change the world. But I can influence individuals. I love travelling and I love the challenge of going to places to influence individuals. |
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