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Kokumo

Life in Dub

Dr Eric Doumerc is studying Black British performance poetry and looks at poets in Birmingham who have Caribbean heritage.ĚýĚý Here he interviews Birmingham-based poet Kokumo.

Eric Doumerc: Kokumo, you’re originally from Jamaica.

Kokumo: I am, I am. Came here a few years ago, nine years ago, checked the scene and met with guys like Moqapi [Selassie], Martin Glynn, and we just started from there. So there was already a scene that existed.

Eric Doumerc: Was it easy to fit into that scene ?

Kokumo: It was, it was, because I was doing, I am doing dub poetry, so it was, in a sense,Ěý organic.

ED: So you would define yourself as a dub poet mainly ?

Kokumo - a cultural activist

K: Yes, a dub poet, and at one stage, I was doing more gigs, I was singing more than I was doing poetry. But I realised that dub poetry gives a more direct message in a sense. People take you more seriously when you’re doing dub poetry, you have something to say. So when you strip it down and take away some of the elements, people tend to pay attention.

ED: And when you were in Jamaica, who were your main mentors or inspirations ? People like Mutabaruka ?

K: There were loads, there were loads. And even before I discovered Muta, I discovered Oku.

ED: Okuonuora (Orlando Wong)…

K: Yes, as a real revolutionary when it comes to dub poetry. And of course the late great Michael Smith. So there was always the influence… It was a combination of the dub poetry and the reggae music.

ED: Out of Oku, Muta and Mikey, which one would you say influenced you the most in your approach to poetry?

K: I think Muta, to be honest with you, I think Muta, because you were hearing more of Muta’s stuff on the radio. In a sense I’m not gonna label Muta as commercial but in that sense we were hearing more of Muta’s stuff. To hear Oku and Mikey Smith you would have had to pick up books, but you could switch on the radio and you could hear Muta. And of course, you know, Muta had a radio programme called “Cutting Edge”, and you could hear his poetry.

ED: I heard that 'Cutting Edge' in Jamaica has become something of an institution, it’s become very popular…

K: It is, it is. It’s more like an intellectual institution in the sense that it educates and it creates an awareness. There will always be that element in Jamaica, but from that level which is Afrocentric, it is, you know, "cutting edge"…

ED: I suppose there was a big controversy when it first came on the air…

K:ĚýYes, there was because in a society where elitism exists to one extreme, you know, anything that challenges that, there’s gonna be a problem. There were controversies, but it’s still carrying on, you know…

ED: It’s a phone-in show: you can phone and give your opinion.

K: Yes, it’s interactive. It’s that kind of openness.

ED: You’ve mentioned informal influences like Muta, 'Cutting Edge', but did you study at the University of the West Indies ?

Dub poet Kokumo

K: No, I didn’t reach… Well I reached Extra-Mural, which is an extension of the University, but I never studied at University. Then I kind of get caught up with some of Marcus Garvey’s teachings. My elder brother used to have books on Marcus Garvey. When you discover this literature, then you get into that mood. I think to me it took a journey and a journey of kind of re-discovery of I-self in the sense that some of the awareness opened up even more so when I came to this country because when you start to see things from a different spectrum, then it makes it more interesting.

ED: Was there a particular reggae artist who had a very big influence on you as a poet?

K: Yes, I think the music of Peter Tosh because being a revolutionary, I saw music as speaking directly to people to open up people’s consciousness, you understand. So to me I just like Peter, who was very outspoken.

ED: Talking about your growing-up process in Jamaica, when you were at school, in primary school, or secondary school, what kind of poetry did you study?

K: Louise Bennett! I mean I didn’t have to study it: it was just there, you understand ! You just recited Louise Bennett’s poetry. There was a programme on TV, every Saturday. Louise Bennett was always a part of that process, you know. Later on, I came across Langston Hughes… I didn’t come across Langston Hughes until very late.

ED:So you were aware of a poetic tradition?

K: Yes, yes. And the storytelling tradition was always there, so it wasn’t too far from the poetry .

ED: What about Ranny Williams?

K: Ranny William ? That was mainly stage. They used to do radio plays and pantomime. So he was very big on the pantomime scene. They used to work together.

ED: Why did you come to England?

K: It was mainly to further my education, because education is a journey and I don’t see education as purely academic. And also for employmentĚý because we always lived with the notion that the streets of England are paved with gold!

ED: Well, was it what you expected?

K: No, I never had that expectation! You come and see for yourself, you know, and reality hits you. There’s no such thing!

ED: Are there more opportunities for you as a performance poet over here than in Jamaica?

K: Yes, and no! Why I say no, is that I went to Jamaica and what I discovered there is that if I was in Jamaica I would be probably I-ver more popular as a dub poet than I am here and I think it’s because of the direct connection with America and elsewhere.
The thing with here is, if you’re gonna look at how events are programmed here, they are very much based on fundingĚý and stuff like that and it might seem as if there are more opportunities, but in Jamaica on the other hand there’s always the aspect of creating these opportunities. There is now an international festival called 'Calabash' in May and that opened up different perspectives.

ED: Talking about your work now more specifically. Last September, on September 29th,Ěý there was an event at The Drum as a tribute to Louise Bennett that you hosted or compered...

K: Yes, in fact, I coordinated the whole tribute…I was Resident Poet at The Drum for two and a half years, so when Miss Lou passed on, they approached me and said, you know, would I like to do something. You know, I think I would have felt guilty if I hadn’t done anything. So it was like a call of duty to do it.

ED: On that day, you were introducing the main performers and between the performances, you did something which to me is very reminiscent of what Mutabaruka does. Muta is famous for his ability to relate to the audience and for his between poems patter…

K: It’s part of the tradition, the oral tradition, the storytelling tradition, yes, it calls for interaction. As a performer, that’s what you have to be able to do, because if you’re not reaching the audience, then basically what you’re doing is… So you’ve got to be able to reach the audience. So there’s a little bit of humour, and then there’s the seriousness, because if you give the dose too strong, they’re not gonna be able to take it. It’s gotta be little.

ED: A lot of your poems are protest poems. Do you consider yourself as a political poet?

K: I think I’m more of a cultural activist and my poetry looks at political issues that affect people’s lives.

ED: How would define your role as a dub poet or as a poet?

Kokumo

K: I think my role as a dub poet/poet is to continue to raise awareness, and heighten people’s consciousness through word sound and power.

ED: Do you write more about Jamaica or about England?

K: I think it’s global. There areĚý five or six pieces that I wrote that are definitely about Jamaica. One of the first pieces I wrote about Jamaica was a poem called "Nuh Weh Nuh Betta dan Yard". And that was about the whole conception of what England was supposed to be, and when I came to see how it is, you think "no way no better than yard!"

ED: Was Admiral Bailey’s song of the same name an inspiration?

K: ThatĚý was also an inspiration, but it was an experience as well, as to what I saw.

ED: This poem is obviously about the disappointment felt by many Jamaican people when they first came to England? Don’t you think that the situation has somewhat improved for the Jamaican/West Indian community in England, at least economically? Or is it as bad as in the 1950s or 1970s?

K: I personally don’t think things have gotten better for us; I think we’ve just found a better way of coping with the conditions.

ED: The poem entitled "A One Jamaikan Dis" is a very strong piece about tackling the negative stereotypes Jamaicans are burdened with (violence, drugs). How did you come to write this poem? Was it out of personal experience?

K: Yes, it was part personal and the rest is down to my observations of how we are portrayed in the media as Jamaicans.

ED: "Another One OD’ed Again" is about the drugs problem in the black community. Or could it be about other communities? What moved you to write this poem?

K: This is a general problem that affects all communities not just blacks, however this piece focuses on the black communities.

ED: "Mista Government Man" is a strong protest piece. What’s or who’s the main target in this piece?

K: This piece is directed to any system that is set up to exploit and oppress people in general, and yes it’s my personal views on government systems.

ED: What about the name 'Kokumo'?

K: It’s Yoruba and it means 'this one will not die'. The whole thing about that is that after I and I pass on to the ancestors, you live on and the name 'Kokumo' does not mean that Kokumo will not die, but that the work of Kokumo will live on forever.

ED: Thank you, Kokumo!

K: Thank you!