:: Welcome to African Echo - The Voice of Africa ::

HE goes by the Nigerian Yoruba name ‘Kokumo’ which simply means, in one word, ‘Immortal’, but the phrase translation is ‘this child will not die’. Stretching his links further in West Africa, Jamaican born Kokumo is rather referred to as a ‘Dub-Griot’.

A griot is a storyteller and singer in West Africa who perpetuates the oral tradition and history of the land and the people. The griots usually sing of legends, histories, genealogies, or heroic deeds. Kokumo has being described as not just an artist but also a cultural anthropologist and dub-griot.

Kokumo uses his skills as a Singer/songwriter and a Dub-Poet to capture his audience, whilst taking them on a cultural, spiritual and political journey. In 2006 he received a Research and Development grant from Arts Council England to attend the Calabash International Literature Festival in Jamaica, as a performer and to further observe the organizational aspect of the festival. Between 2004 and 2006 Kokumo was appointed Poet/Writer in Residence at The Drum Arts Centre, Birmingham.

During that period he developed a high profile literature event, “Griotology” which featured the likes of Linton Kweisi Johnson, Benjamin Zephaniah and Jean ‘Binta’ Breeze, aided by A Grant For The Arts (ACE). He was also an active participant in Creative Circles, where he acted as mentor to young upcoming artists in the field of performance poetry, drama and lyrics writing. Kokumo’s multidisciplinary skills as a performer have landed him roles in plays at the Royal Shakespeare Company and The Birmingham Rep. Theatre.

He also appeared at The Tate Britain, London, The Poetry Café, London, BBC Radio 4, B-Spoken Word, BBC WM, Robert Beckford Show and the colourful face introducing Benjamin Zephaniah at The Drum, in his T.V. documentary, “This OBE Is ot For Me” In 2007 Kokumo was commissioned to write and perform a piece of poetry for BBC WM to mark the 200th Anniversary of the abolition of the Slave Trade in The British Parliament. He was also asked to commission and stage an event for Oxfam International, Birmingham, which was dubbed “Poetry Dubbin’ Poverty”. Other commissions includes Arts Council England Diversity Seminar held in Darby (2005). Kokumo’s written works have being published in numerous magazines and online journals.

His most recent appeared in dialogue – a magazine for cultural literacy, No. 2/Vol. 3 , (http://www.lulu.com/roikw abena), edited by the late Dr. Roi Kwabena. In 2007 Kokumo released his debut album, ‘Writing’s On The Wall’, he also teamed up with international dub poet Yasus Afari to record a single entitled, ‘Set It Off’. Kokumo’s work is being currently studied by Dr. Eric Doumerc a French academic who is conducting an ongoing research on Black British Performance Poets with Caribbean heritage. This has resulted in two full length interviews, “Life In Dub’ and “Dub Poetry Explosion” for BBC Birmingham, with an anthology to follow. When one considers the magnitude of this achievement then you get the idea of how powerful and engaging Kokumo is. One can receive no higher accolade than to be esteemed by your peers academic and otherwise. Visit: www.myspace.com/kokumo

Please email your comments to
editor@africanecho.co.uk