Draft:Rauf Adu

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Rauf Adu (1943 - 2022) was a Ghanaian-born poet, musician, playwright, and critic. [1] He was of Asante heritage and was born in the Asante region of Ghana. Adu's work dealt with the African and Afro-Caribbean experience in Britain; it has been cited as part of Pan-African literature and the 1970s and 1980s dub poetry movement.[2] [3] His subversive work engaged and experimented with genre and form.[4] Adu was a politically active artist and resident of Brixton.[5]


Music[edit]

He wrote, produced and released his first solo track, Echoes From Telentia, in 1981 under Arro Muzik Ltd.[6] His second single, Burkino Faso[7] was released on Copasetic Records in 1982. Rauf Adu produced for Arthur Brown, Aliki Ashman, and Dan-I. He released his debut album Human 2 Human in 1985 on Modtone Records. [8] He toured the album with his band, Adu, and was broadcast on ITV's Rock on the Dock and German television. [9] His musical style was described as "a slice of classy reggae based modern soul/pop music which delves into Adu's African, American and Caribbean influences".[10]


Poetry, Plays and Writing[edit]

Rauf Adu's first poetry anthology, The Rise and Rise of General Gun[11] was published by Karnak House in 1981 and has been cited as a part of Pan-African literature. [12] Rauf Adu's poetry is also noted as a part of the rap and dub poetry that represented social and racial tensions of 1970s and 80s Britain; he is cited alongside poets such as Benjamin Zepaniah, John Agard, and Linton Kwesi Johnson[13] His second collection The Nim Tree Chants was published by Ram Books in 1990. [14]

Rauf Adu's first play, Musa, Rhumatu and The Seven-Eyed God premiered and ran at the Keskidee Centre in 1983.[15] It has been cited as a pioneering part of Black and Asian theatre within Britain.[16] His play The Day in the Life of an Onion was based on transcultural adoption and ran at The Southwark Playhouse in 1999. [17]

He was a fixture at the Africa Centre in London. He engaged in cultural events with contemporaries such as Kwesi Owusu and Ngugi Wa' Thiongo. [18] [19] Rauf Adu was also a literary and art critic for The Voice, Root, West Africa Magazine, City Limits and Time Out.[20]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Blues & Soul (1985). United Kingdom: Napfield Limited.
  2. ^ The Journal of Commonwealth Literature. (1984). United Kingdom: Hans Zell Publishers.
  3. ^ Black theatre and performance: a pan-African bibliography. (1990). United Kingdom: Bloomsbury Academic.
  4. ^ Alternative Comedy Now and Then: Critical Perspectives. (2022). Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.
  5. ^ Concord Weekly. (1985). United Kingdom: Concord Press of Nigeria.
  6. ^ https://www.discogs.com/release/7822074-Adu-Echoes-From-Teletania
  7. ^ "ADU - Burkina Faso (Feat Jura Soundsystem mix) Vinyl at Juno Records".
  8. ^ Cross, Di. (1985) ‘Adu’, Record Mirror, 8 June 1985, pp.2-3. Available at: https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Record-Mirror/80s/85/Record-Mirror-1985-06-08.pdf#search=%22rauf%20adu%22 (Accessed: 8 April 2024).
  9. ^ RPL-TV (1985) Adu Rock in the Dock. Available at: https://www.c4327324.myzen.co.uk/adu-rockinthedock.html (Accessed: 8 April 2024).
  10. ^ Chris, W. (1985). ‘Tracking’, Music Week, p.23. Available at: https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/1985/Music-Week-1985-05-04.pdf (Accessed 8 April 2024).
  11. ^ "Rauf Adu's The Rise & Rise of General Gun." In the digital collection Chez Baldwin Writer's House Digital Collection. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/b/baldwin1ic/x-353/jb00795. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed April 08, 2024.
  12. ^ The Companion to African Literatures. United Kingdom: James Currey, 2010.
  13. ^ Killam, Douglas, and Kerfoot, Alicia L.. Student Encyclopedia of African Literature. Ukraine, ABC-CLIO, 2007.
  14. ^ Rauf, A. (1990) The Nim Tree Chants. Mitchum, Surrey: Ram Books (Poetry Series).
  15. ^ Centre for African Literary Studies (1983) BBC African Service: Arts and Africa. Available at: https://disa.ukzn.ac.za/sites/default/files/DC%20Metadata%20Files/Centre%20for%20African%20Literary%20Studies/ALS%204_5_5_1_22/ALS%204_5_5_1_22.pdf (Accessed: 8 April 2024).
  16. ^ Chambers, C. (2020). Black and Asian Theatre In Britain: A History. United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis.
  17. ^ Hatts, J. (1999). ‘Theatre’, in SE1, October, p.2. Available at: https://www.inse1.co.uk/issues/inSE1-16.pdf (Accessed: 8 April 2024).
  18. ^ "About Us".
  19. ^ Owusu, K. (2022). An Astonishing History that reads Like the Bible. [online] kwesinews.com. Available at: https://kwesinews.com/a-phenomenal-book-is-out-cheers-ishmahil/ [Accessed 8 Apr. 2024].
  20. ^ Blues & Soul. (1985). United Kingdom: Napfield Limited.
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