As one of the founding members of the legendary Harlem group The Last Poets, Abiodun Oyewole has dedicated almost 60 years to using his poetry to articulate, glorify and protest the impurities of the black experience worldwide, and in America particularly. He has become a fixture in the landscape of black consciousness, using uncompromising verse to scold a nation whose inclination to maintain the colonial yoke around the neck of the disenfranchised has always been at issue. For that, he has been honored and appreciated by millions.
Since Abiodun's first recording with the Last Poets, his work has had a profound influence across the hip-hop landscape, having been sampled by the likes of the Notorious BIG, NWA, A Tribe Called Quest and countless others. Phrases he coined like "Party and Bullshit" have become a mainstay in the Hip Hop lexicon. Today he continues to spread his message, as a performer touring the world with the Last Poets, as an educator teaching kids arts education in NYC public schools, and as an artist collaborating with notable rappers such as Nas, Common, and Dead Prez on award-winning album projects.
Abiodun has also made an unwavering commitment to the next generation of conscious young minds. A labor of love for over 40 years, ‘Brother Dune’ has opened his home every Sunday to poets, rappers, singers, philosophers, teachers, students, fans and everyday people who have an appreciation for the arts and yearn to be around love and black consciousness. The initial purpose of 'Open House Sundays at 110' was to give aspiring poets a platform to share their work and receive feedback from a giant in the arts. Over the years, Open House Sundays at 110 has grown into so much more, becoming a cultural institution in the Harlem community, with food, political conversation, music, and a fellowship that has touched thousands of people over the years. Prominent artists who have walked through those famed doors at 110 Morningside Drive span from Melle Mel to Doug E. Fresh to Erykah Badu. Moreover, notable institutions such as Def Poetry Jam and celebrated poets such as Jessica Care Moore were born out of Open House Sundays at 110. Undeterred by the pandemic, Open House Sundays has now moved to a virtual space, as Abiodun continues to mentor the next generation of brilliant young artists.
Since Abiodun's first recording with the Last Poets, his work has had a profound influence across the hip-hop landscape, having been sampled by the likes of the Notorious BIG, NWA, A Tribe Called Quest and countless others. Phrases he coined like "Party and Bullshit" have become a mainstay in the Hip Hop lexicon. Today he continues to spread his message, as a performer touring the world with the Last Poets, as an educator teaching kids arts education in NYC public schools, and as an artist collaborating with notable rappers such as Nas, Common, and Dead Prez on award-winning album projects.
Abiodun has also made an unwavering commitment to the next generation of conscious young minds. A labor of love for over 40 years, ‘Brother Dune’ has opened his home every Sunday to poets, rappers, singers, philosophers, teachers, students, fans and everyday people who have an appreciation for the arts and yearn to be around love and black consciousness. The initial purpose of 'Open House Sundays at 110' was to give aspiring poets a platform to share their work and receive feedback from a giant in the arts. Over the years, Open House Sundays at 110 has grown into so much more, becoming a cultural institution in the Harlem community, with food, political conversation, music, and a fellowship that has touched thousands of people over the years. Prominent artists who have walked through those famed doors at 110 Morningside Drive span from Melle Mel to Doug E. Fresh to Erykah Badu. Moreover, notable institutions such as Def Poetry Jam and celebrated poets such as Jessica Care Moore were born out of Open House Sundays at 110. Undeterred by the pandemic, Open House Sundays has now moved to a virtual space, as Abiodun continues to mentor the next generation of brilliant young artists.