The untold story of the forgotten grandfather of rap
- Text by Alex Robert Ross
There’s been a steady stream of feel-good docudramas about music’s forgotten heroes in the last few years. Searching for Sugarman – though occasionally sparing with the truth – was a story so good that it almost told itself. Then, soon after, there was A Band Called Death, an even less likely story with even better tunes.
Jalal Mansur Nuriddin’s story is different, though. Rodriguez found fame on other continents and Death were criminally consigned to dusty attics, but Nuriddin’s influence is still being felt today. He is the grandfather of rap.
It was Nuriddin’s 1973 record Hustler’s Convention that acted as a blueprint for the genre’s formation over the coming decades, known off by heart by everyone from Chuck D to Grandmaster Flash. It was the album that sold a million through word of mouth alone. As such, Nuriddin – a member of The Last Poets, who used the pseudonym Lightnin’ Rod for his solo work – hasn’t received the plaudits that his followers did.
British filmmaker Mike Todd has brought that story to life in his new documentary on the great man. With Nuriddin’s endless poetry keeping the film’s syncopated rhythm, Todd explores the impact the album had on rap’s genesis, interviewing those closest to the record and analysing the reasons for its designation as a ‘cult’ record rather than the innovative masterwork that it is.
Hustler’s Convention is out in the UK June 26. Keep your eyes open for Huck 51 – The Adventure Issue, featuring an extended interview with Jalal Mansur Nuriddin.
Latest on Huck
Clubbing is good for your health, according to neuroscientists
We Become One — A new documentary explores the positive effects that dance music and shared musical experiences can have on the human brain.
Written by: Zahra Onsori
In England’s rural north, skateboarding is femme
Zine scene — A new project from visual artist Juliet Klottrup, ‘Skate Like a Lass’, spotlights the FLINTA+ collectives who are redefining what it means to be a skater.
Written by: Zahra Onsori
Donald Trump says that “everything is computer” – does he have a point?
Huck’s March dispatch — As AI creeps increasingly into our daily lives and our attention spans are lost to social media content, newsletter columnist Emma Garland unpicks the US President’s eyebrow-raising turn of phrase at a White House car show.
Written by: Emma Garland
How the ’70s radicalised the landscape of photography
The ’70s Lens — Half a century ago, visionary photographers including Nan Goldin, Joel Meyerowitz and Larry Sultan pushed the envelope of what was possible in image-making, blurring the boundaries between high and low art. A new exhibition revisits the era.
Written by: Miss Rosen
The inner-city riding club serving Newcastle’s youth
Stepney Western — Harry Lawson’s new experimental documentary sets up a Western film in the English North East, by focusing on a stables that also functions as a charity for disadvantaged young people.
Written by: Isaac Muk
The British intimacy of ‘the afters’
Not Going Home — In 1998, photographer Mischa Haller travelled to nightclubs just as their doors were shutting and dancers streamed out onto the streets, capturing the country’s partying youth in the early morning haze.
Written by: Ella Glossop