Mutabaruka
Artist. Reggae, roots
- Active
- 1973-present
- Sunrise
- December 26, 1952, Rae Town, Kingston, Jamaica
- Also known as
- Allan Hope
Mutabaruka is a dub poet, recording artist and broadcaster who, in the Rough Guide's judgment, redeemed the form by making records that were "both intelligent and impassioned" and set to "extremely strong rhythms."
Born Allan Hope in Rae Town, Kingston, he trained in electronics at Kingston Technical High School and worked for the telephone company until 1971, by which time he had turned from the Catholicism he was raised in to Rastafari. His first collection of poems, Outcry, appeared under the name Mutabaruka in 1973. From 1977 he performed with his band, Truth, and his 1978 single "Outcry," with Cedric Brooks and the Light of Saba behind him, was a hit in Jamaica, as was "Every Time a Ear Di Sound," made with Earl "Chinna" Smith; Ras Michael and the Sons of Negus also recorded "Outcry." His performance at Reggae Sunsplash in 1981 made him known abroad.
Check It!, issued on Chinna Smith's High Times label and then in the United States by Alligator, is the one dub poetry album the Rough Guide recommends without reservation; later albums include The Mystery Unfolds (1986) and Melanin Man (1994). In the 1990s he reached even dancehall audiences with "Psalm 24," recorded with Luciano, and "The People's Court," a witty updating of Prince Buster's "Judge Dread." From the mid-1990s he hosted The Cutting Edge, a late-night talk program on Irie FM. Bradley counts him among the poets inspired by Linton Kwesi Johnson. Steve Topple calls him "perhaps the most formidable force in Dub Poetry"; he describes himself and others like him as "verbal swordsmen."
Last updated November 5, 2026
Connections
- Cedric Brooks (backing group)
- Earl "Chinna" Smith (producer)
- Luciano (collaborator)
Notes
- Steve Barrow and Peter Dalton, The Rough Guide to Reggae, 3rd ed. (London: Rough Guides, 2004), 210.
- "Mutabaruka," Wikipedia, accessed October 21, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutabaruka, citing Dave Thompson, Reggae & Caribbean Music (2002), and the Encyclopedia of Latin American and Caribbean Literature (2004).
- "Mutabaruka." Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 173.
- "Mutabaruka."
- Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 210. On Alligator and the later albums: "Mutabaruka," whose text and discography disagree on the date of Check It! (1982 or 1983).
- Barrow and Dalton, Rough Guide to Reggae, 210.
- "Mutabaruka."
- Lloyd Bradley, This Is Reggae Music: The Story of Jamaica's Music (New York: Grove Press, 2001), 437.
- Steve Topple, "Black Attack! The Mutabaruka Interview," Reggaeville, October 10, 2023, https://www.reggaeville.com/artist-details/mutabaruka/news/view/black-attack-the-mutabaruka-interview/.
