ABIODUN OYEWOLE is a poet, teacher, and a founding member of the American music and spoken-word group the Last Poets, which laid the groundwork for the emergence of Hip-Hop. "We were angry and we had something to say", says Oyewole. "We addressed the language. We just put it right in front of your face."

Oyewole was born Charles Davis in Cincinnati, Ohio and grew up in Queens, New York. Listening to his parents’ jazz and gospel records and studying Langston Hughes and other great poets in school helped nurture Oyewole’s love of poetry. His mother taught him to "throw [his] voice" by making him recite the Lord’s Prayer in their basement so that she could hear him in the kitchen.

When he was 15 years old, Charles Davis and a friend went into a Yoruban Temple in Harlem out of curiosity. The Yoruba priest there performed a ceremony with Charles, and gave him the name Abiodun Oyewole. He began reading about the Yoruba gods and the significance of one’s ancestors, and felt a deep spiritual connection to the religion: "I could say a prayer to my ancestors every morning so they could help me through my life. [That] made all the sense in the world to me."

On May 19, 1968, the anniversary of Malcolm X’s birthday. Oyewole, David Nelson and Gylan Kain read poetry in tribute to Malcolm X at a memorial for him, and the group was born. The group’s message, deeply rooted in Black Nationalism, quickly became recognized within the African American community. The Last Poets, along with the artist Gil Scott-Heron, are credited as having had a profound effect on the development of hip-hop music. In 1970, the Last Poets were signed by jazz producer Alan Douglas and released their first album, which includes their classic poem "Niggers are Scared of Revolution." Their spoken word albums preceded politically-laced rhythm and blues projects, such as Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On, and foreshadowed the work of hard-hitting rap groups like Public Enemy and Dead Prez.

After being sentenced to four years in a North Carolina prison for larceny, Oyewole was forced to leave The Last Poets. He served two and half years of his sentence and during that time attended a nearby college where he earned his B.A. degree. He went on to earn his Ph.D. from Columbia University in New York City, where he has served as a faculty member. Oyewole rejoined The Last Poets during its 1990s resurgence.

During the course of his forty year career and his long affiliation with The Last Poets, Oyewole is one of several poets credited for liberating American poetry by creating open, vocal, spontaneous, energetic and uncensored vernacular verse that paved the way for spoken word and Hip Hop. He has dedicated his craft to retro-acting the perils of poverty, racism, and uplifting his people. Yoruba has also had a profound influence on Oyewole’s poetry as well. "It’s given me a foundation to elevate my way of thinking and to connect me with the Motherland, as well as to create images that are wholesome and holistic, as opposed to having to repeat the Tarzan madness that has been given to us."

Over the years, Oyewole has collaborated on more than a dozen albums and several books under the Last Poets banner. In 2014, Oyewole has accomplished a number of "firsts." He published his first poetry collection, BRANCHES OF THE TREE OF LIFE (2Leaf Press, 2014), a comprehensive volume of poems written from 1969-2013, many of them never before published. He released his first studio album of songs, GRATITUDE (Sons Rising Entertainment, 2014), which features Oyewole’s rich melodic baritone voice set to music. A second album of songs, LOVE HAS NO SEASON (2014), centers on the theme of love and relationships, which was co-produced by Derrick Jordan. Future plans include a book of short stories, and being featured in a documentary produced by filmmaker Vagabond and his company, Audio Visual Terrorism, in 2015.

With all the work Oyewole has done, perhaps his greatest legacy is "Sundays @ 110," where every Sunday for the past thirty years Oyewole has opened his home to feed his fellow artists with food for thought, body and soul. During these sessions, Oyewole critiques, shares life experiences and a love of poetry with poets, writers and musicians from around the world.

Oyewole continues to write poetry (almost everyday), and travels around the world performing poetry, teaching workshops, and giving lectures on poetry, history and politics.