Malik Al Nasir is a British author and

performance poet Performance poetry is poetry that is specifically composed for or during a performance before an audience. It covers a variety of styles and genres. History The phenomenon of performance poetry, a kind of poetry specifically made for and offer ...

. He is the leader of the band Malik & the O.G's. Spurred by an interest in the early black footballer Andrew Watson, he began to research his family ancestry, claiming he was related to Watson.

Early life

Al Nasir was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, England in 1966, one of four siblings to a white Welsh mother and a black Guyanese father. Liverpool, a major port city, was poor and racism was rife; the

Toxteth riots The Toxteth riots of July 1981 were a civil disturbance in Toxteth, inner-city Liverpool, which arose in part from long-standing tensions between the local police and the black community. They followed the Brixton riot earlier that year and we ...

shook the city in 1981. His father worked as a merchant seaman and a security guard; his mother worked in a factory. When Mark was nine years old, his father became paralysed from a stroke. When Mark was expelled from school, the local authority took Mark and into care. Many years later, he successfully sued the local authority for abuse he was subjected to while in care, and received a substantial payout and a public apology from the Lord Mayor of Liverpool. He spent ten years in litigation, during which time he pursued educational qualifications in order to better research his own case. He was represented by

Allan Levy Allan Edward Levy was a barrister specialising in family law and an advocate of children's rights. He is best known for his chairmanship of the Pindown Enquiry and, as a result of the public exposure the enquiry brought, he was much in demand as ...

QC, a noted children's advocate who co-chaired the 1990 public inquiry into pin-down, a punitive technique used in children's homes.

Poetry

At 18, he met poet and activist

Gil Scott-Heron Gilbert Scott-Heron (April 1, 1949 – May 27, 2011) was an American Jazz poetry, jazz poet, singer, musician, and author known for his work as a spoken-word performer in the 1970s and 1980s. His collaborative efforts with musician Brian Jackso ...

, an African-American performing artist, who had a profound effect on his life. Scott-Heron was an part of the

Black Arts Movement The Black Arts Movement (BAM) was an African Americans, African-American-led art movement that was active during the 1960s and 1970s. Through activism and art, BAM created new cultural institutions and conveyed a message of black pride. The mov ...

and was best-known for the song "

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" is a satirical poem and Black Liberation song by Gil Scott-Heron. Scott-Heron first recorded it for his 1970 album ''Small Talk at 125th and Lenox'', on which he recited the lyrics, accompanied by congas a ...

". (His father,

Gil Heron Gilbert Saint Elmo Heron (9 April 1922 – 27 November 2008) was a Jamaican professional footballer. He was the first black player to play for Scottish club Celtic and was the father of poet and musician Gil Scott-Heron. Career Born Gilbert He ...

, was, like Andrew Watson, a footballer of Caribbean origin who played in Scotland). Gil Scott-Heron supported Malik over many years, encouraging him to learn to read fluently and to write poetry, and develop his understanding of Black consciousness.

Recordings, publications, and media production

Eventually Watson compiled the writings of his late teens and twenties, both poems and explanatory prose, into a book entitled ''Ordinary Guy''. It was released in 2004 by Fore-Word Press, the publishing house he had founded. The book was written in tribute to Scott-Heron &

The Last Poets The Last Poets is a poetry collective and musical group that arose in the late 1960s as part of the African-American civil rights movement and black nationalism. The name was inspired by revolutionary South African poet Keorapetse Kgositsile who ...

, and includes a foreword by

Jalal Mansur Nuriddin Jalaluddin Mansur Nuriddin (July 24, 1944 – June 4, 2018) was an American poet and musician. He was one of the founding members of The Last Poets, a group of poets and musicians that evolved in the 1960s out of the Harlem Writers Workshop in ...

. In 2006, Al Nasir co-founded Dubai-based

production company A production company, production house or production studio is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television show, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and video ...

MediaCPR and its record label MCPR Music. Conceptually MediaCPR wanted to develop clean content in mainstream music, that could entertain listeners without being offensive or explicit. Malik and his team of music producers pioneered a new genre of music which they called "Drum Fusion". The idea was to unite traditional rhythms with contemporary song arrangements and apply positive lyrical content to produce a new style of music, which could be applied to any genre. The drum fusion formula involves developing a full organic sound composition derived exclusively from the use of drum, percussion, the human voice and natural sounds such as wind, rain, running water etc. The first album released using this formula was ''Drumquestra'' (2009), by Jamaican master percussionist

Larry McDonald (percussionist) Larry McDonald is a Jamaican percussionist. He was born in Port Maria, Jamaica in 1937. McDonald played congas with Carlos Malcolm's band, Toots and the Maytals and the Count Ossie Band. He plays a wide variety of traditional percussion instrum ...

, who wanted to showcase his 50-year recording career. The concept was developed collaboratively between Al Nasir, as executive producer, Larry McDonald, and producer

Sidney Mills Sidney may refer to: People * Sidney (surname), English surname * Sidney (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Sídney (footballer, born 1963) (Sídney José Tobias), Brazilian football forward * Sidney (footballer, born ...

from

Steel Pulse Steel Pulse are a roots reggae band from the Handsworth area of Birmingham, England. They originally formed at Handsworth Wood Boys School, and were composed of David Hinds (lead vocals, guitar), Basil Gabbidon (lead guitar, vocals), and Ro ...

. One of the tracks, ''Set the Children Free'', was recorded for the album by

Toots & the Maytals The Maytals, known from 1972 to 2020 as Toots and the Maytals, are a Jamaican musical group, one of the best known ska and rocksteady vocal groups. The Maytals were formed in the early 1960s and were key figures in popularizing reggae music. ...

. A dance remix by Lenny B demonstrated that the "Drum Fusion" formula could cross genres and be relevant to the young, as well as the old traditionalists. Al Nasir co-wrote two tracks on ''Drumquestra'': "Peace of Mind" (which he co-produced with

featuring Shaza) and and "Crime Or Music" (featuring veteran ska musician

Stranger Cole Stranger Cole, also known as StrangeJah Cole (born Wilburn Theodore Cole, 26 June 1942)Thompson, Dave (2002) ''Reggae & Caribbean Music'', Backbeat Books, , p. 335 is a Jamaican singer whose long recording career dates from the early days of sk ...

and reggae drummer

Sly Dunbar Lowell Fillmore "Sly" Dunbar (born 10 May 1952, Kingston, Jamaica) is a Jamaican drummer, best known as one half of the prolific Jamaican rhythm section and reggae production duo Sly and Robbie. Biography Dunbar began playing at 15 in a ba ...

). Additional percussion on this track was provided by Sticky Thompson of

The Wailers Bob Marley and the Wailers (previously known as the Wailers and prior to that the Wailing Rudeboys, the Wailing Wailers and the Teenagers) were a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae band. The founding members, in 1963, were Bob Marley (Rober ...

and

Bongo Herman Herman Davis (born 16 September 1944), better known as Bongo Herman, is a Jamaican hand-drummer, percussionist and singer who has had a successful career stretching back to the early 1960s. Biography Herman Davis was born on 16 September 1944, ...

. Al Nasir featured in '' Word Up – From Ghetto to Mecca'' (2011), a documentary about

performance poetry Performance poetry is poetry that is specifically composed for or during a Performance art, performance before an audience. It covers a variety of styles and genres. History The phenomenon of performance poetry, a kind of poetry specifically m ...

. It was produced by

UKTV UKTV Media Limited, trading as UKTV, is a British multi-channel broadcaster, which, since 2019, has been wholly owned by BBC Studios (formerly BBC Worldwide), a commercial subsidiary of the BBC. It was formed on 1 November 1992 through a join ...

's commissioning editor Shirani Sabaratnam and included Scott-Heron, The Last Poets and

Benjamin Zephaniah Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal Zephaniah (15 April 1958 – 7 December 2023) was a British writer, dub poet, actor, musician and professor of poetry and creative writing. Over his lifetime, he was awarded 20 honorary doctorates in recognition of his c ...

. Fore-Word Press screened the film at the Phoenix Cinema,

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

, as part of the 2011

Black History Month Black History Month is an annually observed commemorative month originating in the United States, where it is also known as African-American History Month. It began as a way of remembering important people and events in the history of the Af ...

events, sponsored by Leicester City Council. Al Nasir wrote and produced two albums of his poetry and songs, ''Rhythms of the Diaspora'' Vol. 1 & 2, 2015, featuring Scott-Heron, The Last Poets,

LL Cool J James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, alongside fellow new school hip ho ...

Stanley Clarke Stanley Clarke (born June 30, 1951) is an American bassist, composer and founding member of Return to Forever, one of the first jazz fusion bands. Clarke gave the bass guitar a prominence it lacked in jazz-related music. He is the first jazz-fus ...

, Swiss Chris, Rod Youngs, Larry McDonald, and Ms Marie Labropolus. The albums were recorded at

Sarm Studios Sarm Studios is an independent recording studio in London. Originally founded in east London in 1973, the studio's original location was renamed Sarm East Studios in 1982 when Jill Sinclair and Trevor Horn purchased Basing Street Studios from Is ...

in Reading, Mercredi 9 Studios in Paris and

Wyclef Jean Nel Ust Wyclef Jean ( ; born October 17, 1969) is a Haitian rapper, singer, and record producer. Born in Haiti, Jean emigrated to the Northeastern United States, United States as a child. He gained fame as a founding member of the Fugees, a Ne ...

's Platinum Sound Recording Studios in New York. Mixed by Serge Tsai and mastered by

Chris Gehringer Chris Gehringer (born May 27, 1962) is an American mastering engineer at Sterling Sound in New Jersey. Gehringer is known for having mastered recordings by popular artists such as AJR, Dua Lipa, Drake, Ed Sheeran, Gwen Stefani, Harry Styles, ...

Sterling Sound George Marino (April 15, 1947June 4, 2012) was an American mastering engineer known for working on albums by rock bands starting in the late 1960s. Biography Marino was born on April 15, 1947, in the New York City borough The Bronx. He attended ...

New York.

Education

Al Nasir has studied at three universities in Liverpool. In 2010, he graduated with an MA in New Media Production from Liverpool Screen School, a faculty of

Liverpool John Moores University Liverpool John Moores University (abbreviated LJMU) is a public university, public research university in the city of Liverpool, England. The university can trace its origins to the Liverpool Mechanics' School of Arts, established in 1823. This ...

. For his thesis piece he created a web-based multimedia software program for genealogical

family tree A family tree, also called a genealogy or a pedigree chart, is a chart representing family relationships in a conventional tree structure. More detailed family trees, used in medicine and social work, are known as genograms. Representations of ...

building, called Ancestory but has no link to the programme of a similar name which was developed in the USA. In 1996 Al Nasir graduated

Liverpool Hope University Liverpool Hope University (abbreviated LHU) is a public university with campuses in Liverpool, England. ‌The university grew out of three Normal school#United Kingdom, teacher training colleges: Saint Katharine's College (originally Warring ...

with a BA Hon.s, and in 2010 he graduated

The University of Liverpool The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University, it received Royal Charter by King Edward VII in 1903 attaining the dec ...

with a PgDip.

Research

Football

Malik has researched the life of Andrew Watson (24 May 1856 – 8 March 1921) who was the world’s first Black international footballer and one of the architects of the game of soccer as it is known today. Watson came from British Guiana in 1860, and went on to play for the Scottish national team. Al Nasir's father was born Reginald Wilcox July and only later adopted his father's surname of Watson. His marriage certificate shows his mother as Olivia July and his father as George Edward Watson. Al Nasir was consulted on the development of (and featured in) the BBC Scotland documentary entitled "Mark Walters in the Footsteps of Andrew Watson". R Andrew Watson: The 'most influential' black footballer for decades lost to history Andrew Aloia,

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC BBC Television, television, BBC Radio, radio and BBC Online, online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadc ...

, 12 October 2021

Mercantile families

In 2020 Al Nasir matriculated at

St Catharine's College, Cambridge St Catharine's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. Founded in 1473 as Katharine Hall, it adopted its current name in 1860. The college is nicknamed "Catz". The colle ...

, where he began a PhD in history. As at 2024 Al Nasir is a "4th Yr PhD Candidate" at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. His thesis is entitled "Kinship Networks and Mercantile Hegemony in the Latter Days of British Slavery – The Case of Sandbach Tinne". Al Nasir's research into Sandbach, Tinne & Company came to public attention in connection with a BBC article entitled "Searching for my Slave Roots" which went viral and led in 2022 to art works related to the Sandbach family in the

Walker Art Gallery The Walker Art Gallery is an art gallery in Liverpool, which houses one of the largest art collections in England outside London. It is part of the National Museums Liverpool group. History The Walker Art Gallery's collection dates from 1819 ...

, Liverpool, being recontextualised in light of the revelations of the collection's links to slavery. Al Nasir's findings about the kinship links of mercantile families received further attention in 2023 when

Antoinette Sandbach Antoinette Geraldine Mackeson-Sandbach (born 15 February 1969), known as Antoinette Sandbach, is a British barrister, farm manager and politician who was elected as a North Wales region Member of the Welsh Assembly at the May 2011 election, an ...

sparked a controversy regarding a TedX Talk, "Searching for my slave roots", given back in 2021. In an interview on

LBC LBC (originally the London Broadcasting Company) is a British phone-in and talk radio station owned and operated by Global and based in its headquarters in London. It was the UK's first licensed commercial radio station, and began to broadc ...

, Al Nasir stated that Ms Sandbach, a former MP, had complained to the University of Cambridge asking for her name to be removed from the Tedx talk (which the university had embedded in an article about Al Nasir's research). After an investigation, the university rejected her claims on the grounds of academic freedom. Sandbach then made a

GDPR The General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679), abbreviated GDPR, is a European Union regulation on information privacy in the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA). The GDPR is an important component of ...

complaint citing '

Right to be forgotten The right to be forgotten (RTBF) is the right to have private information about a person be removed from Internet searches and other directories in some circumstances. The issue has arisen from desires of individuals to "determine the developmen ...

'. This claim was also rejected and she was instructed that she had misread the legislation. The matter was raised in Parliament as a

point of order In parliamentary procedure, a point of order occurs when someone draws attention to a rules violation in a meeting of a deliberative assembly. Explanation and uses In ''Robert's Rules of Order, Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised'' (RONR), a ...

where the MP

Dawn Butler Dawn Petula Butler (born 3 November 1969) is a British Labour Party politician who is member of parliament (MP) for Brent East. She previously served as MP for Brent Central (2015–2024) and Brent South (2005–2010). Born in London to Jama ...

referred to Al Nasir's mention of the former MP. She asked "Can you please clarify whether it is in order for Members of Parliament to ask for their family history to be forgotten? The family of former MP for Eddisbury Antoinette Sandbach were deeply involved in the slave trade and amassed wealth as a result of this brutality. The former Member has threatened the

with legal action after an historian spoke of her ancestors’ role in the slave trade. While her recent public apology for their role is welcome and necessary, those who sit in this House should not use their position to silence those who shine a light on the horrors of the past." Sandbach's initial complaint was that Al Nasir had said she lived in Wales in the TedX talk when in fact she did not and she demanded correction on the TedX talk. A correction was added at her request by the publisher which cited the Welsh property that she had left in 2015. Al Nasir was not the publisher but merely the subject of the talk. Sandbach then began citing privacy concerns, the former MP complained to the University of Cambridge, which had embedded the talk on its website and her claims were again dismissed on the grounds of academic freedom. She began to state that she had received death threats which some news outlets interpreted as being as a result of Al Nasir's research. This was debunked upon investigation by ''The Voice'', who determined that the threats she referred to had nothing to do with Al Nasir research and were as a result of her stance on Brexit. This was both prior to the TedX talk and prior to Al Nasr's arrival in Cambridge. The Press Association later published a correction and Sandbach was forced to clarify this in a correction to a Guardian article which added a footnote on 6 September 2023. In a BBC Newsnight interview, Al Nasir explained that her ancestral links to

Samuel Sandbach Samuel Sandbach (1769 – 26 April 1851) was successively bailiff, coroner and Mayor of Liverpool, as well as High Sheriff of Denbighshire and a Justice of the Peace for Lancashire. He made his fortune as a merchant in a partnership that traded ...

were a footnote to his research, and that he did not release personal details but simply wanted to demonstrate that the family still enjoyed political influence. In an interview with Tom Swarbrick on LBC radio on 1 September 2023 Al Nasir confirmed the

had been compelled to disclose legal correspondence to him, as Ms Sandbach had threatened legal action against him as well as the university. He did not release the address of Sandbach as such, however her allegation against him included a complaint that he mentioned in his TedxTalk that she "still lived on land passed down from Samuel Sandbach", referring to the family's Hafodunos estate in

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. It borders the Irish Sea to the north, Flintshire to the east, Wrexham to the southeast, Powys to the south, and Gwynedd and Conwy to the west. Rhyl is the largest town, and Ruthi ...

. She claimed this was untrue, because she'd moved from Wales to Cheshire in 2015 (and thus could not have been put at risk in 2022 as she had also claimed). Al Nasir rejected claims made by Sandbach against him regarding her personal safety, as they were unrelated, having occurred before Al Nasir recorded the TedX talk. Public funding has been received from the ESRC to digitise records collected by Al Nasir which are under development and will soon be made available to the public via Cambridge Digital Library. Cambridge University confirmed in 2022 that the records had been digitised but they remain inaccessible to the public. whilst under development. In 2023 a conference at the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

explored the extent of the Sandbach family's involvement in transatlantic slavery and the sources of their wealth and power. The Sandbach Tinne Conference brought together researchers from the UK and the USA to explore the vast wealth accumulated by the Sandbach Tinne dynasty, and how best to bring the related archival collections into the public domain in a way that was accessible through 'The Sandbach Tinne Project'. Attendees were able to use

VR headset A virtual reality headset (or VR headset) is a head-mounted device that uses 3D near-eye displays and positional tracking to provide a virtual reality environment for the user. VR headsets are widely used with VR video games, but they are als ...

s to experience a demonstration, developed by University of Cambridge Library Services and Bristol Digital Futures Institute at University of Bristol, of a virtual museum of Sandbach Tinne artefacts.

Recognition

In 2022 Malik was awarded a Sydney Smith Memorial Prize by

"In recognition of his outstanding achievement and contribution to the artistic and literary life of the College". On 4 May 2023 Malik was presented with the

Vice-Chancellor’s Global Social Impact Award He also won the 2023 Cambridge Student Award with Rhiannon Llystyn Jones from St John’s College Cambridge for their contributions to access and widening participation.

2024

In 2024

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

awarded Al Nasir a Library Fellowship. On 19 June 2024 Al Nasir received the Cambridge Society for the Application of Research (CSAR) Award "In recognition of outstanding research and potential". The ceremony was held at Churchill College Cambridge on the 60th anniversary of the organisation that was founded by Sir

John Cockcroft Sir John Douglas Cockcroft (27 May 1897 – 18 September 1967) was an English nuclear physicist who shared the 1951 Nobel Prize in Physics with Ernest Walton for their splitting of the atomic nucleus, which was instrumental in the developmen ...

(the Nobel Prize winning physicist who first split the atom and who was the first Master of Churchill College Cambridge). In July 2024, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree by

in recognition of his literary work, including his contribution to the study of Liverpool's links with slavery and his memoir, ''Letters to Gil''.

Literary works

* Al Nasir, M. *''Letters to Gil''. A memoir. Foreword by

Lemn Sissay Lemn Sissay FRSL (born 21 May 1967) is a British author and broadcaster. He was the official poet of the 2012 London Olympics, was chancellor of the University of Manchester from 2015 until 2022, and joined the Foundling Museum's board of trus ...

. William Collins. 2021.

Co Authored Works

* Sherae, L., Al Nasir, A. M. (2024). ‘Barriers to Black Academia - Slavery, Colonialism and the Case for Reparative Justice’ Online Symposia Analytical Report for Roundtable, ed. Vaughn, L., Al Nasir, A. M., Loy, R., Fore-Word Press. Black Academia Series, Vol. 1, pp. 1–40. * Vaughn, L., Al Nasir, A. M. (2024) ‘Lifting the Barriers to Black Academia - Creating Sustainable Actions for Reparative Justice in Higher Education Institutes'. Policy Briefing,

Bristol University Press The University of Bristol is a public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Bristol, which had ...

Co Edited Works

* Sherae, L., Jones, R.L. (2024). ‘Lifting the Barriers to Black Academia through Decolonisation and Positive Action’ Policy Roundtable Report, ed. Vaughn, L., Al Nasir, A. M., Loy, R., Fore-Word Press. Black Academia Series, Vol. 2, pp. 1–92.

Media work

Al Nasir wrote ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' obituary for

, entitled "The grandfather of rap".

Event producer and performer

Al Nasir formed a band named Malik & the O.G's, standing for "Ordinary Guys". The band included Malik Al Nasir, Orphy Robinson, Rod Youngs, Mohammed Nazam, Paislie Reid, Shaza Tiago Coimbra and engineer Tom Parker. In 2013, Al Nasir and his publishing house were asked to produce a live show of the world's first rap album '' Hustlers Convention''. The event, at

the Jazz Cafe The Jazz Cafe is a music venue in Camden Town, London. It opened in 1990 on the former premises of a branch of Barclays Bank and has had several owners throughout its history as a music venue. The venue holds 450 people across both floors. ...

in Camden, North London, was filmed for the making of a documentary of the same name. The film was directed by Mike Todd of Riverhorse TV and executive produced by

Public Enemy Public Enemy is an American Hip-hop, hip hop group formed in Roosevelt, New York, in 1985 by Chuck D and Flavor Flav. The group rose to prominence for their political messages including subjects such as Racism in the United States, American r ...

Chuck D Carlton Douglas Ridenhour (born August 1, 1960), known professionally as Chuck D, is an American rapper, best known as the leader and frontman of the hip hop group Public Enemy, which he co-founded in 1985 with Flavor Flav. Chuck D is also a me ...

. The live event was sponsored by

Charly Records Charly Records is a British record label that specialises in reissued material. Among the labels whose original releases are reissued by Charly are Vee-Jay, Sun, Immediate, BYG, Tomato, and Fania. History Charly Records was founded in Fran ...

, who re-issuesd the album to commemorate both 40 years of "The Hustlers Convention" and 40 years of the company. Malik was the associate producer of the film, as well as an interviewee, presenting a segment to camera. Malik & the O.G's (

Cleveland Watkiss Cleveland Watkiss, (born 21 October 1959), is a British vocalist, actor, composer and educator. Biography Cleveland Watkiss was born in Hackney, East London, to Jamaican parents, and was one of nine children. He is the older brother of pianis ...

, Orphy Robinson, Rod Youngs & Hawi Gondwe) supported Jalal and The Jazz Warriors International Collective at the event. The death of his mentor, Gil Scott-Heron, led Al Nasir to perform acts of tribute, such as at

Liverpool International Music Festival Liverpool International Music Festival (LIMF), formerly known as the Liverpool Mathew Street Music Festival, is an event held annually at Sefton Park in Liverpool. It takes place every summer and was Europe's largest free music event, although ...

2013. Two years later, the Festival commissioned him to produce a range of events, including its opening night. On UNESCO

International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition The International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition (French language, French: ''Journée internationale du souvenir de la traite négrière et de son abolition'') is an list of minor secular observances#August, intern ...

he produced "Poets Against Apartheid" at the

International Slavery Museum The International Slavery Museum is a museum located in Liverpool, UK, that focuses on the history and legacy of the transatlantic slave trade. The museum, which forms part of the Merseyside Maritime Museum, consists of three main galleries whic ...

, featuring readings from Tayo Aluko, Jean Binta Breeze MBE, and the Incognito Gospel Choir. A few days later at

St George's Hall, Liverpool St George's Hall is a building on St George's Place, opposite Liverpool Lime Street railway station, Lime Street railway station in Liverpool city centre, the centre of Liverpool, England. Opened in 1854, it is a Neoclassical architecture, Neocla ...

, he produced, in partnership with nightclub entrepreneur and promoter Richard McGinnis, "The Revolution Will Be Live – A Tribute to Gil Scott-Heron". The MC was

BBC Radio Merseyside BBC Radio Merseyside is the BBC's local radio station serving Merseyside, North and West Cheshire and West Lancashire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds, from studios on Hanover Street in Liverpool. According to RAJAR, t ...

presenter Ngunan Adamu, and the show featured Al Nasir's own band, Malik & the O.G's, as well as

Talib Kweli Talib Kweli Greene (; born October 3, 1975) is an American rapper. He first earned recognition through his collaboration with fellow Brooklyn rapper Mos Def (now known as Yasiin Bey) in 1997, when they formed the group Black Star. Kweli's music ...

Aswad Aswad are a British reggae group, noted for adding strong R&B and soul influences to the reggae sound. They have been performing since the mid-1970s, having released a total of 21 albums. Their UK hit singles include the number one "Don't Tu ...

, The Christians,

Craig Charles Craig Joseph Charles (born 11 July 1964) is an English actor, comedian and radio presenter. He is best known for his roles as Dave Lister in the science fiction sitcom ''Red Dwarf'' and Lloyd Mullaney in the soap opera ''Coronation Street'' (2 ...

, DJ 2Kind, Sophia Ben-Yousef, and

. Al Nasir was invited to tour Canada with Last Poets founder member

for

(February 2016). Events a
Harbourfront
in Toronto reached the national press The pair screened two films,''Hustlers Convention'' and ''Word-Up'', and participated in workshops, seminars, school visits and performances in Toronto Ottawa and Mississauga. Al Nasir was invited back in March 2016 further promoting his film Word-Up and performing with his band Malik & the O.G's featuring Ottawa R & B artists Rita Carter. 'The Revolution Will Be Live' agai

the UK in Nov 2017 with Scott-Heron's former musical director Kim Jordan joining Malik & the O.G's and featured Canadian singer Rita Carter.

Radio appearances

* "Outlook"

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is a British Public broadcasting, public service broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception area, language selection and audience reach. It broadcas ...

– "After the death of legendary musician Gil Scott-Heron, we find out how he transformed the life of a young British man." * "Radio

WBAI WBAI (99.5 FM) is a non-commercial, listener-supported radio station licensed to New York, New York. Its programming is a mixture of political news, talk and opinion from a left-leaning, liberal or progressive viewpoint, and eclectic musi ...

New York" – 'Radio interview Malik Al Nasir, Bilal Sunni Ali and Tommy Abney with Umar Ben Hassan of The Last Poets' * "Saturday Live

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

London" – 'Radio interview – Malik Al Nasir,

Al Jarreau Alwin Lopez Jarreau (March 12, 1940 – February 12, 2017) was an American singer and songwriter. His 1981 album '' Breakin' Away'' spent two years on the ''Billboard'' 200 and is considered one of the finest examples of the Los Angeles pop and ...

and Brian Ball with

Clare Balding Clare Victoria Balding (born 29 January 1971) is an English broadcast journalist and author. She currently presents programmes for BBC Sport and Channel 4, and previously for BT Sport. She also formerly presented ''Good Morning Sunday'' on BBC ...

- live from Centre Court at Wimbledon' * "Roger Phillips Show"

Malik talks about his life with Gil Scott-Heron & The Last Poets * "Benji B",

BBC Radio 1Xtra BBC Radio 1Xtra is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts Black music and urban music, including hip hop and R&B and is a sister station to Radio 1. Launching at 18:00 on 16 August 2002, it had been ...

"Gone too soon" with

KRS-One Lawrence "Kris" Parker (born August 20, 1965), better known by his stage names KRS-One (; an abbreviation of "Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everyone") and Teacha, is an American rapper from the Bronx. He rose to prominence as part of the ...

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air (S ...

and

Shabazz Palaces Shabazz Palaces is an American hip hop group from Seattle led by Ishmael Butler a.k.a. Palaceer Lazaro (formerly Butterfly of jazz rap group Digable Planets). Much of Butler's work as Shabazz Palaces has been made in collaboration with multi ...

Filmography

* "Word Up – From Ghetto To Mecca" featuring Gil Scott-Heron, The Last Poets, Malik Al Nasir and

. * "Africa" – Malik & the O.G's featuring Rod Youngs, and

. – Music Video, produced by HQ Creative and directed by Mitchel Stuart for MCPR Music. * "

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

– Toxteth Riots" Malik Al Nasir's social commentary on the

Toxteth Riots The Toxteth riots of July 1981 were a civil disturbance in Toxteth, inner-city Liverpool, which arose in part from long-standing tensions between the local police and the black community. They followed the Brixton riot earlier that year and we ...

of 1981 and 2011. * "Hustlers Convention" – Featuring

Melle Mel Melvin Glover (born May 15, 1961), better known by his stage name Grandmaster Melle Mel or simply Melle Mel (), is an American rapper who was the lead vocalist and songwriter of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Career Glover began per ...

, Alan Douglas,

Ron Saint Germain Ron Saint Germain (alternate spellings Ron St. Germain, Ron Saint-Germaine and similar) is an American record producer, audio engineer, and mixer born in post-war Frankfurt, Germany, into a career Air Force family. Prior to his career in music ...

, Malik Al Nasir,

Fab Five Freddy Fred Brathwaite (born August 31, 1959), more popularly known as Fab 5 Freddy, is an American visual artist, filmmaker, and hip hop pioneer. He is considered one of the architects of the street art movement. Freddy emerged in New York's downtown ...

, Last Poets by Producer and Director

Mike Todd Michael Todd (born Avrom Hirsch Goldbogen; June 22, 1907 – March 22, 1958) was an American theater and film producer, celebrated for his 1956 ''Around the World in 80 Days (1956 film), Around the World in 80 Days'', which won an Academy ...

of Riverhorse TV in Manchester UK. 2014 * "Who Is Gil Scott-Heron?" – Featuring Kimberley Jordan, Glen Turner,

Richard Russell (XL Recordings) Richard Russell (born 18 March 1971) is an English record producer and the owner of British record label XL Recordings. Career XL Recordings was founded in 1989 by Tim Palmer and Nick Halkes to release dance music. Richard Russell joined XL as ...

Jamie Byng James Edmund Byng (born 27 June 1969) is a British publisher. He works for the independent publishing firm Canongate Books, where he is the CEO and publisher. Early life Byng grew up in the village of Abbots Worthy in Hampshire, England. T ...

, Malik Al Nasir. Producer and Director Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard for

Beggars Banquet ''Beggars Banquet'' is the seventh studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 6 December 1968 by Decca Records in the United Kingdom and London Records in the United States. It was the first Rolling Stones album pro ...

UK. 2015

Discography

* ''Drumquestra'' by

2009 for MCPR Music. Tracks "Crime or Music"was written by Malik Al Nasir for

with

Squiddly Cole Squiddly Diddly is an American fictional Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic squid created by Hanna-Barbera for his own cartoon segment on ''The Atom Ant/Secret Squirrel Show'' in 1965. Fictional character biography The round-headed, sailor-hatted ...

, performed by Ska veteran

and

. Also "Peace of Mind" was written by Malik Al Nasir & Bobby Rodell Davis. Malik Al Nasir was also Executive Producer for the whole album, Ft.

Dollarman Dollarman is a Caribbean singer, songwriter, producer and musician born in Grenada. Since moving to Brooklyn, New York, he continues to present hits with a Caribbean influence and reggae. Career In the early 1990s, he recorded his first two trac ...

Mutabaruka Allan Hope CD (born 26 December 1952), better known as Mutabaruka, is a Jamaican Rastafari dub poet, musician, actor, educator, and talk-show host, who developed two of Jamaica's most popular radio programmes, ''The Cutting Edge'' and ''Stepp ...

Bob Andy Keith Anderson CD (28 October 1944 – 27 March 2020), better known by the stage name Bob Andy, was a Jamaican reggae vocalist and songwriter. He was widely regarded as one of reggae's most influential songwriters. Early life Anderson was bor ...

Marivaldo Dos Santos and JD Smooth. * ''Rhythms of the Diaspora Vol 1.'' by Malik & the O.G's – Written and produced by Malik Al Nasir. Ft. Gil Scott-Heron,

, Ms Marie Labropoulos. * ''Rhythms of the Diaspora Vol 2.'' by Malik & the O.G's – Written and produced by Malik Al Nasir. Co produced by Swiss Chris, Ft.

, The Last Poets. * ''Urban Griot'' by Raw UnLtd. Ft. Hard City Klick HCK – Unreleased. Tracks such as Multi-Media were co-written by Malik Al Nasir. Malik was also the executive producer of the album. The producer was Lloyd Masset. The album was recorded at Hookend Recording Studios in Oxfordshire and mixed by Andy Grassi at

s Platinum Sound Recording Studios in NYC.

Collaboration albums

Discography

References

External links

His Cambridge Digital Humanities page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nasir, Malik 1966 births Living people British record producers British spoken word artists Alumni of the University of Liverpool Alumni of Liverpool Hope University Alumni of Liverpool John Moores University Alumni of St Catharine's College, Cambridge Musicians from Liverpool British spoken word poets Poets from Liverpool English male poets Black British musicians British Muslims English people of Guyanese descent English people of Welsh descent Muslim poets

Early life

Poetry

Recordings, publications, and media production

Education

Research

Football

Mercantile families

Recognition

2024

Literary works

Co Authored Works

Co Edited Works

Media work

Event producer and performer

Radio appearances

Filmography

Discography

Collaboration albums

Discography

References

Further reading

External links