Sonny "Abubadika" Carson and the Hip-Hop generation
By Mal'akiy 17 Allah
Monday marks the 95 bornday anniversary of Brooklyn street warrior Sonny "Abubadika" Carson, and although he transitioned to the ancestral realm on Dec. 20, 2002, his influence continues through the youths of the Hip-Hop generation. His behind the scenes relationships influenced many positive messages which fortified several artists' raps.
While in Brooklyn's Bedford Stuyvesant during the late 1960s/early 1970s he was an aficionado of that era's revolutionary rhythms by Hip-Hop progenitors Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones), Nina Simone,, The Last Poets, Watts Prophets, and Gil Scott Heron; among others.
"That was his soundtrack," notes Paradise Gray, The Architect of X Clan. "He loved all of the foundational artists who laid down our culture for us."
His son, Lumumba Carson, aka Professor X was a member of the revolutionary rap group X Clan whose progressive lyrics & themes was one of Hip-Hop's prominent movements during its Golden Era. They released recordings with similar ideologies, namely Grand Verbalizer, Heed The Words Of The Brother, Close The Crack House, F.T.P., & Exodus. They also titled a track 'The Day of Outrage', after the Sonny Carson-led protest against the city's racial violence, which occurred in late August 1989 following Yusuf Hawkins' murder. The Black Watch Movement included artists Brother ,Isis, Queen Mother Rage, and others.
"We didn’t see ourselves as Hip-Hop yet," Paradise explains. "We were a continuation of the Black Power and Civil Rights movements."
Gray then details the Meeting Of The Minds forums during the mid-1980s at the legendary Hip-Hop venue, The Latin Quarters, in midtown Manhattan where Sonny built alliances with artists like KRS, Just Ice, Stesasonic Tribe Called Quest, Das Efx, Edwin Birdsong, TaharQa & Tunde-Ra Aleem, Native Tongues, Public Enemy, King Sun, Zulu Nation, and more.
"Abubadika served as Godfather to Bed-Stuy native Biggie Smalls, as well as to Tupac Shakur, whom he became acquainted with through his mother, Afeni," reflected his comrade Ali Lamont Jr.
Sonny also had a close alliance with Wu-Tang's patriarch Popa Wu, aka Freedum Allah, which spanned decades. Popa Wu had a music studio at Bed-Stuy’s Restoration Plaza in the same complex as Sonny’s office, and frequently brought Wu members thru to meet him. His 1974 film The Education of Sonny Carson was prominently sampled on Wu-Tang's Ghostface Killah's 1996 debut album Iron Man.
"Lauryn met Sonny when she was young and his film inspired the title of her solo album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill," suggested Ali Lamont Jr.
Paradise concludes: "Sonny had great relations with all the conscious artists. He was jazz in the hood. He gave resect and commanded it as well."
