Nobody wants to go to prison. We see and hear enough horror stories from movies, TV series and songs reinforcing the idea that its not exactly like a weekend at your favourite all-inclusive hotel; and as Jah Cure passionately sings: "Prison a nuh bed of roses."

We can't deny the fact that going to prison can give a PR boost to people who lead public lives. Is true man! Many people get famous or increase their popularity after being behind bars. From Don Drummond to Peter Tosh to Martha Stewart, many public figures have prison stories that make their biography more interesting. Minister Pearnel Charles even wrote a book about his brief sojourn behind those prison walls.

I was talking to a Jamaican youth the other day who attends university in foreign. He told me Jah Cure is his hero. Naturally, I asked him why. So he informed me that Jah Cure's story is inspiring, and demonstrates how the arts can transform, elevate and rehabilitate people. As I nodded in appreciation of his point, he spoilt it by declaring with absolute authority, that Jah Cure's the first artiste in Jamaica's history who became popular while in prison. I calmly told him that he's wrong. He got animated as he demanded that I tell him about another artiste with a similar story. So I asked him if he knew about the revolutionary bare-footed Rastafarian who spent time in prison, and is the undisputed pioneer of dub poetry. This man, I told him, actually coined the term "dub poetry". He quickly blurted "Mutabaruka!"

Good thing we weren't on Schools Challenge Quiz; because again, I had to tell him that he's wrong. The saddest part of the whole thing is that this youth claims to also be a dub poet, yet he had never even heard about Oku Onoura! You neither? Bwoy if ignorance could spend some people would buy the world.

For all you who think you know dub poetry, if you've never read or heard one of Oku's poem, that's sad. And worse yet, if you claim to be a Jamaican performance poet and don't know about Oku, Go do some research. Here's a kick start: Oku Nagba Ozala Onoura (formerly Orlando Wong, AKA "Fire") is unquestionably the grand master of dub poets. Oku was dubbing poetry when Mutabaraku was still known as Allan Hope, and he was walking barefooted before Muta!

As I told the young student, Oku and Jah Cure have some similarities and few differences. Interestingly, they both went to prison at age 19. But unlike Jah Cure, Oku openly admitted to and candidly discussed the reason for his conviction. He held up a Post Office to raise funds to start a basic school, and was sent to prison in 1971. Unlike Jah Cure, Oku twice attempted to escape, and have few scars from police bullet wounds to prove it. Yes, and like Jah Cure, Oku's work came to prominence while he was still an inmate.

His book ECHO has been translated into French and Dutch and was published while he was still in prison. In fact, such was the power of his work that he was allowed out of the prison to perform. When I first saw him read publicly in 1977, he was actually accompanied to the event by two prison warders. And he may not be popular now, but Oku's poetry is good! Not like some of the damn rubbish that people nowadays spew and say is dub poetry. I'm a collector of poetry; dub-wise and otherwise and I am willing to go on record and say that Oku's album Pressure Drop is absolutely the best dub poetry recording of all time! Argue with me nuh!

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