Oku Onuora grew up in the slums of Eastern Kingston's Franklin Town and received an informal education from a Rastafarian named Negus.
10 Facts About Oku Onuora
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Oku Onuora began writing poetry in 1971, and became the first inmate to be allowed to perform with a reggae band in 1974 when Cedric Brooks' band The Light of Saba performed in the prison.
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Oku Onuora considered himself a political prisoner, and continued writing, with his poetry finding an audience in the outside world after being smuggled out of prison, coming to the attention of Jamaican writers, especially UWI Professor Mervyn Morris.
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Oku Onuora's profile was further raised when he was allowed out of prison for a poetry reading at the Tom Redcam Library in 1977.
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Oku Onuora toured Europe extensively, forming a friendship with Linton Kwesi Johnson, and released his first album, Pressure Drop, which featured several poems from ECHO, in France on the Blue Moon Music label and in the US on Heartbeat Records in 1986.
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Oku Onuora toured the United States and France with his AK7 band performing at the prestigious Angouleme Jazz Festival in France.
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Oku Onuora concentrated on writing plays and directing drama for the latter half of the 1980s and early 1990s, but subsequently returned to poetry and music and recorded several instrumental dub albums, working with musician Courtney Panton.
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Monty Alexander 8.
Oku Onuora ceased to be involved in music in the 1990s due to what he called "negative elements" taking over.
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In 2010, Oku Onuora announced a new album, entitled A Movement, and his intention to return to live performance.
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The album was released in May 2013, featuring pianist Monty Alexander and Sly and Robbie, and is a tribute to his wife Adugo Ranglin-Oku Onuora, who died in July 2011.