‘Grandfather of rap’ Jalal Mansur Nuriddin

Jalal Mansur Nuriddin, who became known as the “grandfather of rap” for his rhythmic, spoken-word verses with the Last Poets, a group that channeled the militant social criticism of the Black Power movement into music that paved the way for hip-hop, died June 4 at a hospital in Atlanta. He was 73.

The cause was lung cancer, said Umar Bin Hassan, a fellow member of the Last Poets.

“History is distorted ’cause it ain’t all there,” Nuriddin once declared in song, “so let’s examine the truth so we can — clear the air.”

In the annals of hip-hop, Nuriddin was long overshadowed by pioneers including Melle Mel, Grandmaster Flash and DJ Kool Herc, who helped popularize a musical style that set boasts and stories to percussion-heavy beats.

Yet in his work with the Last Poets and in solo records such as “Hustlers Convention” (1973), Nuriddin established himself as one of the finest rhyme-makers of his generation, a socially conscious trailblazer whose music demonstrated a new means of black cultural expression.

“If rap could be traced to one logical source point, this exceptional piece of vinyl would be it, without question,” critic John Duffy wrote in All Music, reviewing the Last Poets’ 1970 self-titled debut. The record featured Nuriddin alongside poets Bin Hassan and Abiodun Oyewole, whose words were backed by little more than the conga beats of the percussionist Nilaja.

For many listeners, the album captured life on the streets, where Nuriddin and his fellow Harlem-based poets spouted verse about white hypocrisy, black empowerment and the perils of drug use.

“Our mission was to try and clean up our own neighborhoods,” Oyewole said in a phone interview. “We were doing everything in our power to destroy that negative energy that stopped us from coming together in the black community.” The group appropriated a racial epithet, used in many of their songs and song titles, to refer to African Americans they viewed as politically apathetic.

Their incendiary rhetoric resulted in stickers labeling their first album as “Recommended for Mature Adults Only” and limited its play on the radio. Yet it sold more than 300,000 copies, peaking at No. 29 on the Billboard music chart, and led to a booking at the Apollo Theater alongside R&B singer Jerry Butler and the O’Jays.