Chicago’s own Oscar Brown Jr. has composed over a thousand songs and poems and has written more than a half dozen full length theater pieces. He has distinguished himself as a world class singer and performer, recording albums on Columbia, Fontana and a host of other labels. He has shared stages and worked with fellow legends Miles Davis, Muhammad Ali, Aretha Franklin, Nancy Wilson, Max Roach and Dizzy Gillespie and earned his title as the “High Priest of Hip”.

Oyster Knife Publishing is honored to publish Oscar Brown Jr’s first ever collection of poetry and prose entitled What it Is: Poems and Opinions of Oscar Brown Jr. Included are such classic lyrics as Dat Dere, Signifying Monkey, Afro Blue and All Blues along with never before seen work.

Peter Keepnews of the New York Times says of Oscar:

As a performer, he acted his songs more than he sang them; as a songwriter, he drew as much from gospel, the blues and folk music as he did from jazz. He preferred to call himself an entertainer, although that broad term did not go far enough: he saw his art as a way to celebrate African-American life and attack racism, and it was not always easy to tell where the entertainer ended and the activist began…

adebamgbe kmt

What It Is: poems and opinions of Oscar Brown, Jr.