Approaching 15 years together with the understanding that culture is power, the Welfare Poets continue to reach thousands upon thousands of fans throughout the world. With the 2000 release of their debut album, Project Blues," and the 2005 release of "Rhymes For Treason," the Welfare Poets are working hard to have their music reach as many audiences as possible.

Project Blues - the Album, was released in June of 2000. It contains 15 powerful tracks, each uniquely painting pictures connecting local struggles and hardships to a global movement towards the liberation of all humanity. The album was produced entirely by the Welfare Poets for everyone fighting for change. Project Blues is a mixture of blues, jazz, funk and Caribbean percussions with touches of Hip Hop, in a old school sense of rhyming.  It was influenced by both Hip Hop emcees and pre-Hip Hop pioneers like the Last Poets and the late, great, Pedro Pietri.

Project Blues features Ray Ramirez, Hector Rivera and Dahu Ala on vocals, along with Djibril Toure on bass and Mike Angel on guitar.

Since Project Blues, the Welfare Poets membership and sound has grown giving more diversity to the type of music they could play and the variety of venues they could be featured at.   From Hip Hop to Jazz, to the many Afro-Caribbean musical forms, the new album, Rhymes for Treason, will definitively offer something for all music lovers and all who want to uplift the oppressed and yearn revolution.

Rhymes For Treason features Ray Ramirez (vocals), Hector Rivera (vocals),Djibril Toure (bass and vocals), Jamaki Knight (trap-drums and vocals), Angel Rodriguez (percussion and vocals), Emi Augustin (trumpet, keyboard and vocals), Kwami Coleman (keyboard), Fidel Paulino (guitar), Daju Ala (vocals and trumpet), Jorge Vasquez (percussion), Camilo Molina (percussion) and Elliot Cabrera (saxaphone).

PEFORMANCE RATE  

JUST THE EMCEES: A lyrical event without the band, but with instrumentals from their albums with ryhmers.

SMALL ENSEMBLE: An intimate performance featuring the core Poets and a smaller portion of the band.

FULL ENSEMBLE: Invite the Welfare Poets for a night of music, drumming, dancing, improvisation and poetry.

Cruel and Unusual Punishment was released in February of 2007. It was influenced by the need to dismantle the inhumane death penalty system. The death penalty is both racist and classist in its intention and application. The album was inspired by Hasan Shakur, who was unjustly executed by the state of Texas on August 31st, 2006. For more information about the alum, on to www.myspace.com/deathpenaltycd

Multi-Media:

Audio:

Rhymes for Treason:

Tracks:
1. Inspiration 
2. Subliminal  - READ THE LYRICS
3. RhymesforReason
4. ForTheseTimes.mp3
5. DroptheBomb
6. BombaSinPlena
7. SakPase
8. Resistance
9. Freedom
10. AradelCielo
11. TheLight - READ THE LYRICS
12. SeAcabo
13. TheMedia -  READ THE LYRICS
14. NoWar

Read Some of Our Other Lyrics:

Project Blues  - READ THE LYRICS
The Bullet  - READ THE LYRICS
Just Die  - READ THE LYRICS