UCLA Live presents the progenitors of hip-hop, the legendary Watts Prophets, in a performance with special guests and the UCLA-commissioned Los Angeles Hip-Hop Poetry Choir, composed of young people exploring hip-hop and the written word as a means of personal expression. This event takes place at 8 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 5, at UCLA's Royce Hall.

The Watts Prophets are Richard Dedeaux, Otis O'Solomon and Amde A. Hamilton.

Formed in response to the 1965 Watts rebellion and the social tumult of that era, the Prophets helped forge a new art form, fusing spoken word, percussive rhythms and improvisational jazz to create a true poetry in motion. These inner-city mystics haunted the streets, jazz clubs and community centers of Los Angeles, spreading the gospel of black pride and black power.

Once deemed radical enough to warrant FBI scrutiny, their powerful message of hope and emancipation continues to influence contemporary culture. Their inspiring CD, "When the 90's Came," was released in 1996, and their work has been sampled by rap artists such as Digable Planets, Coolio and Ice Cube.

Commissioned by UCLA, and sponsored, in part, by the Henry Mancini Endowment under the artistic direction of the Watts Prophets Community Education Association, the Los Angeles Hip-Hop Poetry Choir was created by the Prophets as a means of sharing with young people the beauty and power of poetry and the spoken word as a means of personal expression and transcendence. The Prophets fulfill this mission by recruiting, coaching and mentoring young people, providing them with access to ongoing poetry/dance/drum/choir workshops, and inspiration and discipline through direct and indirect experience with professional artists.

Prior to 1965 few white Americans outside of Los Angeles were aware of the community of Watts — an enclave of working-class African Americans just south of the skyscrapers of downtown. Forty square blocks of shops, churches, parks and families with a unique cultural and economic base were slowly deteriorating under the outside pressures of "urban renewal," "progress" and the overall population growth of the greater Los Angeles area. In the 1950s Watts supported an astonishing array of creative endeavors. The small clubs and theaters along Central Avenue in the community of Watts helped spawn the artistic legacy of seminal artists, including Ornette Coleman, Charlie Mingus and Don Cherry.

The relative anonymity of Watts was forever lost in 1965 after the explosive confrontation between the community and the Los Angeles police force. Walter Cronkite and a vast segment of America called the conflict "the Watts riots." For the community, it was more a rebellion — the inevitable confrontation with what was experienced as an occupying army. However one sees it now, the event brought the community of Watts to the consciousness of all America.

Out of the smoke and ashes, the process of rebuilding included the efforts of author Budd Schulberg (Academy Award–winning screenwriter of "On the Waterfront"), who created in his Watts Writers Workshop an opportunity for local citizens to express themselves and their culture by encouraging art and literacy.

Dedeaux, Hamilton and O'Solomon, who have lived, worked and created in Watts for more than 30 years, joined forces in 1967 as students of the Workshop. The group was named after winning their first amateur talent contest when an audience member, dazzled by the unique recitation/chanting/singing of their jazz-accompanied poetry, shouted, "They must be the Watts Prophets!"

The earliest work by the young poets (as documented in their earliest recordings) was an expression of their rage against powerlessness. Racism, poverty and violence were their everyday reality and provided the thematic foundation for what becomes a very unique style — what many today acknowledge as the roots of rap.

Tickets to the Watts Prophets with special guests are available for $30, $25, $20 and $12 (for full-time UCLA students with ID) at the UCLA Central Ticket Office at the southwest corner of the James West Alumni Center, online at http://www.performingarts.ucla.edu/ and at all Ticketmaster outlets. For more information or to charge by phone, call (310) 825-2101.

An internationally acclaimed producer and presenter of music, dance and theater, UCLA Performing Arts' dynamic program UCLA Live brings hundreds of outstanding and provocative artists to Los Angeles each year. Committed to supporting the development of new work, UCLA Performing Arts has commissioned pieces by major artists including Pina Bausch, the Kronos Quartet, Bill T. Jones, Philip Glass and Robert Wilson. Lectures, residencies and extensive outreach programs expand the impact of its unparalleled performances that include a lively mix of distinguished masters and innovators from around the world.

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