Clappers

Clappers Records was an independent New York record label created by Lister Hewan-Lowe to release politically motivated music. Its best-documented project is the 1980 single "How We Gonna Make the Black Nation Rise?" by Brother D with Collective Effort, a recording widely described as the first explicitly political hip-hop song. The label emerged from Hewan-Lowe's experience at Island Records and from his engagement with reggae musicians and artists working across the developing New York hip-hop scene. Hewan-Lowe's ideas about independent music were shaped in part by Gil Scott-Heron's connection with Strata-East Records. He envisioned a company organized around the interests of the musicians rather than conventional shareholder capitalism, expressing the view that the people who made the music should have a central stake in the record company. Before establishing Clappers, he had begun developing Yard Records and Yard Music, projects associated with the early American reggae infrastructure. Those earlier ventures were subsequently given to his friend and former schoolmate Augustus Pablo, after which Hewan-Lowe turned his attention to Clappers. The label's name was intentionally multivalent. In Jamaican Patois, the word could refer to music being copied or stolen, to shooting someone, or to sexual intercourse. The name therefore connected the label to Jamaican linguistic and cultural references while also signaling an oppositional, confrontational identity. Clappers' principal release was developed after Hewan-Lowe sought reggae musicians in New York who were participating in or familiar with rap and who might be willing to make a revolutionary political record. Daryl Aamaa Nubyahn, later known as Brother D, approached Hewan-Lowe at Island Records with lyrics he believed were too political and militant for conventional release. Hewan-Lowe agreed to support the project. When the recording session took place at A&R Studios, Nubyahn arrived with a larger group of performers identified as Collective Effort rather than appearing alone. The resulting track combined a direct political message with an independently produced and distributed format, making the label part of the song's historical significance rather than merely its imprint. The 12-inch single, catalogued as CL-0001, included "Dib-Be-Dib-Be-Dize" and "How We Gonna Make the Black Nation Rise?" The recording used musical material associated with Cheryl Lynn's "Got to Be Real" and featured contributions credited to Daryl Aamaa Nubyahn, S. Lynn, Locksley Grant, Pierre Brook, and Clappers International executive producer Lissa Jonap Hewan-Lowe. The project connected Black political commentary, reggae-related networks, and the emerging language of hip-hop at a formative moment in the genre's history. The single later received attention beyond its original release. A Village Voice review published in 1982 commended the performers for their serious message, intelligence, and rapping ability. Although the available reference material documents only a small number of releases and does not establish a continuing commercial operation, Clappers remains notable as an example of an ideologically driven independent label and for helping bring explicitly political hip-hop into recorded form.

Clappers Records was established in New York by Lister Hewan-Lowe as an independent outlet for politically motivated music. Hewan-Lowe had worked at Island Records and was involved with reggae-oriented musical networks in New York. His thinking about label organization was influenced by the example of Strata-East Records and by Gil Scott-Heron's relationship to that company. Rather than treating a record label solely as a conventional capitalist enterprise, he imagined a structure in which the musicians themselves would be central stakeholders. Hewan-Lowe first worked on Yard Records and Yard Music, ventures described as among the early reggae record companies in the United States. He later transferred those projects to Augustus Pablo, a close friend and former classmate from Kingston, Jamaica. The creation of Clappers represented a new direction: instead of concentrating primarily on reggae, the label sought to support militant political music emerging from the interaction of reggae culture and New York hip-hop. The label's name carried several meanings in Jamaican Patois, including references to copied music, shooting, and sex. That ambiguity suited a label whose identity combined Jamaican cultural vocabulary with an intentionally provocative political outlook. The label's central documented production began when Hewan-Lowe looked for reggae musicians active in the New York rap environment who might participate in a revolutionary hip-hop project. Daryl Aamaa Nubyahn approached him at Island Records and explained that other companies rejected his material because it was too political and militant. Nubyahn had lyrics prepared and proposed a rhythm section connected with Philadelphia, but Hewan-Lowe did not accept that particular proposal. He nevertheless arranged a recording session at A&R Studios. Nubyahn, who performed under the name Brother D, was expected to attend the session alone but arrived with a group he called Collective Effort. The recording became "How We Gonna Make the Black Nation Rise?" The track's message addressed Black political consciousness and challenged the separation between entertainment and social reality. Its musical basis drew on material associated with Cheryl Lynn's "Got to Be Real." The project was significant both because of its subject matter and because it was produced and distributed outside the established major-label system. Clappers released the recording in 1980 as a 12-inch single with the catalog number CL-0001. The listed tracks were "Dib-Be-Dib-Be-Dize" and "How We Gonna Make the Black Nation Rise?" Credits identify Daryl Aamaa Nubyahn and S. Lynn as composers, Locksley Grant and Pierre Brook as producers, and Lissa Jonap Hewan-Lowe as executive producer for Clappers International. The record is frequently treated as the first political hip-hop release, or at least as one of the earliest recordings to make political purpose central to both its lyrics and its production context. The single received retrospective and contemporary critical attention. In 1982, the Village Voice reviewed it favorably, highlighting its seriousness, intelligence, and rapping. The available sources do not document a large subsequent catalogue, a later corporate owner, or the precise date on which the label ceased operations. Clappers is therefore best understood historically as a small but influential independent imprint whose importance rests on its pioneering political hip-hop release and its attempt to link artist control with socially committed music.

• 1982

  Political hip-hop release receives Village Voice review

  [1]How We Gonna Make the Black Nation Rise?en.wikipedia.org

  The Village Voice praises the record's political seriousness, intelligence, and rapping.

• 1980

  Clappers issues its first documented single

  [1]How We Gonna Make the Black Nation Rise?en.wikipedia.org

  The label releases the CL-0001 12-inch single "Dib-Be-Dib-Be-Dize" / "How We Gonna Make the Black Nation Rise?" by Brother D with Collective Effort.

An artist-centered independent label focused on politically engaged music, with roots in New York reggae and early hip-hop networks.

• 12-inch political hip-hop single · 1980

  How We Gonna Make the Black Nation Rise?

  A 1980 recording by Brother D with Collective Effort, released by Clappers as part of a deliberately political and independently produced hip-hop project. The track addresses Black political consciousness and is recognized as one of the earliest explicitly political hip-hop recordings. Its release paired the title song with "Dib-Be-Dib-Be-Dize" on the CL-0001 12-inch single.

• 12-inch single track · 1980

  Dib-Be-Dib-Be-Dize

  The companion track on Clappers' documented CL-0001 release, issued alongside "How We Gonna Make the Black Nation Rise?" The available source identifies it as part of the label's foundational political hip-hop single but provides no separate release history.

• 1980

  Support an explicitly political hip-hop projectStrategy

  Background

  Lister Hewan-Lowe sought musicians willing to make a politically militant record after hearing that Daryl Aamaa Nubyahn's material was considered too political for conventional labels.

  Action taken

  Clappers arranged and released the Brother D with Collective Effort recording through an independent production and distribution process.

  Aftermath

  The resulting single became closely associated with the emergence of political hip-hop and was later praised in a Village Voice review.

  Source

1. 1How We Gonna Make the Black Nation Rise?en.wikipedia.org