CITY ARTS : Their Rap Is Original

Long before there was Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Run D.M.C. or even Grandmaster Flash, there were the Watts Prophets.

The trio, an outgrowth of the Watts Writers Workshops formed in 1970 in the wake of the 1965 Watts riots, was the first group on the West Coast to perform spoken words over jazz and other rhythm tracks.

“We didn’t call it rap then, although we kind of invented the phrase in 1970 with our album, ‘Rappin’ Black in a White World,’ ” said Otis O’Solomon, whose fellow Prophets are Richard Dedeaux and Anthony (Amde) Hamilton. “The style, the words, just came out of what we felt at the time.”

Laced throughout the Prophets’ stories and intricate rhythms is social commentary that is at the heart of their work--everything from police brutality to ecology to drug and alcohol abuse serve as tableaux for their be-bop-style wordplay.

“It’s the missing link between jazz beatnik poetry and hip-hop rap,” said publicist Dave Lumian.

The Prophets, performing today at the Central Library, have recorded with artists including Don Cherry, Horace Tapscott, Ornette Coleman, Stevie Wonder, Quincy Jones and Billy Higgins. They have amassed a new following among the hip-hop generation--releases by rappers such as D.J. Quik and Eazy-E generously sample Prophets’ cuts.

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The Watts Prophets perform today, 3 p.m., in the Mark Taper Auditorium at the Central Library, 630 W. 5th St.; free; (213) 228-7555.