To simply call Linton Kwesi Johnson's polemic, socially conscious reggae music "political" doesn't go far enough, nor does the handle "original dub poet" do him justice. Though born in Jamaica, Johnson solidified his musical reputation by chronicling his life as a black man growing up in Britain. His work from the late '70s bristles with the same anger and working-class rage The Clash later harvested on songs like "Guns Of Brixton," but Johnson injected a skewed, tongue-twisting patois that was unlike any other reggae toasting. It was this style—if not content—that was later adopted and modified by young hip-hoppers like Das Efx. Independant Intavenshan, a double-CD retrospective of his years with Island Records, takes four albums from 1979 to '84 and adds dub versions and curiosities that had remained unreleased. Unlike progeny like Mutabaruka or Michael Franti, Johnson never allowed his daunting verbalizations and radical calls for revolt to steal the spotlight: Especially on the earlier songs, the instrumental activity is as taut, muscular, and experimental as anything Black Uhuru or Steel Pulse could have imagined. When his messages come through, however, they do so like a hammer blow to the head. "We're gonna smash their brains in / 'cause they ain't got nothing in 'em," goes the chorusof "Fite Dem Back," while "New Craas Massahkah" and "Inglan Is A Bitch" coldly document civil-rights injustices Johnson witnessed firsthand. The venom that rises to the surface in these angry songs is palpable and dangerous, and he truly sounds as if he's seeking recompense. While Johnson's later work would occasionally look toward issues like the Cold War with "Di Eagle An' Di Bear," or even intimate relationships ("Loraine"), it's that whiff of political struggle and personal activism that makes Independant Intavenshan an essential compilation.