The rich are only defeated when running for their lives

"Striking poetry plus simpatico jazz on UK Caribbean writer's latest: If one UK figure is currently the ne plus ultra of experimental writing and spoken-word performance rooted in Caribbean identity, it's surely Joseph ... Joseph may be part of a broad fellowship that includes Gil Scott-Heron, whose vocal tone and socio-political focus he recalls, but his speech rhythms and vernacular mark him out ... [The album's] idiosyncratic educational power is just one of its attributes; overwhelmingly, it's the sound of Joseph reveling in the power of language and the possibilities of poetry and music in concert".

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"The eighth album by British-Trinidadian Renaissance man Anthony Joseph takes its title from a line by legendary Trinidadian theorist CLR James, thus setting out its stall from the get-go. Giving voice to the voiceless, particularly those of the Caribbean and its diaspora, is crucial to Joseph's oeuvre, with its award-winning works of fiction and poetry and a music career that has made him a star in France ... Framed by the arrangements of saxophonist, composer and producer Jason Yarde and devoted to themes of memory, place and belonging, "The Rich Are Only..." is many things: bold, intimate, authentic, angry, poignant, empowering and magical. It is Joseph's strongest recording yet. Not a lyric is wasted".