Over the weekend, we lost one of my favorites, artist, poet, musician, author, and activist, Gil Scott-Heron. “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” was one of the first Gil Scott tracks I was introduced to. I remember going through my dad’s record collection back in the day and finding Pieces of a Man, which starts off with “The Revolution Will Not be Televised”. This was his second album which used more of the convential song structure as opposed to his first album, Small Talk, which had a more spoken word feel.
Gil Scott-Heron’s style is a fusion of jazz, blues, blues and soul, mixed in with political references and pro-black subject matter. With over thirty plus years in the music industry and 15 plus albums, Gil is widely considered by many to have been a heavy influence on hip hop music as well as the neo-soul movement. His songs have been sampled by the likes of Dr. Dre, Mos Def, Q-tip, Kanye West, and MF Doom just to name a few. Last year Gil Scott-Heron, released his first album in 16 years, I’m New Here, which proved that he still was a force in the music industry. This album was remixed earlier this year by English group Jamie xx and the end result was We’re New Here, which is on my list of must have album’s of 2011.
The music world will definitley miss Gil. He helped shaped one of my favorite love’s, Hip Hop, and I am sure his legacy will continue to live on. RIP.
