Gil Scott-Heron, a chicago born poet who many called the “Godfather of Rap,” died Friday, at the age of 62. Scott-Heron was a musical innovator, whose spoken-word-over-jazz 1970 debut album “Small Talk at 125th and Lennox,” is often credited as year zero of rap music. The record featured songs like “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” which along with many other Scott-Heron compositions became heavily sampled and referenced in music that came afterwards. The musician and writer often said the accolades were misguided, and preferred to call himself a “bluesologist.” To tell us more about Scott-Heron’s influence is rapper The Kidd Creole, founding member of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, and author and filmmaker MK Asante.
Listen to a live version of “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”:
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