Scott-Heron, Gil
1949-2011 · Contribution: 1970-2011
Poet, musician, and author widely called the 'Godfather of Rap'; his socially conscious spoken-word recordings—above all 'The Revolution Will Not Be Televised'—fused poetry with jazz, blues, and soul and became a foundational influence on hip-hop.
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Impact on the world
A forefather of hip-hop whose blend of spoken-word delivery and politically charged lyrics prefigured rap by several years. 'The Revolution Will Not Be Televised'—first recorded on 'Small Talk at 125th and Lenox' (1970) and given its definitive version on 'Pieces of a Man' (1971)—became one of the best-known protest pieces of the twentieth century and has been sampled and quoted by countless rappers, from Public Enemy's Chuck D to Common and Kendrick Lamar. Though he resisted the label, calling himself a 'bluesologist' and crediting forebears such as The Last Poets, his influence on hip-hop and neo-soul is widely acknowledged, and he received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010.
Life & background
Born on April 1, 1949, in Chicago to a singer-and-teacher mother and a Jamaican-born father, Gil Heron, who was the first Black footballer to play for Scotland's Celtic FC, Gil Scott-Heron was raised partly in Tennessee—where he was among the first Black children to desegregate his junior high school—and later in the Bronx. He wrote two novels while still in his teens, studied at Lincoln University, and earned a master's degree at Johns Hopkins before launching his recording career with 'Small Talk at 125th and Lenox' (1970), beginning a long collaboration with musician Brian Jackson on classics such as 'Pieces of a Man,' 'Winter in America,' and 'The Bottle.' He campaigned with Stevie Wonder for a national Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, struggled publicly with addiction and legal troubles, disclosed that he was HIV-positive in 2008, and returned to acclaim with 'I'm New Here' (2010) before his death on May 27, 2011, in Manhattan at age 62.
Sources
- Britannica (Gil Scott-Heron); Poetry Foundation; NPR
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