Gil Scott Heron

You know Gil. You just might not know that you know Gil. But I know that you might not know that you know about Gil, you know?

Gil came outta the Bronx. He melted socially-conscious jazz, blues, and soul together into a powerful mixture that paved the path for the first generation of rappers. You've probably heard his song "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised". Gil was one of the first artists to seriously explore spoken word over music so hip cats will call him the "godfather of rap". He put out a great song called "Message to the Messengers" once he saw hip-hop start to take off that is very critical of the direction in which the hip-hop community took the artform.

"Four letter words or fours syllable words won't make you a poet,
It will only magnify how shallow you are and let ev'rybody know it."

Gil Scott Heron - Is That Jazz?


Gil Scott Heron - The Bottle