Poet, musician, badass Gil Scott-Heron died yesterday in New York, he was 62 years old. Gil Scott-Heron was most celebrated for his 1970 spoken word piece "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised", credited with being the germinating seed that begot Hip Hop. The song was banned by many radio stations for it's stark depiction of the African American experience and righteous self-examination of global consumerism. Born in 1949 Gil Scott-Heron became popoular for his poetry and spoken word performances in the late 1960s. His music has been sampled by many artists, such as Kanye West, who sampled "Comment #1" for his 2010 song "Who Will Save America," and Common, who sampled "No Knock" on his 2008 hit "Universal Mind Control." Last year Gil Scott-Heron released his first album in 13 years, I'm New Here, a collaboration with XL Records' CEO, Richard Russell. A remix album entitled We're New Here with Jamie XX was released this past February. Ironically one of the tracks is called "New York is Killing Me", a hypnotic bass heavy shuffler. After years of battling drug and alcohol addictions, as well as HIV, Gil Scott-Heron passed away at a New York Hospital yesterday at 4:00pm in the afternoon. His death will not be televised.
Video courtesy of XL Recordings
Photograph courtesy of Henrietta Butler
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