“The revolution will not be televised, will not be televised, will not be televised, will not be televised.
The revolution will be no re-run brothers;
the revolution will be live.”

Gil Scott Heron(1949-2011); Godfather of Hip-Hop. Poet. Activist. Bluesman. Jazz musician. Throughout his life, he was uneasily inhabited, but did not quite define, these labels. Instead, he crossed over these categories, forging his own identity while remaining committed to his beliefs and unique sound. While he may be best known as a spoken word artist, to me, he is Hip Hop. The energy, the art, the verbiage that Gil Scott used is more Hip-Hop than a lot of rap music today. Scott-Heron’s influence over hip-hop is primarily exemplified by his definitive single “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” sentiments from which have been explored and used by various rappers, including Aesop Rock, Talib Kweli and Common. In addition to his vocal style, Scott-Heron’s indirect contributions to rap music extend to his compositions, which have been sampled by various hip-hop artists. Rappers and MCs has have borrowed liberally from Scott-Heron through the years.

Here is just a sample of his greatness, and its use in hip-hop music:

Artist: Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson

Track Title: We Almost Lost Detroit
Album Name: Bridges
Release Year: 1977