Words By David D.

Gil Scott Heron

After reading Contra’s wonderful Curtis Mayfield post and waiting for all of those albums to download, I got into my own ill 70s mood. And when that happens, I turn to Gil Scott-Heron. Scott-Heron, in my opinion, has always had an underrated role as the third piece of the phenomenal mid-20th century triumvirate (alongside Mayfield and Gaye) that formed the blueprint for Hip-Hop.

My introduction to Scott-Heron’s work came when I first heard Kanye West’s “My Way Home” from Late Registration. Though Common spit a stellar verse, Scott-Heron’s hauntingly pained voice was the most memorable element of the song. The next day I got my hands on a copy of The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.

The album opens with two spoken word songs (“The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” and “Sex Education Ghetto Style”) in which he speaks in direct rhythm with the drum pattern in the background, thrusting the song more into the early rap genre moreso than mere spoken word. The title song is a defiant rallying cry for revolutionary action in the face of Pop Culture complacency. The sentiment behind the song is that revolutionary discovery happens organically, stripped from commercial coverage.

“The Get Out Of The Ghetto Blues” also is the album’s first demonstration of Scott-Heron’s vocal mastery. Each note pulls at a different heartstring. There is no lightly delivered note as every breath Heron takes on his tracks hits the listener directly in the chest. For example, try to listen to “Home Is Where the Hatred Is” and try not to get goosebumps. The depression and desperation that the poet conveys is truly transcendent. Of course, the “Home” of the song is within the singer’s “white powdered dreams.” One would be hard pressed to find a more chilling call for help in overcoming addiction on wax. Scott-Heron is able to completely suppress the defiance found on the title track and become a completely down and out voice. He is aware of his impending downfall, but incapable of making the change.

“Did You Hear What They Said” is another frequently sampled song that is as appropriate now as it was thirty years ago. The subject is trying to understand the unnecessary casualties of war while trying to break this story to a mother. He takes a softer tone, creating an elegiac feel to the song.

“Did You Hear What They Said” and “Home Is Where The Hatred Is” are sampled frequently due to Scott-Heron’s ability to hit the listener with the song’s meaning as soon as he opens his mouth. The conflict of Heron’s addiction plays a perfect backdrop to the conflicted characters Common outlines. Mississippi MC, 5th Child uses the sadness and failure in Heron’s voice to drive his equally tragic “What They Said.” Freeway recently sampled the same song, but used the disbelief in Heron’s at the unbelievable tragedy taking place as a backdrop to Freeway’s disbelief at his own success.

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised is a definite must-have timeless classic. For producers out there, Heron’s amazing voice and great instrumentation also provides good fodder for future rap classics.

Gil Scott-Heron – The Revolution Will Not Be Televised