As soon as Gil Scott Heron’s death was announced , his image, music , poetry  and praises spread like wildfire on the “internets”, but how many people bought his new album  ”I’m New Here“or even thought about him yesterday? More & more of our living legends are leaving us and we should be telling their stories, supporting their work, their legacy & showering them with our praises while they are still here. For everyone who posted a song, a photo, a poem by Gill Scott , hope we shower him with the same love when it comes to having to raise money to give him a proper homecoming. I am not sure what his financial status was before his death, but unfortunately I wouldn’t be surprised  if there is a need for assistance from those who loved him because unfortunately many of our living legends do not necessarily have ownership of their  life’s work & legacy nor do they prepare for death.  I do not want to see Abiodun Oyewole pleading for the help of the hip-hop generation to save his home, the same home where he had open doors & gave many, priceless education that was student loan free. I do not want to see Kool Herc having to beg the Hip-Hop nation to help him with his medical bills because it is as painful as watching a father beg his children for assistance when he needs them most, a moment that should never happen because we are supposed to honor & to take care of our elders, our living legends;  whether we call them dad, mom, grandpa , grandma, aunty, uncle, Kool Herc or Gil Scott Heron. We have to honor our living legends, tell their stories and make sure we are passing on the teaching & learning to a new generations of future legends in training. Gil Scott , the son of a Jamaican footballer  & an African-American Jazz songstress, lived a hard life & survived many decades, while touching lives, sparking revolutions & making his mark on the world & leaving a solid legacy for generations to come to carry it on. As the song goes ….”That City Living Ain’t All It’s Cracked up To Be..Lawd Have Mercy On Me…Need To Be Back Home” . Safe Journey To Your Homecoming!

“ Let us take care of the children, for they have a long way to go. Let us take care of the elders, for they have come a long way. Let us take care of those in between, for they are doing the work. ”— Traditional African prayer   Nyumbani Village, Kenya

“Gil Scott-Heron is frequently called the “godfather of rap,” which is an epithet he doesn’t really care for. In 1968, when he was nineteen, he wrote a satirical spoken-word piece called “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.” It was released on a very small label in 1970 and was probably heard of more than heard, but it had a following. It is the species of classic that sounds as subversive and intelligent now as it did when it was new, even though some of the references—Spiro Agnew, Natalie Wood, Roy Wilkins, Hooterville—have become dated. By the time Scott-Heron was twenty-three, he had published two novels and a book of poems and recorded three albums, each of which prospered modestly, but “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” made him famous…Recently, though, Scott-Heron has returned to prominence, having released an album called “I’m New Here,” which has brought him a new, younger audience. It is the result of the British hip-hop producer Richard Russell’s sending him a letter in 2005 asking if he wanted to make a record. As a teen-ager in London in the nineteen-eighties, Russell had seen Scott-Heron perform. He also knew his music from clubs that played rare groove, the British term for obscure, older soul, funk, and Latin records, which hip-hop musicians covet for samples...” Read More

Hey, yeah, we the same brothas from a long time ago
We was talkin’ about television and doin’ it on the radio
What we did was to help our generation realize
They had to get out there and get busy cause it wasn’t gonna be televised
We got respect for you rappers and the way they be free-weighin’
But if you’re gon’ be teachin’ folks things, make sure you know what you’re sayin’
Older folks in our neighborhood got plenty of know-how
Remember if it wasn’t for them, you wouldn’t be out here now
And I ain’t comin’ at you with no disrespect
All I’m sayin’ is that you damn well got to be correct
Because if you’re gonna be speakin’ for a whole generation
And you know enough to try and handle their education
Be sure you know the real deal about past situations
It ain’t just repeatin’ what you heard on the local TV stations
…Sometimes they tell lies and put ‘em in a truthful disguise
But the truth is that’s why we said it wouldn’t be televised
They don’t know what to say to our young folks, but they know that you do
And if they really knew the truth…why would they tell you?
The first sign is peace, tell all them gun totin’ young brothas
That the man is glad to see us out there killin’ one another
We raised too much hell when they was shootin’ us down
So they started poisoning our minds tryin’ to jerk us all around
And then they tell us they got to come in and control our situation
They want half of us on dope and the other half in incarceration
If the ones they want dead ain’t killed by what they instigated
They put some dope on a brotha’s body and claim it was drug related
Tell them drug related means there don’t need to be no investigation
Or at least that’s the way they’re gon’ play it on the local TV stations
All your 9-millimeter brothas…give them somthin’ to think about
Tell them you heard that this is the new word, they got to work that stuff out
But somehow they feel in the wrong way with a gun in their hands
They feel real independent…but they just pullin’ contracts for the man
Five and five will tell you it’s hopeless out there on the avenue
But if they really knew the truth…why would they tell you?
And if they look at you like you’re insane
And they start callin’ you scarecrow and say you ain’t got no brain
Or start tellin’ folks that you suddenly gone lame
Or that white folks had finally co-opted your game
Find More lyrics at www.sweetslyrics.com
Or worse yet implying that you don’t really know…
That’s the same thing they said about us…a long time ago
Young rappers, one more suggestion before I get out of your way
But I appreciate the respect you give me and what you got to say
I’m sayin’ protect your community and spread that respect around
Tell brothas and sistas they gotta calm that bullshit down
Cause we’re terrorizin’ our old folks and brought fear into our homes
And they ain’t got to hang out with the senior citizens
Just tell them, “Dammit…leave the old folks alone”
And we know who rippin’ off the neighborhood, tell them, “That BS has got to stop!”
Tell them you’re sorry they can’t handle it out there
But they got to take the crime off the block
And if they look at you like you’re insane
And they start callin’ you scarecrow and say you ain’t got no brain
Or start tellin’ folks that you suddenly gone lame
Or that white folks had finally co-opted your game
Or worse yet saying that you really don’t know…
That’s the same thing they said about me a long time ago
And if they tell folks that you finally lost your nerve
That’s the same thing they said about us, when we said, “Johannesburg”
But I think the young folks need to know, that things don’t go both ways
You can’t talk respect on every other song or just every other day
What I’m speakin’ on now is the raps about the women folks
On one song she’s your African Queen on the next one she’s a joke
And you ain’t said no words that I haven’t heard, but that ain’t no compliment
It only insults eight people out of ten and questions your intelligence
Four letter words or four syllable words won’t make you important
It’ll only magnify how shallow you are and let everybody know it
And if they look at you like they think you insane
Or they call you scarecrow thinkin’ you ain’t got no brain
Or start tellin’ folks that you suddenly gone lame
Or that white folks have finally co-opted your game
Or you really don’t know…They said that about me a long time ago
If they finally start to tell people that you lost your nerve
That’s what they said about Johannesburg
You ain’t insane…you have got a brain
You haven’t gone lame; you have got your game
Remember…keep the nerve
Keep the nerve
Keep the nerve
Keep the nerve
…I’m talkin’ about peace

“Gil Scott-Heron (born April 1, 1949) is an American poet, musician, and author known primarily for his late 1960s and early 1970s work as a spoken word soul performer and his collaborative work with musician Brian Jackson.His collaborative efforts with Jackson featured a musical fusion of jazz, blues and soul music, as well as lyrical content concerning social and political issues of the time, delivered in both rapping and melismatic vocal styles by Scott-Heron. The music of these albums, most notably Pieces of a Man and Winter in America in the early 1970s, influenced and helped engender later African-American music genres such as hip hop and neo soul. Scott-Heron’s recording work is often associated with black militant activism and has received much critical acclaim for one of his most well-known compositions “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”. On his influence, a music writer later noted that “Scott-Heron’s unique proto-rap style influenced a generation of hip-hop artists”. SOURCE

photo by Terrence Jennings:Mos Def Presents: Amino Alkaline-The Watermelon Syndicate (?) with special guest Gil Scott-Heron-Carnegie Hall-Saturday, June 28

Beginnings (The First Minute of a New Day) Lyrics
Mmmmm
We’re sliding through
Completely new
Beginnings
We’re searching out
Our every doubt
We’re winning

We want to be free
Yet we have no idea
Why we are struggling here
Faced with our every fear
Just to survive

We’ve heard the sound
And come around
To listening
We’ve touched the vine
Time after time
Insisting

We know what life brings
Still we can find a way
From dues we’ve got to pay
We hope we’ll somehow say
That we’re alive

We’re sliding through
Completely new
Beginnings

We’re searching
Our every doubt
And winning
We want to be free
Yet we have no idea
Why we are struggling here
Faced with our every fear
Just to survive
Completely new (x2)
Beginnings
Completely new (x2)
Beginnings