Prescient and poignant
5
By Yogisi
I bought this album when it dropped in ‘81. As a skinny white kid not too long out of high school I didn’t buy it because I was hip to the truth that Gil had been speaking for more than ten years at that point. I bought it because the man on the album cover looked cool. I had no idea how cool he really was.
I bought it thinking it would be something funky, something with some nice groove. It is. But along with the purchase price I got an education. An education in reality, other people’s reality. An education I wouldn’t have gotten anywhere else.
I suppose it may not be miraculous to see the future when nothing changes but Gil Scott-Heron nailed the past, present and future with this one.
He’s been called “The Godfather of Rap”, I think he’s more important than even that heady title would denote.
This is a great album to introduce yourself to Mr. Scott-Heron. But, fair warning, you’re gonna learn some things along the way.
I believe this is one of the most important artists of the 20th century and short of “Strange Fruit” , based on a poem by Abel Meeropol and sung by The great Billie Holliday, I don’t know of any more compelling writing than what you will find here.
