It’s amazing how few lovers of Hip Hop will never understand the substantive importance of Gil Scott Heron was, is, will forever be to HIP HOP…

He was a lyricist, a MC, a rapper… He was floetic long before Floetry… The substance of his poetic works and the embodiment of his legacy are what make this day one of rejoicing and celebration.

Gone but never forgotten… May your words continue to induce people to begin to think about thinking! 1949-2011 Gil Scott Heron …

You will not be able to stay home, brother.

You will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out.

You will not be able to lose yourself on skag and skip,

Skip out for beer during commercials,

Because the revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will not be brought to you by Xerox

In 4 parts without commercial interruptions.

The revolution will not show you pictures of Nixon

blowing a bugle and leading a charge by John

Mitchell, General Abrams and Mendel Rivers to eat

hog maws confiscated from a Harlem sanctuary.

The revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will not be brought to you by the

Schaefer Award Theatre and will not star Natalie

Woods and Steve McQueen or Bullwinkle and Julia.

The revolution will not give your mouth sex appeal.

The revolution will not get rid of the nubs.

The revolution will not make you look five pounds

thinner, because the revolution will not be televised, Brother.

There will be no pictures of you and Willie May

pushing that shopping cart down the block on the dead run,

or trying to slide that color television into a stolen ambulance.

NBC will not be able predict the winner at 8:32

or report from 29 districts.

The revolution will not be televised.

There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down

brothers in the instant replay.

There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down

brothers in the instant replay.

There will be no pictures of Whitney Young being

run out of Harlem on a rail with a brand new process.

There will be no slow motion or still life of Roy

Wilkens strolling through Watts in a Red, Black and

Green liberation jumpsuit that he had been saving

For just the proper occasion.

Green Acres, The Beverly Hillbillies, and Hooterville

Junction will no longer be so damned relevant, and

women will not care if Dick finally gets down with

Jane on Search for Tomorrow because Black people

will be in the street looking for a brighter day.

The revolution will not be televised.

There will be no highlights on the eleven o’clock

news and no pictures of hairy armed women

liberationists and Jackie Onassis blowing her nose.

The theme song will not be written by Jim Webb,

Francis Scott Key, nor sung by Glen Campbell, Tom

Jones, Johnny Cash, Englebert Humperdink, or the Rare Earth.

The revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will not be right back after a message

about a white tornado, white lightning, or white people.

You will not have to worry about a dove in your

bedroom, a tiger in your tank, or the giant in your toilet bowl.

The revolution will not go better with Coke.

The revolution will not fight the germs that may cause bad breath.

The revolution will put you in the driver’s seat.

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.

How Hip Hop Raised Me

Being born in the late 70′s, I grew up with Hip Hop, literally. For the past 30 years (give or take), Hip Hop has evolved into the most influential art culture… I remember hearing Hip Hop as a young kid, but I didn’t know it as HIP HOP, I knew it simply as the music that I bobbed my head to, the music that made me proud, the music that made me feel like I didn’t have to back down when facing adversity. To me, mc’ing was “the most beautifulist thing in the world” long before Keith Murray made a song with the same name.  The beauty of the HIP HOP that raised me is, the lyrics still hold true today, perhaps even more so now then when they were first created.

There are many facets to Hip Hop, too many for me to delve into in this 30 minute post, so bare with me as I travel thru How Hip Hop Raised Me:

Early On:

Bill of Rights/Standing Up:

Don’t Let My Softness Fool Ya:

Gangsta or Rebel

Being a kid/Having Fun

There’s more to my Hip Hop memories and thoughts. I’ll share my journal of 90′s HIP HOP & How it Shaped My Generation.

Stay tuned… TO BE CONTINUED