Given the avid rap listening of my youth, I’m almost ashamed to admit that I was largely ignorant of Gil Scott-Heron until this past week when he passed away. Having just listened to a couple of his albums though, consider my mind blown. The music and poetry doesn’t seem dated at all and his heavy influence on hip-hop is markedly apparent. I look forward to really living in his albums over the next few weeks to fully absorb them.
