the first piece of recorded poetry i ever heard was cassette tape of gil scott. this was back when i still made mixtapes…like real mixtapes. little did i know then (although i probably should’ve guessed) his work would be a reoccurring point of inspiration throughout my writing life…not to be oblique, but “why do they do not see,” it’ll make sense later. thank you, the forthcoming project, I’m New Here, is kinda unreal. in stores next week.

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I’ve been really trying to figure out how to interpret the events when these living legends like Sade and Gil Scott-Heron drop new tracks.  It’s like…I want to blog it, but in these cases, is blogging enough?  It’s GIL SCOTT-HERON, dammit!  “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” Gil Scott-Heron!  “Lady Day & John Coltrane” Gil Scott Heron!!

Well, until I can afford enough Neptune ocean diamond to erect a statue in his name, a lil ol’ mention for this week’s Wednesday Word will have to do.  Gil Scott-Heron, guys!  “Me and the Devil,” off his upcoming album I’m New Here.

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Might be a little more appropriate for Wednesday Word, but hey, at the end of the day it all comes down to the word. This week, I had an intimate experience of listening to a hero of mine that I’ve never had the time to fully experience. A musician, a poet, a singer, Gil Scott Heron is one of the few models I have for the vision of the artist I want to become. I am shocked by how closely the humor in my poetry resembles Heron’s even though there is no direct correlation. I had been writing way before I heard “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” but it’s lines like “Roy Wilkins strolling through Watts in a red, black, and green liberation jump suit that he’s been saving for just the proper occasion” that make me wonder if I came up with that in another lifetime. But enough of the egocentricity. The only logical conclusion to this phenomena is the magic of collective consciousness; the belief that all the world withdraws and deposits into a shared bank of knowledge and ideas. Thank you for your deposit, Mr. Heron. I have overdrawn on your brilliance. Time to pay it back. Check out “Whitey on the Moon” (an idea that even my Mom has talked about since I was a child although I’m positive she has no clue who Gil Scott Heron is) and then his soulful “Or Down You Fall” that I’ve included just as a bonus. Withdraw and enjoy!

“Whitey on the Moon”

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“Or Down You Fall”

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