OF Rap's Godfather...Gil Scott-Heron

If James Brown was the Godfather of Soul, Gil Scott-Heron is definitely the Godfather of Rap.

He Pioneered Rap when rapping was just talking, conversing on topics that meant something to the rappers. Rapping wasn't just small talk, chit chat or shootin' the breeze. Rapping was expanding or 'building' on relevant topics in order to see what solutions could be reached.

If Gil Scott-Heron IS The Godfather of Rap then it seems that many of the apples have fallen FAR from the Tree. So far, in some cases, that they seem to have come from totally different orchards.

Born in Chicago on April 1st 1959, spending his early years in Tennessee with his Grandmother, Gil Scott-Heron had a mother who sang with the New York Oratorical society and a father of Jamaican descent who became the first black man to play soccer with Glasgow's Celtic Football Club.

When Gil's Grandmother died, he was 13, he moved to The Bronx NY, where he lived with his mother.

His writing talent was noticed by a teacher at DeWitt Clinton High School who then brought it to the attention of the head of the English Department at the Fieldston School, a private school in Manhattan to which Gil earned a full scholarship. He advanced constantly as he made his way through academic avenues but he never lost sight of the struggles that were being perpetuated in the lives of people whose faces and skin looked like his.

Throughout the years he met more people who shared the passion for freeing the oppressed people who were born in squalor and raised with the idea that this was their station in life.

He's written books and albums with a message of love and equality meant to touch the hearts of the listener and inspire the listener to strive for balance in an unbalanced world.

Some of today's rap reflects this influence, however the majority of rap's fruits seem to have fallen from the tree and rolled down a long, steep hill, maybe it was a cliff.

Gil Scott-Heron is still with us today however not in the best of health. His message and influence lives on in Rap but is often overshadowed by ignorance.

How unfortunate that he hasn't enjoyed the same influence over rap as some other Godfathers we know, such as the influence Vito Corleone held over Luca Brasi. But then again, you can't inspire love with FORCE.

His Music and poetry are available on Youtube.

More facts about his life are available on Wikipedia.

His Books are available on Amazon and Google Books.

--OF