Gil Scott-Heron’s death last weekend has incited a fervor of mournful responses from hip-hop artists such as Talib Kweli, Joell Ortiz and Public Enemy frontman Chuck D. Now hip-hop’s current king of conscious rap has paid his last respects to the influential spoken word artist, penning a tribute piece for Scott-Heron on his website.
For the piece, titled, “In Dedication to That Guiding Light of a Human Being, Gil-Scott Heron,” Lupe channels Scott-Heron’s classic 1970 recording “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” separating each paragraph with the line “The Television Will Not Be Revolutionized!” as he pointedly criticizes the ills of modern televisions negative influence on society.
“Small claims court drama, teenage baby mamas, Osama watching Osama, 
Celebrity Endorsed indoor saunas, the perfectly cooked piraña and other cannon fodder for you to ponder,” writes Lupe, “all at the speed of imitations of life while the smoke of war gets inhaled thru the peace pipes, be still my beating heart and scare my brain from thinking thoughts as i sit intoxicated by the delights, sarcasm and 3 strikes thrown by my favorite pitcher in a sound surrounded, 3 dimensional, high death, full color mixture, wholly unsocializing and completely uncensored.”
Scott-Heron passed away on Friday, May 27, at the age of 62 at St. Luke’s Hospital in New York after reportedly becoming ill following a trip to Europe. Although the poet had battled a cocaine addiction and was HIV positive, the cause of his death has yet to be released. Despite Scott-Heron’s notable influence on hip-hop culture, the wordsmith seemed reticent to claim himself as a creator of the genre.
I don’t know if I can take the blame for it,” said Scott-Heron last year in an interview with The Daily Swarm.
But whatever his feelings on the subject, Scott-Heron’s influence on hip-hop culture is apparent in the words and sounds of many within the culture, especially his latest mourner, Lupe, who so fondly refers to him as “that guiding light of a human being.”
What do you think of Lupe’s tribute to Scott-Heron? –nicholas robinson
