Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2011 20:09:53 GMT -5
Tragic. He was extremely influential. News coming shortly...
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Verisimilitude
8x Platinum Member
'90s Zealot
Joined: July 2010
Posts: 8,959 
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Post by Verisimilitude on May 27, 2011 20:14:31 GMT -5
OMG. :o Very sad! :(
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2011 20:47:51 GMT -5
NPR published a nice article about his life and career just now. There's no details surrounding his death right now but he was abusing various substances for decades and was presumed to be HIV positive as well.
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Gil Scott-Heron died Friday afternoon in New York. He was 62. The influential poet and musician is often credited with being one of the progenitors of hip-hop, and is best known for the spoken-word piece "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised."
Scott-Heron was born in Chicago in 1949. He spent his early years in Jackson, Tenn., attended high school in The Bronx, and spent time at Pennsylvania's Lincoln University before settling in Manhattan. His recording career began in 1970 with the album Small Talk at 125th and Lenox, which featured the first version of "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised." The track has since been referenced and parodied extensively in pop culture.
Scott-Heron continued to record through the 1970s and early '80s, before taking a lengthy hiatus. He briefly returned to the studio for 1994's Spirits. That album featured the track "Message to the Messengers," in which Scott-Heron cautions the hip-hop generation that arose in his absence to use its newfound power responsibly. He has been cited as a key influence by many in the hip-hop community — such as rapper-producer Kanye West, who closed his platinum-selling 2010 album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy with a track built around a sample of Scott-Heron's voice.
Scott-Heron struggled with substance abuse for much of his career, and spent the 2000s in and out of jail on drug possession charges. He began performing again after his release in 2007, and in 2010 released a new album, I'm New Here, to widespread critical acclaim.
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2011 21:05:41 GMT -5
#1 trending topic worldwide on Twitter. "Televised" and "Angel Dust" are also trending.
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2011 21:09:03 GMT -5
Such a shame. He was an incredible artist. It's a sad coincidence that he was seeing such a resurgence this past year too. He obviously had a lot of potential left to give.
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2011 22:40:27 GMT -5
He died in NYC. He reportedly came down with an illness after returning from Europe this week.
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#LisaRinna
Diamond Member
#LiteralLegender
Joined: August 2008
Posts: 42,164
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Post by #LisaRinna on May 28, 2011 5:05:57 GMT -5
OMG this is sad. I had been recently exposed to his music :(
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Post by musicissalvation on May 28, 2011 8:23:53 GMT -5
ahh sorry i posted this in the News thread :(
This is just the saddest thing in the world. He was so inspirational and his career was having a second wind!
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guyl44
New Member
Joined: September 2008
Posts: 99
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Post by guyl44 on May 28, 2011 8:56:47 GMT -5
Wow, very sad to hear this. RIP.
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Fresh
4x Platinum Member
Joined: June 2006
Posts: 4,145
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Post by Fresh on May 28, 2011 8:59:21 GMT -5
R.I.P.
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