Gil Scott-Heron represents a backward step that took me so far forward in the musical journey along the hip-hop route. But so much more. Although awake to many that came after him, for whom he had paved the way, that he wasn’t on the radar despite his longtime standing was a source of disappointment, almost shame that I’d never been exposed to his music and poetry. He opened the door to a host of other artists and genres that really can’t be pigeonholed, much like the man himself. He was a visionary, a pioneer, using his voice as an instrument but more so as a voice, to be heard, to get not only his message across but to speak for a people, for generations, to open eyes forced shut.

Here he is complemented by the visual work of Chris Cunningham, giving the dystopian lyrics and foreboding rhythms just the right amount of darkness to bring it to light.