The upcoming issue of The New Yorker features a profile of Gil Scott-Heron [abstract, sub required] that reveals his surprisingly open use of crack. It makes me want to f*cking cry. This man is an American treasure and we've lost so much by not giving him the support he needed whenever he first needed it.

Yet, at the same time, he hasn't given up and is enjoying what I hope will be more than a short resurgence of interest in his work including new projects involving other artists. I haven't had time to check out the whole article but it's definitely worth reading from what I see. Lots of background as well as current information.

I received an advanced copy because they're apparently reaching out to hip hop media based on the fact that Gil Scott-Heron is one of those guys who is sometimes referred to as a creator of hip hop as are The Last Poets and even Muhammad Ali!

But the obvious reality, if you step back and take a historical view, is that Gil Scott-Heron, The Last Poets and, yes, Muhammad Ali are part of the rich African-American verbal arts from which hip hop emerged but they weren't the creators. The thing is you could make an even stronger argument that the creators of hip hop were the folks from the 1800s who developed such practices as the ring shout or other examples of the forced merger of African and European culture to which Africans and African-Americans responded by taking uptight traditions and bringing new life to them through rhythm, voice and instrumentation.

But I wouldn't make that argument either. Hip hop emerged as a distinct art form in the 70s in the Bronx. And I have yet to encounter a convincing argument to the contrary cause the logic of such arguments immediately points to precursors that are even more credible and wishful thinking will not change that historical reality.

Besides, do you really want to get into an argument that would inevitably lead to the conclusion that hip hop was invented in the South?  I thought not.