CHICAGO--GIL Scott-Heron, a poet and songwriter dubbed the Godfather of Rap, has died aged 62.
Scott-Heron, whose ground-breaking spoken-word performances set to music included The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, passed away at a New York hospital.
He fell ill after returning from a trip to Europe, according to US news reports.
The Chicago-born artist made his name in the early 1970s.
He recorded more than a dozen albums and was hailed as an important influence by hip-hop performers such as Kanye West.
Considered a voice of African-American activism, Scott-Heron was also a musical critic of apartheid and nuclear power.
After serving a prison sentence for drug possession, Scott-Heron released an acclaimed album last year I'm New Here.
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised was a blast at consumer culture and its ability to lead social change.
Its lyrics include the line: "The revolution will not make you look five pounds thinner, because the revolution will not be televised, brother."
In the song, Scott-Heron warns listeners that "the revolution" won't be found in the pop culture all around them.
"The first change that takes place is in your mind," Scott-Heron once said, explaining his words.
Today, stars have taken to Twitter to pay tribute to the artist.
Rapper Eminem tweeted: "RIP Gil Scott-Heron, he influenced all of hip-hop."
Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe added: "Can't find the right words to properly honour the late great Gil Scott-Heron so i'll just say thank you. GSH RIP."
Chuck D, of American hip-hop group Public Enemy, tweeted: "RIP GSH, and we do what we do and who we do because of you and to those that don't know, tip your hat with a hand over your heart & recognize."
The son of a Jamaican professional soccer player and a college-educated mother who worked as a librarian, Scott-Heron was born in Chicago in 1949, raised in Jackson, Tennessee, and later moved to the Bronx.
His songs, which occupied a space between jazz, spoken word and R&B, helped supply some of the musical and philosophical underpinnings of the Black Power movement of the 1970s and the hip-hop culture that would follow.
Friend Doris Nolan said: "We're all sort of shattered."
Scott-Heron struggled publicly with drug addiction in the 2000s, and in 2001 was sentenced to jail for cocaine possession.
He was in and out of prison throughout most of the decade and began performing again after his release in 2007.
Scott-Heron remained active in the music industry until his death, performing regularly around the world, including playing to a sold-out crowd at the Festival Hall in London in April last year.
Posted By: Siebra Muhammad
Saturday, May 28th 2011 at 4:19PM
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