I first heard
Gil Scott-Heron on WDAS in Philly in the '70's. His songs like "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" and "Livin' in the Bottle" confronted unpleasant truths that many folks would have rather ignored.
Some call him the "godfather" of rap, thanks to his spoken word work.
He died in May, 2011, and this is from 2010's release, I'm New Here.
More from that session,
Nothing New, was released a couple of weeks ago.