Gil Scott-Heron

Born April 1st, 1949 and died in May 27, 2011 was one of the father's of hip hop and R&B. Having been a jazz poet, musician, and author, he sang his spoken word into the minds of those living in the 70's and 80's. Heron was avid in the political issues of his time as well as the stance of black people. That said, his greatest influences were the iconic African-American people who stood for just that, some of them being Billie Holiday, Langston Hughes, Malcolm X, Huey Newton, and Langston Hughes especially. With his affinity for the arts, he made a considerable name for himself in the 70's with his more well known works, "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" and "The Bottle." Though Heron has been incarcerated several times for reasons regarding drugs, he still kept to his passion into is later years, collaborating with different labels and performing live. To this day Heron has left his mark as a great influence on musicians and african-american people as a whole. 
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised