How “Pieces of a Man” Became the Socially-Conscious Voice of a Generation

June 30, 2022 by Asher Ali in Classic Reviews, Read

When George Floyd was murdered, Americans dusted off their shoes and marched to fight for justice in a system that was ever-more glaringly built on discrimination and racism. Many different phrases and taglines were prominently featured at the forefront of 2020’s push for change, namely among them a particular truism first uttered from the mouth of poet and songwriter Gil Scott-Heron.

“The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” is one of the most used and also distorted lines in times of tumult, and it originates from Scott-Heron’s prominent song of the same title. First used as part of his introduction to his inaugural album Small Talk at 125th and Lenox, the song made greater waves on the Chicago native’s second project, Pieces of a Man in 1971.

The album became an underground success with its jazz poetry breaking down the perspective of a beleaguered man desperate to break free from the chains of oppression. In particular, “The Revolution will Not Be Televised” has been at the vanguard of fights for social justice from London in 1983 to Mumbai in 2009.

The album as a whole has also remained consistently relevant to this day through the instrumental impact it had in establishing the sound of hip-hop and jazz rap. Scott-Heron never agreed that he was the forefather of rap, calling his association with the genre “a mistake,” but the state of hip-hop today would be unfathomable because of who the poet and the famous Pieces of a Man inspired.

The groundwork of the album’s sound is laid out by jazz composer, keyboardist and producer Brian Jackson who was a decade-long collaborator with Scott-Heron. His wavy drums, flute and keyboard sounds served as simply a backdrop to Scott-Heron’s whimsical dictation, which was a more novel concept of the time as it gave the lyrics space to stand out on their own instead of forcing them to meld together.

The juxtaposition of gentle rhythm against fluid, yet hard-hitting lyrics inspired Ali Shaheed Muhammad of a Tribe Called Quest to seek out jazz samples to put up against the bars of his fellow group members. Muhammad got together with Jackson in 2021 for a collaborative jazz project, but as a fan of Jackson’s in the early 90s, Muhammad emulated the sonic ideas from Pieces of a Man in a range of Tribe tracks, from “Excursions” to “Keep it Rollin’”.

Free expression of difficult themes was also championed on the album by Scott-Heron and also became a distinguishing factor for A Tribe Called Quest as the group ascended. Even in their younger years, the young emcees of Q-Tip, Jarobi White and Phife Dawg were politically and socially outspoken, talking about xenophobia, veganism and religion in their rhymes. Scott-Heron’s grand influence on hip hop has helped some deem him as the progenitor of the genre; a hard nomination to argue against when you pay attention to how much he’s influenced perhaps the greatest zeitgeist in the genre’s history. Kanye West was maybe one of the most outspoken musicians in the early 2000s, both inside and outside the studio, as the mutual Chicagoan saw his genius as a reincarnation of what Scott-Heron had preached before him.

West has always been proficient at analogizing tropes in the commercial world to dig at something deeper within the human condition, something Scott-Heron was masterful at doing in his poetry as well. Kanye gave clear credit to this on Late Registration’s “My Way Home” which sampled “Home is Where the Hatred Is” from Pieces of a Man, but in a way that was unique for West’s production style at the time.

Instead of chopping it to pieces and reverbing the song to make it beautifully unrecognizable, West loops the hard-hitting piano chords from the song leaving it nearly untouched, while then featuring Scott-Heron’s powerful vocals at points to break through the bars that both West and fellow Scott-Heron studier Common are laying down.

West’s track concludes with 44 seconds of unbroken phrase from Scott-Heron’s classic, where his powerful voice echoes a sentiment about how returning home after suffering can cause more pain. The world knows Kanye West to be someone who rarely lets others tell his own story, yet here Ye was clearly proud to let someone of Scott-Heron’s pedigree describe how he felt.

On Late Registration’s very next song “Crack Music”, Kanye put down an introspective and socially conscious line right out of the Scott-Heron handbook where he said, “You hear that? What Gil Scott was Heron / When our heroes or heroines got hooked on heroin.” Conveying a period of time so vividly is incredibly emblematic of what Scott-Heron was known for, and not only Ye, but Kendrick Lamar out of Los Angeles was able to articulate deep personal narratives in rap, much like the spoken word of the renowned jazz poet.

Much like how Pieces of a Man tells the story of Scott-Heron and his father trying to escape cultural discrimination and injustice, good kid, m.A.A.d city was Kendrick’s tale of how he tried to overcome poverty and extreme dysfunction as a kid living in Compton. Kendrick’s prose would only become more poetic in To Pimp A Butterfly as he ornately paints a tableau of how this country tries to break Black Americans in hopes of conformity. It’s an expansion of the themes expressed in the interpersonal story of Pieces of a Man.

From “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” to “Peace”, the sounds, rhythms and themes of Pieces of a Man are the ideals that have underpinned hip-hop since DJ Kool Herc. And as recently as 2020 when the ugly head of racial inequality was front and center in this country, the message of Scott-Heron’s art resurfaced in full bloom. Perhaps nobody in modern rap has embodied how the duality of Scott-Heron’s message still resonates with the world today quite like Freddie Gibbs. The gangster poet first used the line, “The revolution is the genocide / my execution might be televised,” in Alfredo’s “Scottie Beam” and later on released his own rendition of the soulful and sorrowful “Winter in America” which Scott-Heron and Jackson wrote as they saw first-hand how democracy can fail this country.

The best art is that which transcends time with the message it brings, and Pieces of a Man has not just reached multiple generations but inspired them too socially and artistically.

Asher Ali is a staff writer.

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Continuation of Excellence or Lack of Innovation? “It’s Almost Dry” Review

April 27, 2022 by Asher Ali in Read, Reviews

by Asher Ali

Pusha T’s status as one of the most preeminent figures in “cocaine rap” has been in the work since he went under the moniker of Terrar as one half of the duo Clipse. Layered over beats almost exclusively produced by none other than Pharrell Williams, Terrance Thorton and his brother Gene slang bars like they were on a street corner.

Push then caught the eye of Kanye West, and after signing with GOOD Music label in 2010, Thorton was promoted to company president two years later, and has been guided by Ye’s production and industry insight to a fruitful solo career. Push’s “DAYTONA” in 2018 was an elaborate composition arranged by West that took Push’s sound to new heights far and above what other coke rappers were doing then.

Now, the duality of Push’s past career has conjoined on his newest project “It’s Almost Dry,” featuring six songs produced by Pharrell and six songs produced by West. The two hip hop maestros go toe to toe bringing some of the most solid beats heard this year, but outside of a few of tracks, this album doesn’t advance Push’s sound, much less the sound of contemporary coke rap.

Pharrell immediately kicks it back to the Clipse days with “It’s Almost Dry’s” first track “Brambleton.” A smooth kick drum driven beat comes with Push’s malfeasance bars that cover his young life in Brambleton, Virginia where his mother worked and his adverse feelings toward ex-Clipse manager Anthony Gonzalez, who aired some dirty laundry with Push in a recent interview Gonzalez did with VladTV.

Push immediately jumps onto another, more bombastic Pharrell beat with “Let The Smokers Shine The Coupes” where Push paints himself as the “coke game’s Dr. Seuss.”

The first Ye backed track is introduced third on the track list with “Dreamin Of The Past” which is both lifted and brought down by Kanye. The track soars thanks to a well-pulled sample from Donny Hathaway’s “Jealous Guy” that lifts Push’s fluid drug-laced bars to a euphoric plane. As Push’s final verse fades, listeners are bombarded with an unwelcome verse from West, an awkwardly mixed 30 second feature the West rounds out with an uncomfortable line about how his family is currently unsafe.

Ye once again manages to be the greatest advocate and detriment for Push on “Rock N Roll” the alleged final song with Kid Cudi and West. Once again, a beautifully assembled beat on Ye’s end comes with a heinous guest verse from him, this one sounding more like the nonsensical bars that Kanye gave on the first rendition of DONDA 2. Cudi’s hook sounds muffled and over-produced as well, while Push delivers some strong verses about his premiere status at the top of the rap and the drug-dealing game.

At his best on this album, Pusha T is elaborating on the narrative of authenticity, or lack thereof, in a world of glamor and fame. The two singles on the project, “Neck & Wrist” and “Diet Coke” address the lengths that people will go to fabricate a glamorous drug lifestyle in order to avoid actual hardships.

“Neck & Wrist” sees Push and feature Jay-Z spitting over a whining synth and sharp piano key beat while they boast about a lifestyle they live but others pretend to have. HOV’s cutthroat line, “y’all spend real money on fake watches shockingly,” getting to the core of the absurd lengths people will go to construct facades.

“Diet Coke” then expands on why people aspire to have a certain kind of life but aren’t willing to assume the risks.

It seems on the latter portion of this project that Thorton lost motivation to push any boundaries however, which is disappointing when listeners come to expect that from him and his pen constantly. Not only did Push lose interest, but it appears Pharrell did too on “Call My Bluff” which is completely dry of energy and motivation.

“Scrape It Off” is definitely this album’s attempt at a top charting club banger, featuring Don Toliver on the hook and Lil Uzi Vert. Toliver is as reliable as ever giving an ethereal hook, but Uzi phones in his verse and Push doesn’t bring an interesting flow to spice up the track on its back end.

The final three songs on the albums are decent in their own right, but all come off as watered-down versions of more innovative cuts Push had earlier on the album. Even the final track “I Pray For You” doesn’t do much despite a beautiful intro and a Malice feature to rekindle a Clipse cut.

“It’s Almost Dry” comes out strong to show that Push is still among the one of the most elite in the game, but a weak back half of the project doesn’t propel him to the new heights that people wanted to see.

Favorite tracks:

Just So You Remember

Neck & Wrist (feat. JAY-Z & Pharrell Williams)

Dreamin Of The Past (feat. Kanye West)

Asher Ali is a staff writer. Follow him on Twitter.

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We Can't be Stopped: Geto Boys' Influence Permeates Through Modern Rap

April 20, 2022 by Giovanni Recinos in Read

by Giovanni Recinos

The Geto Boys is a Houston hip-hop group that is most commonly recognized for their smash hit “Mind Playin Tricks on Me,” released in 1991. However, their true impact on hip-hop culture is often overlooked.

Geto Boys' music laid a lot of groundwork for sub-genres and common topics in hip-hop today such as: horrorcore, mental health topics and mafioso raps. While these topics are much more normalized in today’s hip-hop scene, at the time, Geto Boys were threatened by censorship for their detailed and hardcore lyricism. Despite these challenges, the Geto Boys would be the first to propel Southern artists into hip-hop conversations.

While the group had received many changes to its lineup over the years, the most notable members are Scarface, Bushwick Bill and Willie D. While those names may not click right away, you most likely have encountered all three of these rappers. Scarface, first known as Akshen, is often regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time. Scarface has offered features to many classic records by rappers including Freddie Gibbs, Jay-Z and Gang Starr. His often direct and dirty mafioso raps worked hand in hand with the adoption of his new stage name “Scarface,” which was inspired by the 1983 film. Most recently, Scarface was featured on part 1 of the Jeen-Yuhs documentary, listening to Kanye West’s “Family Business.”

Bushwick Bill on the other hand was immediately a breakthrough for the industry. Standing at 3 feet and 8 inches tall, “Little Billy” was often the most aggressively twisted lyrically and was notable for his often off-beat delivery. Though, Bill’s most recognizable appearance in hip-hop would probably be his appearance on Dr. Dre’s, The Chronic track “Stranded On Death Row” where Bushwick provided vocals for the intro and outro.

Last is Willie D or the “Gangsta of Love,” who’s lyrics were often regarded as extremely misogynistic, but he should also be noted for calling out the music industry's racist double standards. His most notable reference in hip-hop is probably on Ice Cube’s famous N.W.A. diss track, “No Vaseline.” On the track, Ice Cube quotes Willie D’s lyrics saying, “Willie D told me to let a ho be a ho, so.”

No Radio, Talk show or Magazine: Geto Boys Uncensored.

Though the Geto Boys would originally debut in 1988 with their project, Making Trouble. This album would flop, leading to a change in line-up and of content for the group. With the newly added Scarface and Willie D, their lyrics would shift towards more aggressively detailed lyrics about sex, murder and violence on their second project Grip it! On That Other Level. Though at this point, this was nothing new for the hip-hop genre, as N.W.A. was already going through censorship issues for “Fuck The Police” and their supposed “glorified gangsterism.” 2 Live Crew also had members arrested in 1990 for playing their album which was deemed as “obscene” and therefore banned in certain parts of Florida.

The Geto Boys played their own role in the fight against censorship on their self-titled release, which contained both new and remixed tracks with the help of Rick Rubin. While the project was originally supposed to be distributed by Geffen Records, they refused to release the record stating, “I've never been frightened by a record before in my life, but for me the graphic details of the violence were really frightening. Finally we decided that we have a right as a private company to decide what kind of materials we want to be associated with, and this one, we decided, went too far.”

This project would later be released under WEA (now Warner Music) and would be the only WEA project to be released with an Explicit Content sticker along with this text, “Def American Recordings is opposed to censorship. Our manufacturer and distributor, however, do not condone or endorse the content of this recording, which they find violent, sexist, racist, and indecent.”

The Geto Boys would later call out the racism associated with these choices made by many of the music industry's distributors and manufacturers, as other albums with racist content towards minority groups were not given the same treatment. On their next project, We Can’t Be Stopped, they would call out the racism of the industry that they were being challenged by, arguing “It’s on the news every hour, why can’t I talk about it?” The choice to fight against the industry played a huge role in making music a place of free expression for many artists in the future such as: Tyler the Creator and Eminem.

mr. scarface is back.

Springboarding off of the gruesome organized crime motifs of the Scarface movie, along with the creation of the mafioso genre often, the Geto Boys played a huge role in setting the foundation of many elements of contemporary rap. Their debut album, Making Trouble, had already used samples from the Scarface film, but what really made the Geto Boys usage of the film stand out was their track “Scarface.” This track solely featured rapper Scarface, who at this point in his career was named Akshen. After the release of this track, Akshen would officially become Scarface and would later drop his debut album, Mr. Scarface is Back.

This project would really push the mafia aesthetic further in ways that were not really done before in hip-hop. The album cover has obvious inspiration from the film with its use of aesthetics and extreme imagery such as shotguns and cocaine.

While rappers from New York pushed the growth of the genre to what it is today, the Geto Boys and Scarface were some of the first artists to go into topics such as detailed murder and violence. These extremities in juxtaposition with the money received from these criminal activities, would become a huge factor in some of the most critical Mafioso projects such as Raekwon’s, Only Built 4 Linx… or Kool G Rap and DJ Polo’s Live and Let Die. The latter of which both Bushwick Bill and Scarface would feature on, emphasizing their influence on these artists. Without the Geto Boys, it is reasonable to question where the careers of rappers such as Freddie Gibbs, Griselda and Pusha T would have landed topically.

with birth comes death.

“Flashes, I get flashes of Jason. Gimme a knife, a million lives I’m wasting,” said Bushwick Bill in 1989. Since then, the horrorcore genre has grown immensely popular, touching artists such as Tyler, the Creator, Eminem and Three 6 Mafia. The group wasn’t just referencing horror movies, but also pairing it with eerie beats, psychotic mindsets and detailed violent content.

One of their most iconic horrorcore tracks is the track “Chuckie” which samples the 1988 film, Child’s Play. This track features Bushwick Bill solely, with him playing on his noticeably short height, stating, “I told you size wasn’t shit, so I murdered your nieces.” The graphic details related to murder and the abstract stream-of-consciousness on the track would affect the genre heavily, with obvious influence on the writing styles of Eminem’s Slim Shady LP and Marshall Mathers LP.

While this was the case, Scarface’s duality in the horrorcore genre should also be recognized. While Scarface was detailing violence and murder, Scarface was also detailing a more reflective side, often detailing his paranoia and depressions that brought these horrors to his mind. This is best showcased on “Mind Playing Tricks on Me,” where Scarface introduced a lot of mental health related topics to hip-hop and how they have brought out certain grim actions to his life. The Geto Boys overall did a ton for hip-hop and should be recognized for their influence on the trajectory of the genre. Rest in Peace Bushwick Bill.

Giovanni Recinos is a staff writer.

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