Art & Technology

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

In 2001, during the early days of Napster and 4 GB hard drives, I downloaded a mysterious audilo file. It was a jazzy piece of hip-hop floetry called “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” written and spoken by a guy named Gil Scott Herren. I found it again — this time on YouTube, and this time, with some nice visuals to accompany it. Check it out.

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4 Responses to “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”

  1. On March 12, 2007 at 7:11 pm Kiki responded with... #

    Hey ke-van!
    I really apreciated the words, it was great encouragement to keep going and know that I am on the right track. I don’t think you were off base at all (hope not!). Thanks friend.

  2. On March 12, 2007 at 7:24 pm thomas responded with... #

    So the revolution was televised after all?

    My english teacher played this for us in my grade 12 english class, and I thought that he probably donned the beret he often wore and listened to it with his eyes closed in his desk chair during his spares.

  3. On March 13, 2007 at 1:16 am Harrison responded with... #

    I love Gil Scott Herren. He’s, like, a huge inspiration for Public Enemy, Saul Williams, and a slough of other black reformers.

    His stuff has aged quite unbeautifully, though.

  4. On March 13, 2007 at 3:53 pm Kevan responded with... #

    Kiki: You’re welcome!

    Thomas: More like…webalized. And yeah, it does have that posturing beat poet flavour to it, doesn’t it?

    Harrison: By “unbeautifully,” are you suggesting that Herren’s references to Scag, Xerox, Nixon, Hog Maws and Steve McQueen aren’t current? Oh come onnn…

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