Gil-Scott Heron died at the age of 62 on Friday afternoon.
Although not a massive influence on skateboard video soundtracks over the years, Gil-Scott Heron’s music has adorned both Jahmal Williams Eastern Exposure 3 part and Nate Jones’ Real to Reel part, so that’s worthy enough of some acknowledgement on behalf of the skateboard media concerned with respectable music choices. (Strangely enough, those two skaters were mentioned in unison in a recent post, and have no association with one another beyond the fact that they both had their own Chrome Ball Incident posts last week, and have skated to a Gil-Scott Heron song.) The artsy video for last year’s Me and the Devil also had some weird skateboarder motif and a whole bunch of footage shot at the Banks and surrounding areas.
Familiarize yourself with the man’s music, as he’s responsible for Nate Jones’ song AKA what this website constantly claims is one of the best skating and song combinations of all-time, among a great many other things. There’s way more to Gil-Scott than “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” and more recently, “New York is Killing Me.” Rest in Peace.