Since writing poetry as a teenager and making his first foray into songs on 1970's Small Talk at 125th and Lenox, Gil Scott-Heron's fusion of message and music has influenced countless activists and artists. His aggressive, political street poetry—especially the funk-based anthem "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised"—inspired the earliest rappers. Now, after years of personal troubles, he sounds amazingly vibrant, reciting emotionally powerful autobiographical tales accompanied by dark, edgy soundscapes blending hip hop, dubstep, and minimal electronics (producer, collaborator, and XL owner Richard Russell's influence).
I'm New Here is Scott-Heron's first studio album in sixteen years. It is a study in redemption. It’s a slow, gloomy ride to hell and back narrated in first person by the traveler. Scott-Heron bookends the scattered collection of original spoken word, cover songs (Robert Johnson's “Me and the Devil” and Smog’s “I’m New Here”), and snippets of conversations with childhood reflections. It almost sounds like he is absolving his elders of any responsibility for his missteps, the drug addiction and multiple incarcerations. Scott-Heron accepts his fate, he accepts his liability, and he does so with unadulterated candor. His voice is cracked and worn, but he still manages to power through each song, and he draws a powerfully sad, but mesmerizing picture of what can happen if the shady side of life catches you slipping.
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