TNY GSH RTCL

dukeofdelridge

anyone read this??

pretty gnarly.

I loved his answer to "what do you think about people calling you 'the Godfather of rap?", though: "I think they made a mistake."

HarveyCanal

Who calls him the godfather of rap?

dukeofdelridge

Originator of rap?

something like that...remove quotes from the question, I guess. Good stuff about his being confused with Last Poets, being a member of the Last Poets, etc...

the rap angle is secondary: the punchline is that he smokes cocaine daily.

DocMcCoy

dukeofdelridge said:

anyone read this??

pretty gnarly.

I loved his answer to "what do you think about people calling you 'the Godfather of rap?", though: "I think they made a mistake."

Any chance of a c&p for those of us who don't subscribe/get it a week late? I buy The New Yorker every now and again, usually for things like this, but I have to go quite far out of my way to cop it these days. This paywall thing is really taking hold now, isn't it?

Also, LOL at M.I.A.'s label boss being described as "British hip-hop producer Richard Russell" (although I'm sure he'll be chuffed at the description).

GSH never liked that "godfather of rap" tag. I remember a TV interview with him in about 81/82, where the journalist's entire angle was, "As the godfather of rap, what do you think of...etc., etc", and he began to get pretty tired of it. He was asked if he'd heard "The Message", and he said something like, "Yeah, I heard it. Couldn't figure out what the message was, though..."

dukeofdelridge

damn, first time dealing with a paywall like this...wasn't even registered.

any instructions on how to save this digitally and kill paper media just that much more? (and if you say "printscreencaps," you'd better be sending me rackords lol)

it's some java reader thing. there's an option to print pages off: how can I print these to a file or whatever?

DocMcCoy

Don't worry. I have to go into town tomorrow, so I'll see if anywhere has the current issue.

Junior

If anyone has a copy of the article or knows where it's been shared more openly would love to read this. The thing about still smoking crack daily makes me feel really sad.

kicks79

Did people like his latest album ?
I couldn't get past how wrecked his voice sounds these days

Junior

I thought it was ok with moments I really liked - the whole thing felt very nineties UK trip hop production wise (particularly Me And The Devil) which is either a good or bad thing depending on your impressions of that period.

Jimster

A friend was in the band who opened for him in Liverpool a while back (IIRC this was the Amnesia Express - I guess the clue was in the title...) I ummed and ahhed about going because he has a reputation for not showing but he talked me into it as they confirmed they'd had Gil in to soundcheck and it was a free lift there and back and a blag in.

So Friends band opened on time. Then we waited about 2 hours, and nothing. At about 1AM, they said he was 10 mins away (he was looking for dope). We knew the club would shut at 2. So we left. I wouldn't bother again. I can't remember if he ever did show for even a couple of numbers.

I can't see him being coherent enough to record anything meaningful, especially when the bar, for me, is set at the "Home Is Where The Hatred Is" level offa "It's Your World".

A tragic waste. You know how this is going to end.

Junior

A friend met Gil fleetingly a good few years ago when he played at the Jazz Cafe and he popped outside afterwards and ended up asking him for a cigarette. By all accounts he looked pretty awful then so I can only think of the state he's in now. Really depressing. On a more positive note, even taking into account his stunning early seventies output for me it doesn't get any better than this: