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1981

‘I, Too, Sing New York’: Gil Scott-Heron from ‘New York City’ to ‘New York Is Killing Me’

image of ‘I, Too, Sing New York’: Gil Scott-Heron from ‘New York City’ to ‘New York Is Killing Me’

In 1976, Gil Scott-Heron recorded “New York City” while on tour with Brian Jackson and the Midnight Band. The song was a tribute to the rough and tumble streets and resilient, down but not out residents in its unglamorous corners and alleys, and an indictment of those who abused power. In 2010, he recorded “New York is Killing Me” on his final album. This track narrates his desire to leave New York and laments the alienation and abuses visited on the marginal and working classes in the Big Apple.

Keywords: Black Music ; Caribbean Influences and Salsa ; Gentrification ; Gil Scott-Heron ; New York City ; Northern Migration ; Race and Class in New York ; Reverse Migration ; Rhythm and Blues ; Urban Life

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References

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References

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     [Google Scholar]
  2. Baram, Marcus (2014), Gil Scott-Heron: Pieces of a Man, New York: St. Martin's Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  3. Davis, Arthur P. (1954), ‘Jesse B. Semple: Negro American’, Phylon, 15:1, pp. 21–28.
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Ferre-Sadurni, Luis (2019), ‘To Save Public Housing, New York Warily Considers a New Approach: Tear Some Down’, New York Times, 25 April, p. 20.
     [Google Scholar]
  5. Gilson, Dave (2010), ‘Slogans for Sale’, Mother Jones, 19 February, https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2010/02/slogans-sale/. Accessed 23 July 2022.
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Goffe, Leslie Gordon (2012), Gil Scott-Heron: A Father and Son Story, Kingston: LMH Publishing.
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Gonnerman, Jennifer (2014), ‘Before the Law’, The New Yorker, 29 September, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/10/06/before-the-law. Accessed 23 July 2022.
     [Google Scholar]
  8. Hughes, Langston (1995a), ‘I, Too, Sing America’, The Collected Works of Langston Hughes, New York: Vintage Books.
     [Google Scholar]
  9. Hughes, Langston (1995b), Langston Hughes and the Chicago Defender (ed. C. De Santis), Champaign: University of Illinois Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  10. Hunt, Matthew O., Hunt, Larry O. and Falk, William W. (2004), ‘Return Migrations of African-Americans to the South: Reclaiming a Land of Promise, Going Home, or Both?’ Rural Sociology, 69:4, pp. 490–509.
     [Google Scholar]
  11. Lazarus, Emma ([1883] 2010), ‘The New Colossus’, The American Mosaic: The Latino American Experience, ABC-CLIO Databases, https://www.abc-clio.com/products/laamw/. Accessed 21 September 2023.
     [Google Scholar]
  12. Lipsitz, George (2007), Footsteps in the Dark: The Hidden Histories of Popular Music, Minneapolis: Minnesota Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  13. Mugge, Robert (1982), Gil Scott-Heron: Black Wax, USA: Channel 4 Films, Mug-Shot Films and Streaming.
  14. Rose, Tricia (1994), Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America, Middletown: Wesleyan University Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  15. Scott-Heron, Gil (1976), ‘New York City’, It's Your World, CD, USA: Arista Records.
  16. Scott-Heron, Gil (2010), ‘New York Is Killing Me’, I'm New Here, CD, UK: XL Records.
  17. Scott-Heron, Gil (2017), The Last Holiday, New York: Cannongate Books.
     [Google Scholar]
  18. Slatin, Peter (1994), ‘Architecture: Disney to the rescue in Times Square; New York is Trying to Clean Up a Part of Manhattan That Has Been Taken Over by Sleaze and Drugs: Who Else to Lead the Way Than Walt Disney?’ The Independent, 6 April, https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/news/architecture-disney-to-the-rescue-in-times-square-new-york-is-trying-to-clean-up-a-part-of-manhattan-that-has-been-taken-over-by-sleaze-and-drugs-who-else-to-lead-the-way-than-walt-disney-peter-slatin-1368218.html. Accessed 23 July 2022.60
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     [Google Scholar]
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     [Google Scholar]
  21. Thomson, Steven (2014), ‘As “Gentrification” Turns 50, Tracing Its Nebulous History’, Curbed, 5 November, https://ny.curbed.com/2014/11/5/10026804/tracing-the-history-of-an-idea-as-gentrification-turns-50. Accessed 23 July 2022.
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