Gil Scott-Heron was a jazz poet, musician, singer, and author. During the 1970s and 1980s, he collaborated with multiple musicians, fusing blues and soul and jazz that related to political issues at the time. Using rapping and melismatic vocal styles, his jazz-soul beat was considered a major influence on hip hop music. "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" was one of his most significant poems, and he received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award posthumously in 2012.