Disregard the understated title;
Small Talk at 125th and Lenox was a volcanic upheaval of intellectualism and social critique, recorded live in a New York nightclub with only bongos and conga to back the street poet. Here
Scott-Heron introduced some of his most biting material, including the landmark
"The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" as well as his single most polemical moment: the angry race warning
"Enough." Still, he balances the tone and mood well, ranging from direct broadsides to clever satire. He introduces
"Whitey on the Moon" with a bemused air ("wanting to give credit where credit is due"), then launches into a diatribe concerning living conditions for the neglected on earth while those racing to the moon receive millions of taxpayer dollars. On
"Evolution (And Flashback)," Scott-Heron laments the setbacks of the civil rights movement and provides a capsule history of his race, ending sharply with these words: "In 1960, I was a negro, and then
Malcolm came along/Yes, but some nigger shot
Malcolm down, though the bitter truth lives on/Well, now I am a black man, and though I still go second class/Whereas once I wanted the white man's love, now he can kiss my ass." The only sour note comes on a brush with homophobia,
"The Subject Was Faggots." ~ John Bush
