Resurfacing at the end of a prison sentence for repeat drug offences, the venerated African-American poet, singer and performer decided to get back to work. Physically battered by all the abuse, he was not mentally diminished, still able to gather all the strength he had left. Poetic reflections, autobiographical diffractions and declamations, a Robert Johnson cover and unreleased songs were set to resolutely contemporary music. Not a single milligram of nostalgia is in the mix of this exceptional album, released one year before an untimely death… which was certainly not televised.
