Washington Post‘s Courtland Milloy interviews poet-rapper Gil Scott-Heron about drugs, poetry, Obama, and the inspirational power of D.C..

Scott-Heron comments that Obama is “like a young rapper working to find his voice. Don’t judge him by his first CD.”

Scott-Heron will perform at the fifth annual D.C. Poetry Festival, which begins on Friday, August 28 at 7:30 pm at the Carter Barron Amphitheatre in Rock Creek Park.