As Told To Jerry L. Barrow

Black music to Pete Rock is like steak to a hungry lion. It’s so soulful and soothing to the human body. People don’t even realize that music can heal. Music is like medicine, bro. And what I grew up off of , soul wise, jazz wise, I range from Teddy Pendergrass, Barry White, Isaac Hayes, James Brown, all the way down to Coltrane, Miles Davis, James Baldwin, Thelonious [Monk], I go deep. Reggae influences — Ken Lazarus, John Holt, Gregory Isaacs, rest in peace, Sugar Minott, rest in peace, Super Cat — all these people made a huge impact on me. The types of music I’m talking about, from reggae to soul to jazz, those were the three main elements that had Pete Rock going as a kid. My pops listened to classical as well, but I no had clue of classical until I got older and was digging for records and found samples and learned about classical stuff like that.

Black music is so important to me. It actually defines who I am today. It made me who I am today. And to me, that says a lot about black music; it says a lot when you see white people singing soul music, when you see white people diggin’ on our culture. We as a people are so influential to everyone. And I learned this from going all over the world, from Japan to Australia, and I see how people love our culture more than we love it. And it’s a sad thing, but at the same time, it’s like okay. Retired musicians or people that still do music who have passion and love for it can come out here and make a living and be okay. Because the people from like Germany, London, and Paris, they love it! Ukraine. They love Hip-Hop; they love black music. They love the soul, they love the funk, they love the jazz, they love the reggae — they love it. And to me, black music is like … I’m trying to find another word for strong … it carries so much strength, and it’s so influential that you can’t really deny it. And it’s all around you whether you like it or not.

When I met James Brown at seven years old, I think he passed along something to me when I shook his hand. I look at that today, and I say, “Damn, I think James Brown gave me a piece of his [soul] power.” He came to Mount Vernon and he did a concert with Bobby Bird and The JBS in my hood at a spot called the Left Bank. And I’m telling you I’ve never seen Mount Vernon so poppin’ in my entire life! It was always poppin’–don’t get it twisted–because we used to do little parties in the hood and stuff like that and everybody would come out. But James Brown — I mean I was seven years old, me and my brother Grap, and we walked in the joint and my mother talked to one of James’ bodyguards or managers or something and was asking him, “Yo, can my kids meet James?” And the next thing you know, he came up behind us and I shook his hand and he was like, “God bless you man, God bless you.” And he shook my mother’s hand and he shook my brother’s hand. And it left something with me. This was before he got on stage. He shook our hands and then we watched the show. And I left that place not the same. So you see how strong black music can be. It had a heavy impact on me in my life.

Jazz…We Got…

I think that jazz music is more of an expression music. But certain band members or players would express themselves by playing the instrument they love and made beautiful music with that. Jazz was very important because it was connected someway to soul but had another style. It was more difficult than soul. Soul music was easily defined. But jazz, you really had to get into it and really feel these players. Because they’re expressing themselves in a way where I feel is how they lived their everyday life; it was messaged in the music. Jazz was very important. My dad taught me about it, taught me about John Coltrane and who Miles Davis was. He had the records. And I used to go through the albums and I remember certain album covers as a kid — now, when I see those same album covers, I get these flashbacks easily like, “Damn, I remember what I was doing at this point. I remember this cover.” Like Harry Belafonte albums — my pops had everybody. And he just played jazz albums everyday. And you do that and your kids around, it’s going to do something good. It’s going to influence the kids somehow. And somehow the music sticks with you, and there are certain records that I remember my dad playing that I’m still trying to find today.

There’s this one 45 that I remember the music, but can’t remember the artist. I remember the label it was on — Kapp Records. And it was just one of those things that stuck in my head. I’m just letting you know what jazz music did to me as kid; it just stuck with me as I grew up. And my older brother was into fusion jazz. He used to listen to Bluefoot and Weather Report. And then I started learning about that, and I liked the fusion jazz. And one of my favorite jazz albums was Miles Davis’ — I actually have two — Water Babies and Bitches Brew. Two of his claim to fame albums that people remember. And the Tutu album as well — Soul Survivor II is like a remixed version. If you look at my cover and look at his cover, you’ll see what I did. I tried to do it just like him. And I did that just because of the influence of his music and just how much it meant to me as a kid.

Dutty Wine…

Reggae music was a big influence on my family, because we’re Jamaican. And that’s all we listen to. Everyday. Every single day of my life there was not one time my father wasn’t coming home from work and gettin’ it in with the reggae music. So I was pretty intrigued by that as a kid and learning about the artists, of course; that became really easy to me because that was the first music that I learned before jazz. As I got older and it got more popular, reggae wasn’t as popular a music as soul or jazz or R&B, because you had the reggae artists re-doing the American music. They had weight though — they would do it in the reggae style, and that’s how they broke into the market in America. Now everyone here loves reggae.

And I’m just glad that I was taught the way I was taught, I’m glad I learned what I learned. I used to just hang out in record shops with my pops. I had Jamaican uncles who had record stores. I was born into this, bro. Yeah, I was born to do this. That all became influential in creating Hip-Hop music — it takes various other things to create one great thing. And to me, soul and jazz and all that stuff was just influential to black people to create Hip-Hop music. Because we used that music, and we took the break beats from it and made Hip-Hop. Kool Herc was a great man for coming from Jamaica and introducing the sound of reggae music to Hip-Hop. And the band members and how they would play deep bass and heavy drums, and reggae was all about that. The heavy bass, the heavy drums, the guitar licks, and Kool Herc introduced it to Hip-Hop and showed people, “Hey look, if we can continue to loop this part of the record where there’s just the drum beat…” That’s how Hip-Hop was born.

And then you had cats like Grand Wizzard Theodore who invented scratching. And then you have Grandmaster Flash, who’s one of the key members in Hip-Hop who was one of the forefront guys along with EST, and then you had Cold Crush, Charlie Chase…And that’s why I always will big up Kool Herc and Bambaataa — that’s my school; that’s where I learned about Hip-Hop, through those guys. It’s real heavy man, real heavy.

In 2011 Black Music is as big as ever; it’s as big as it wants to be. Black music is still strong, but it just lacks originality now with these new guys following each other and doing the same thing and not being different from one another. One hot record comes on the radio, and then all of them are doing the same type of beat. That’s the only thing I can say I have a problem with [in] today’s black music. But other than that, I love to see my people doing what we do best, which is entertain, which is show talent and so forth. I have nothing against anybody, and I would work with anybody who wants to work with me at this point. To me, I think it’s still as strong as it was in the 70s, but it’s not as original as it was back then. That’s all I look for is the originality, and all this new stuff that I’m doing, coming out with, shows versatility and originality.

Pete Rock’s album with Smiff-N-Wessun, Monumental will be in stores June 28th

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When: October 24, 1962

What: The Godfather Of Soul records his live performance at the world famous venue, and it becomes the first Soul album to go platinum.

In celebration of Black Music Month, TheUrbanDaily’s “It’s All Black Music” presents 100 Rewarding Black Music Moments, sponsored by Southwest Airlines.

Each Black Music Moment is associated with an actual place that you can visit. During the month of June, check in to at least three of these places on Foursquare to unlock TheUrbanDaily’s exclusive “It’s All Black Music” Badge. Check out the locations and details on our Foursquare page!

When: February 1965

What: James Brown’s “Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag” is one of the first songs to epitomize the syncopated styling and wailing horn section his fans and future Hip-Hop generations would come to adore. Recorded in Charlotte, consider it the birth of funk.

In celebration of Black Music Month, TheUrbanDaily’s “It’s All Black Music” presents100 Rewarding Black Music Moments, sponsored by Southwest Airlines.

Each Black Music Moment is associated with an actual place that you can visit. During the month of June, check in to at least three of these places on Foursquare to unlock TheUrbanDaily’s exclusive “It’s All Black Music” Badge. Check out the locations and details on our Foursquare page!

They rightfully turned to black musicians to score their films and add an extra touch of soul. In many cases, the soundtracks have outlasted the films.

Samples of History: Curtis Mayfield’s “Impressions” On Today’s Music

REWIND: Antonio “Huggy Bear” Fargas On Snitching & Blaxploitation

The list of acts that composed film scores for these blaxploitation movies reads like a who’s who of classic 70′s soul: Isaac Hayes, Curtis Mayfield, Bobby Womack, James Brown, and Marvin Gaye, just to name a few.

We’ve put together a gallery featuring some of the most essential soundtracks from the great black film renaissance of the 1970s.

Which ones are your favorites???

jungle boogie (jungle –oft attrib to Hindi jangal + boogie – prob alter of bogle – goblin, object of fear) a 1974 hit by Kool & the Gang, frequently sampled by hip-hop artists, perhaps the funkiest piece of music ever recorded.

funk (French dialectical funquer – to give off smoke) 1. A type of popular music combining elements of jazz, blues and soul and characterized by syncopated rhythm and a heavy, repetitive bass line. 2. a strong, offensive, unwashed odor.

Funk stroked onto the music scene in the late Sixties, fueled by the rise of the civil rights movement, the growth of African-American consciousness as expressed by writers like Nikki Giovanni and LeRoi Jones, comics like Richard Pryor and Dick Gregory, and the growing influence of African-American record labels such as Stax / Volt in Memphis and Philadelphia International. Funk can be understood as a cross-pollination of soul, rock and jazz, with an emphasis on African-American identity and presentation.

Funk, in African-American vernacular, originally meant “a highly identifiable and/or offensive odor” or “smelly.” By the late ‘60s, “funky” grew to represent all sorts of characteristics that were earthy, musty, shady, physical, emotional, sexual, sweaty – diametrically opposed to anything clinical, judgmental, or antiseptic — characteristics often associated with caucasians, the ruling class, or “the man.” By identifying yourself with “funk,” you identify yourself as the “other.” You elevate the status of the underdog and reject a polar mode of thinking, working towards an integration of opposites. Funk music, in its best form, is the integration of both halves of human consciousness – ego and id, heart and loins, black and white – in the words of funkmeister George Clinton, “the groove that makes you think.”

Funk music can be traced back to the days of the jazz offshoot be-bop and its inheritors and to the roots of rock and roll — Louis Jordan, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Robert Johnson, Little Richard – African-American musicians who were not ashamed of themselves, who took chances, challenged the musical mores of their day and became great innovators in the continuum of African-American music.

While James Brown is considered by many to be the first overtly funky artist (many funkologists identify Brown’s 1964 hit “Out of Sight” as the first funk record, others swear by the Isley Brothers’ 1964 release “Testify, Pts. 1 & 2,” featuring searing lead guitar by Jimi Hendrix), other artists were experimenting with the sound that was to be known as funk — the Meters in New Orleans, Otis Redding, Booker T & The MGs and Al Green in Memphis, Ike & Tina, Stevie Wonder, Curtis Mayfield and other artists in cities across America were all feeling the funk — shifting the emphasis from the backbeat of R&B to the heavy downbeat on the first beat of the measure, dropping it “on the one,” and filling the spaces with horns and guitar, while the bass was elevated from solely rhythm to a force of its own. Sly Stone’s integrated Family introduced an unsuspecting nation to funk at Woodstock. Funk “orchestras” soon became the norm: seas of vocalists, walls of horns, guitars and percussion sections, decked out in flashy, fantastic costumes and jamming together in choreographed time-step. Parliament-Funkadelic, Earth Wind & Fire, The Ohio Players and the Commodores made funk the ultimate party music, not just with their bizarre conceptual humor, but their sheer excess — huge ensembles of musicians and dancers, all jamming on the same groove as long as they possibly could, people levitating, huge props flown in from the wings, fireworks and flame-throwers, pure spectacle!

Funk as a genre almost did not survive the 1980′s. Disco was a funk-derived genre, and its rise and the later “disco sucks” backlash created an environment hostile to all sorts of African-American music. The availability and convenience of the synthesizer and the drum machine made large funk bands seem cumbersome and economically obsolete. Artists like Prince, Cameo and Kool and the Gang successfully adapted to the new environment to survive and achieved chart success through the ‘80s and ‘90s as funk paved the way for the next development in African-American music — hip-hop.

– Meredith Rutledge for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

With the increasing number of films aimed towards black audiences in the early 1970s, filmmakers realized that they couldn’t turn to Henry Mancini to provide the musical backdrops for these movies.

They rightfully turned to black musicians to score their films and add an extra touch of soul.  In many cases, the soundtracks have outlasted the films.

The list of acts that composed film scores for these blaxploitation movies reads like a who’s who of classic 70′s soul:  Isaac Hayes, Curtis Mayfield, Bobby Womack, James Brown, and Marvin Gaye, just to name a few.

We’ve put together a gallery featuring some of the most essential soundtracks from the great black film renaissance of the 1970s.

Which ones are your favorites???

RELATED: Curtis Mayfield’s “Impressions” On Today’s Music

RELATED: 10 Of The Best Black Music Movies

The hours immediately following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr were understandably a very tense time across the United States.

The death of the Civil Rights leader left many people agitated and angry.  The city of Boston, in particular, was a ticking time bomb, and city leaders were worried about potential rioting.

The next day, helped arrived in the form of music legend James Brown.

Brown was already scheduled to perform a concert on April 5th, 1968 at Boston Gardens.  Boston’s then-mayor, Kevin White considered cancelling the show, but feared the cancellation would provoke riots.  White brokered a deal with Brown’s organization that White believed would keep people off of the streets and ease the tension in the city.

James Brown’s concert would be broadcast live on a local television station.

Filmmaker David Leaf put together an excellent documentary film in 2008 about this legendary concert, and how James Brown saved Boston featuring footage from the show as well as interviews from Brown’s band members, Reverend Al Sharpton, Dr Cornel West, and many others.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

RELATED: D’Angelo’s “Voodoo” Still Casting Spells 10 Years Later

RELATED: Prince Pens Crappy Song For Minnesota Vikings

James Brown brings the funk to Christmas with “Hey America.”  Play this one when your uncle’s had a bit too much egg nog and starts trying to do the electric slide to “Jingle Bells.”

Visitors to Madison Square Garden’s website have the opportunity to vote for what they feel the true anthem of New York City is. The only options are Frank Sinatra’s timeless “New York, New York”, and Jay-Z’s three-months-old-and-already-overstayed-its-welcome “Empire State of Mind.”

It’s rather interesting that this topic has even been brought up for debate as Jay’s song doesn’t exactly paint the best portrait of the Big Apple: drugs, prostitution, and so forth.

However, if MSG wants to keep the rules a little loose for what the true New York City anthem is, here’s a few more suggestions:

Tru-Life “The New New York”

French Montana feat. Jadakiss “New York Minute”

Cam’ron feat. Jay-Z & Juelz Santana “Welcome To New York City”

Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five “New York, New York”

Ja Rule feat. Fat Joe & Jadakiss “New York”

Busta Rhymes “New York Sh*t”

Odyssey “Native New Yorker”

James Brown “Down And Out In New York City”

I still don’t think that Chris sung that “Apology” track [click here to read], but The Urban Daily thinks these other nine guys can give the wannabe beggar a run for his money.

Check out ‘The Best Beggars In History’ below:

Shoutout to Audris, Aura, Alyson, JBarrow & Shanelle!

Director Spike Lee has reiterated his desire to make a James Brown biopic, with Wesley Snipes handling the role of the Godfather of Soul. “We’re doing it together, it’s going to happen,” Lee told MTV News at the Sundance Film Festival; the director first announced his intentions the day after Brown’s death. Like the Ray Charles biopic Ray, the Brown film will feature the singer’s voice dubbed over Snipes’ pipes when the songs kick in. “I want to hear James Brown’s voice. That’s just my personal taste,” the Do The Right Thing director said. “I know Joaquin Phoenix in Walk the Line, he did some of the singing. I’m a purist.” (And we all know what happened when Phoenix’s taste of playing a rocker led to a new career in the music industry.)

Snipes was sentenced to three years in prison in April 2008 after he was convicted of federal income tax evasion, so while the actor remains free while awaiting an appeal, Lee will need to rush in order to get this film made with Snipes in the lead role. We were kind of leery about whether Snipes still had the ability to take on such a high-profile performance, especially considering how his last six films were Direct-to-DVD, by-the-books action movies filmed in Europe while he was in exile from the U.S. But then we remembered Snipes’ turns in Major League and White Men Can’t Jump and felt better about the casting choice.

Lee and Paramount Pictures acquired the rights to the Brown biopic shortly after the singer died in 2006 of heart failure. Snipes signed on for the role in 2007. Lee has his hands full in 2009, with a planned Inside Man sequel and a Michael Jordan documentary also in the works.

SOURCE: Rolling Stone

Papa’s got a brand-new sign. The block behind the Apollo, where James Brown’s early appearances spurred him to fame, has been co-named James Brown Way. It’s part of a new law that will co-name streets around the city after great African-Americans, including Count Basie, Paul Robeson, and Marcus Garvey. And Billie Holiday and Shirley Chisholm, just in case you were thinking it’s only a man’s man’s maaaaaaaaan’s world.

SOURCE: NYMag.com

New York’s Ujamaa Black Theater is planning a special tribute show to honor the late Bernie Mac, who died of pneumonia last August at age 50.

The company has placed an ad in Back Stage – an entertainment-industry magazine with a special focus on casting – seeking black actors, singers, and comedians, as well as look-alikes for Mac, Isaac Hayes and James Brown, according to the New York Post.

In the meantime, fans of the comic can look forward to one more blast of Bernie in the movies with Disney’s Old Dogs, in which he co-stars with John Travolta and Robin Williams

“When he drove up to park his car in the garage, he was confronted. An altercation of some sort took place. That’s when the victim was shot multiple times,” said Atlanta police Officer Eric Schwartz. Darren “Chip” Lumar lived in a gated community which prompted authorities to believe that “somebody knew him.”

Eyewitnesses said that after the gunman shot Lumar, the perpetrator was side-stepping away, as if he was looking to see if anyone was watching him. He then rounded a corner, possibly jumping a fence and then got into a car that was waiting for him.

Lumar – struck with bullets, but still alive – then got into a car and drove four miles to Northside Hospital where he eventually passed away. Lumar was married to James Brown’s daughter, Yamma Brown Lumar, who had recently divorced him. Sources close to the family and the case told CBS 46 that when Lumar arrived at the hospital, he had $4,000 in cash in his pocket.

As of yet, police said that they have not made any arrests and don’t have a motive.