Today is the sixth day of Black History Month. Over the course of the month, I’ll spend some time paying tribute to Black artists across a wide and diverse array of genres and styles. My hope is that these posts should serve as an important reminder that the Black experience is the American experience, that Black culture is American culture — and importantly, Black lives and Black art matter. You can’t love Black art and Black artists without giving a shit about Black people.
This month won’t be a comprehensive study of Black music. It’ll be more idiosyncratic because — well, JOVM after all. Now, if you’ve been following this site, you may recall that so far I’ve paid tribute to:
- Chaka Khan
- Reverend Al Green
- The Whispers
- Rick James
- Aretha Franklin
- Sylvester
- Sister Rosetta Tharpe
- Chuck Berry
- Donna Summer
- Janet Jackson
- Prince
- The Isley Brothers
Today, I have to pay tribute to the legendary James Brown. Brown’s influence on modern music has been towering: he has written some of the most beloved, funkiest, party starting jams and heartfelt ballads ever written and recorded including “Get Up (Sex Machine),” “Say It Loud (I’m Black and I’m Proud)” “Get on the Good Foot,” “Hot Pants,” “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World,” “The Payback,” “Super Bad,” “Papa Don’t Take No Mess,” “Make It Funky (Part 1),” “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag,” and countless others have been covered, referenced and sampled endlessly — in just about every genre and style known to man.
And from the live footage, Brown was one of the most dynamic, most entertaining performers on the face of the earth.
