May third, 1933
James Brown is born - stillborn delivery
Revived by resuscitation
His childhood was nothin amazin
Abandonned at 4
Mama took a dash for that door
Guess it's hard bein that poor
Raised by his aunt in Augusta,
Georgia. 16 wound up cuffed up
Armed robbery
Spend three years state property
But at least he ate properly
Locked up he joined a band called the Flames
And reconnected with his gospel roots
Leadin the band was a man by the name Bobby Byrd
And his family helped get Brown parolled
After countless shows on the Chitlin Circuit
The Flames agreed and James became lead
Switchin from gospel to R&B
Their first song released was 'Please, please, please'
That was '56
Two years later they had a 1 hit
See they ain't never seen feet that quick
Or the elaborate theatrics that he patented
Like the cape routine
Even the way he screamed
Became a part of his personal trademark
But he wasn't nationally known
Till after he released the Live at The Apollo LP
In '63 but originally
The label didn't see it sellin, they was like 'Why chance it?'
So he financed it
And before you knew it, it was gigantic
Credited for turnin gospel to soul
then soul to funk
when his band emphasized the One
Had 'em screamin 'I'm Black and I'm proud!'
From old to young
Told his people don't hold your tongue
That was '68 in the summer
Before that we was callin eachother colored
In '72 the Black leader
Was asked to score the film Black Ceasar
Which was about Black mobsters and so
In fun they called him the Godfather of Soul
And he stuck with it
Just tellin you how they came up with it
Now with everybody jackin his swagger
From Jackson to Jagger
His influence kept music improvin
Funkmaster
Even Elvis wanted his band for back-up
Two times he revolutionized Black music
Then he did it with rap music
They took his grooves, used them as they own
Searchin his songs like siftin for gold
Ironically the nuggets they did chop
Created the golden era of hip-hop
He ran the whole scene
Had em seachin for that James Brown soul like dope fiends
But it wasn't all rosy
Flattered
But when you don't see proceeds...
It pissed him off
they would get rich and not hit him off
When it's him that they samplin
He didn't hate rap, he just wanted payback
Like "Damn, I made that!" [I'm mad]
But now top of the list is he
The most sampled artist in history
Sampled by nearly every veteran in rap
His mark in Hip-Hop another feather in his cap
The unauthorized biography of James Brown.
Epilogue...
Leavin a legacy of over 115 charted hits
And I believe six children
He is considered perhaps the most influencial person
In music history
Not without flaw but who is?
Deceased December 25th, 2006.
Then end