A docuseries about the Godfather of Soul, James Brown, was recently released on A&E, and while discussing the project with People, one of his daughters has stated that if it weren’t for her father, hip-hop music and certain R&B stars wouldn’t exist.
In an exclusive interview with the media outlet, Deanna Brown discussed the four-part docuseries James Brown: Say It Loud that premiered on Monday,
Feb. 19, with the second part airing on Tuesday, Feb. 20 at 8 p.m. EST. The documentary highlights the musical contribution of the “Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” singer to the culture of music in general and hip-hop and R&B specifically. Deanna outlines his contribution for those who may not realize his influence. She makes clear that the Godfather of Soul has influenced some of music’s most popular artists.“There would be no hip-hop. There would be no rap because he’s the most-sampled artist,” Deanna stated. “There would be no Michael [Jackson], there would be no Usher, there’d be no Chris Brown — all these people who took from him.”
She has a valid point, but she didn’t stop there.
“I mean, where would it be? You could ask a lot of these musicians, they’ll tell you the same thing
. It would probably be zero. I think LL [Cool J] says that in the documentary that the trajectory of music would be — he can’t even imagine where it would be without James Brown.”Brown passed away at 73 years old on Christmas Day in 2006.
This docuseries is not the first biographical film on Brown. In 2014,
“Mr. Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown” was released in April and was produced by Mick Jagger, the frontman for the legendary rock group The Rolling Stones. Later that year, “Black Panther” lead actor Chadwick Boseman played the role of the “Sex Machine” recording artist in the movie, “Get On Up.”RELATED CONTENT: James Brown Honored At Historic Grand Opening Of Cincinnati Black Music Walk Of Fame