(ThyBlackMan.com) When we talk about the DNA of hip-hop, three words always come up: James Brown. Breakbeats. From the moment DJs like Kool Herc and Grandmaster Flash first looped those funk grooves ...

(ThyBlackMan.com) When I first wrote about James Brown, I thought I’d covered enough ground with the big hits—the songs everyone knows and loves. But not long after that article went live, I started ...

James Brown’s breakout hit “Please, Please, Please” drew directly from the gospel tradition, channeling its pleading repetition and raw emotion into a new sound. Misunderstood by critics but ...

When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Credit: Matthew Eisman/WireImage/Getty Images Bootsy Collins is the ultimate funkateer, which is ...

James Brown‘s live shows, with his exhilarating stage presence and vocal prowess, were the sort you had to see to believe, or at the very least, hear to believe. Which is why Brown’s choice to record ...

James Brown was a complicated man who experienced both the glory of career success and the downfall of a prison term or two. For all of his talents and his well-earned title as “The Hardest-Working ...