Post
by dappa d » Tue Dec 26, 2006 10:18 pm
This is a great loss, it is unbelievable how active he was until his death.
What the media never forget to mention is his influence on hip-hop and R&B.
I would suggest, however, that his legacy can be traced through to today's electronic music just as vividly.
Ok, so the progression from hip-hop to D&B is not hard to make. People used to comment that D&B is basically the old school breaks (though "amen" by the winstons was a minor source compared to the JBs breaks, "give the drummer some", "funky drummer" countless...) used in hiphop at nearly twice the speed.
But really, this had some affect on what would become dance, house and dare I say it, far down the line, dubstep. Mainstreaming funk was Brown's crowning achievement. In addition to this, he was one of the first artists with WORLDWIDE listernership to be able to put out a record where the band was vamping for 15 minutes (see it's A Mother (1969) or Ain't It Funky (1970) but perhaps to the greatest extent, The Payback(1973).
This detracted from a more linear (intro, chorus, body, chorus etc.) format stripping tracks down to rythym, bass and the occasional unintelligble yelp. This repitition is the deeepest groove and why hiphop dudes found Mr.Brown so apt for plundering. If you can find any of the extended unrealesed versions of funky drummer and papa's got a new bag you'll see what I mean. I think this really opened to the doors to the perpetual grooves that would develop into disco, by way of funk. Now, by no means am I saying Brown invented funk (but he would have).
Check "Papa's got a brand new bag". Switching from 2-4 emphasis (upbeat rhythm), Brown's music went almost exclusively down beat after this song(1-3)--a sensibility more informed by jazz, gospel, slave chants---->mother AFRICA!