James Brown — "I don't mind being a symbol, but I don't want to be a monument. There's a differ…"
I don't mind being a symbol, but I don't want to be a monument. There's a difference.
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More from James Brown
"Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud."
"I'm not here to make friends. I'm here to make music."
"I don't need no fancy clothes. I don't need no fancy cars. All I need is my music and my people."
"I taught Michael Jackson everything he knows, and he knows everything."
"I don't play no games. I play for real."
About James Brown (1933-2006)
American singer and 'Godfather of Soul' whose 1960s-70s recordings invented funk and shaped hip-hop's rhythmic foundations. Closely associated with Sly Stone (fellow funk pioneer (Sly and the Family Stone)) and George Clinton (Parliament-Funkadelic successor). For an intellectual contrast, see Berry Gordy, Motown founder — Motown made Black popular music palatable for white radio with smoothed-out crossover production; Brown's funk insisted on the raw groove without compromise. The two opposite paths Black popular music took out of the 1960s — Motown polish vs JB raw.