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Black Thought Made You A James Brown Mixtape

Black Thought never met James Brown, but he did play Brown's saxophonist Pee Wee Ellis in the movie <em>Get On Up</em> last year.
Courtesy of the artist
Black Thought never met James Brown, but he did play Brown's saxophonist Pee Wee Ellis in the movie Get On Up last year.

Right before the 2014 release of the James Brown biopic Get On Up, producer J. Period and The Roots rapper Black Thought recorded an entire mixtape in one take. It functions like a documentary about the Godfather of Soul.

The performance focuses on the importance of Brown's breakbeats and samples to the history of hip-hop. "Had it not been for all of the breaks, I wouldn't be here where I am today — nor would The Roots," Black Thought (a.k.a. Tariq Trotter) tells NPR's Arun Rath.

Hear more of the conversation at the audio link.

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

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