Los Angeles [US] : American singer James Brown may be hailed as the ‘Godfather of Soul,’ but two of his daughters, Deanna Brown and Yamma Brown are working to ensure his legacy is remembered.
In an interview with People magazine, his daughters claimed music would not be where it is today without their father, ahead of A&E’s four-part docuseries ‘James Brown: claim It Loud.’
“There would be no hip-hop. There would be no rap because he’s the most-sampled artist,” Deanna said.
“There would be no Michael [Jackson], there would be no Usher, there’d be no Chris Brown — all these people who took from him.”
“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,” she continued.
Referring to the ‘Around the Way Girl’ rapper, Yamma also added, “And I think that’s the key that you get from what LL Cool J said, that it would be very different. Who knows what would’ve transpired?”
She noted that her late father began his career “so long ago.”
Yamma told People that she is “thankful” that her father, who died on Christmas Day, 2006, at the age of 73, created funk and impacted other genres, “hip-hop definitely being one of them.”
However, she stated that, while many musicians have been affected by his work, his reach stretched far beyond the entertainment industry.
Yamma said, “Somebody sitting at home maybe watching it and think, ‘His story is not that dissimilar than mine and look what he went on to do.’ And if you can inspire somebody to be the greatest at what they can be, that’s amazing.”
She added, “I just wish he was still here to see some of this. He would not believe it. He would not believe it.”
‘James Brown: Say It Loud’ will premiere on A&E on Monday, February 19 and Tuesday, February 20 at 8 p.m. EST.
Yamma and Deanna both cherish their childhood memories with their parents.
“I could hear him, how he talked to different people, how he wanted his business taken care of. I learned a lot while I was putting those rollers in his hair,” Deanna said of the life lessons she learned from her dad while on the road.
