Posted June 21, 2002-- Legendary singer Rick James, 54, had critical words for current hip-hop and R&B artists in an interview with Karu F. Daniels of The Ru Report, a syndicated weekly column. Advertisement


In the late 70's until the mid 80's, James had a string of hits like "Super Freak," "Mary Jane," and "Fire and Desire," which contributed to the resurgence of Motown Records at the time.

In the interview he said much of the language and content that artists use is reaching far beyond the black community and the white kids are widely adopting what once was African American terminology.

"Now, we have a very negative thing going on, with white kids are hearing that word "ni**a" [in songs] and think they know what it means," he said

"And they're expressing it and Black kids are running around using it and making lots of money and saying b***hes and hoes," he told Daniels. "I think that its taking Black people back and music back 5,000 years. It's a shame."

And while he himself did what may have been deemed raunchy music, he said there is a substantial difference between his tunes and what artists are doing today.

"'Super Freak' was a song man. 'Super Freak' was a song about a scenario, a situation. It didn't say b***h and hoe," he explained. "When a person can sing a song about how long his [private part] is and rub a b***h's a**, and go 'Whoop De Whoop' and get a hit record, now that's scary."

Despite his remarks about current artists, he did state that his songs from the 70's and 80's have experienced new life from some of these singers and rappers due to extensive sampling through the years. "As we speak you're hearing me," he stated.

James said he is currently working on new music, but current pop singers are keeping his legacy in the forefront until he returns to the scene.

"Ja Rule and J. Lo or whether it be Ol' Dirty Bastard, you going to hear Rick James and the great thing is that they keep the legend living, he stated even though he said hopes artists would produce more organic music. "I really wish they knew how to play instruments so they can take black music to another level," he continued.

James was especially vocal about five time Grammy award winner, Alicia Keyes who he said is "The Gong Show." "I got a 13-year-old girl in Buffalo who will take Alicia Keys, eat her up and spit her out like a suppository," he stated to Daniels.

There a some artists that James admitted to enjoying.

"There are a couple of people out there. I love Maxwell. I love D'Angelo and what he's trying to do. I wish he would do what [he wants] not what people expect him to do. Maxwell is a great concert. It's so hard because there are not a lot of youngsters out there who are doing real music," he said.

Karu Daniels told BET.com that he felt the veteran singer was accurate regarding many issues addressed, but said he mostly appreciated the singer sharing his straightforward opinions.

"I loved his candor and honesty. Most of the time, these artists and celebrities act mousy and hold back, putting on a facade of something that they are not, or and image they don't believe in," Daniels said.

Daniels also said that he has received a large number of emails from readers who agree with James' sentiments about today's popular music. "Although he comes off a tad bit pessimistic, I don't think he was too far off base with his views on today's music scene," Daniels said.

Currently, James said he is shopping his autobiography, "Confessions of a Super Freak," and that he has several companies interested in publishing it.

Also, Universal Records recently release a collection of Rick James' greatest hits entitled, "Anthology."

gman1966 said:

everybody has opinions about music. what happened to his career? it is nice that someone according to him is more talented than ms. keys, but there are others. maybe that girl won't get the respect, nor success if she comes out. neo soul is bad and boring. all those songs about btiches and hoes do degrade black ppl. in a my eyes.still... those are good songs.

I started a thread sometime ago about "The State of Black Music" Rick James is echoing alot of the comments I made about today's music in my African-American culture.

Although I agree with a lot of his views, Rick James so obviously likes to inflate his own ego.

jtgillia, i couldn't agree with you more. Seems like Rick should be worrying about his own problems more than the state of music today.

jtgillia said:

I'm scared. We found something we both agree on.

Rick James was right on point. The thing I am so excited about is more and more people are starting to be really vocal about how aweful so much black music is today.

Rick may not have much of a career right now but at least he can come up with his OWN songs.

Rick has a good musical history/catalogue to fall back on..of course he has had his problems and porobably still has new ones ( dont we all?) but that does not mean that he cant give his opinion on the state of black music. As for ego--, well he is sort of like the David Lee Roth of black music imho. His best days are in the past and those days he was top dog,influential and ruler of the charts and touring circuit for awhile. This gives him a bit of carte blanche to have a healthy ego.

rdhull said:

:LOL:

I'll drink to that

I hate to say this but I have to admit that there is nothing more funnier and hilarious to me when I am driving home from work and pull up next to white kids from surburbia playing hard core rap!!! And you can read their lips when they are saying "nigga". Man that's funny.

gman1966 said:

Did you ever see the movie Office Space? LOL. If not , the beginning is a trip...and also a kill xerox scene.

rdhull said:

LoL I see a lot of that around here...though not to that extreme...damn close though!

gman1966 said:

Yeah, I tripped-out when 2 kids (both looked mixed Mexican/Hispanic and white) were yammering with "Ahh Nigga you know blah blah blah". I took no offense cuz they weren't talking to or about me, but I think they amped their style up more because of my scrutiny and presence.

Do you trip at the non-blacks who refer to each other, as "BROTHER" or "Bro". Happens a lot with DEADHEADS and Mexicans and at times they'll address me as "BROTHER", too. Gee, I wanna ask them "How's Mom?"

gman1966 said:

[pre:1:3d65ef4579]This article was only PART of the interview. Later on in the article he did EXACTLY what he complained about; called some women he didn't like "bitches". At one point he even brought up Prince. It's funny he wants to chastise people who talk about:[/pre:1:3d65ef4579] [pre:1:3d65ef4579]but yet his violent history with women is what put his ass in jail. Rick is a bitter, hard hearted man who has recently shown no signs of changing at all. I'm not going to take this seriously from Rick James any more than I would take "compassionate conservative" rhetoric from Dubya. Rick James of 2002 has not changed much at all.[/pre:1:3d65ef4579]

I am a bit surprised at how many white kids are drawn to our culture!!! Specifically black hip-hop culture.

gman1966 said:

Why are you surprised about this?--its been happening since...on a side-note,hip-hop is the black punk rock as well as the commentary of the culture etc

gman1966 said:

If you don't mind my asking, why do you think that is? I have two male friends (white), who only listen to music by black artists, dress in FUBU or whatever the new style is out today (can't remember the name of it, but it's plastered all over their pants and shirts), speak "gangsta" like (this does drive me crazy because it's like I'm watching MTV). They're exactly what you described earlier...the two white guys in the car. When we go to Pontiac or Detroit, for the festivals they have there in the summer, it's a little embarassing because of the looks that they get and it also embarasses the black men who are with us. I don't really find anything wrong with it...I was just curious as to why you think this is?



.
[This message was edited Wed Jun 26 12:08:44 PDT 2002 by AzureStar]

gman1966 said:

It's in America so it's American culture ain't it?



I do admit it seems "out-of-place", but that's because I feel the words NIGGER and NIGGA are imbued with pejoratvie disrespect. I really can't frown on anybody listening to hip-hop or R&B or funk if they're not black. Come on down and get the party started.

gman1966 said:

I'm not surprised at all. White kids have always listened to various forms of R&B and then taken it to the suburbs. It goes all the way back to Little Richard in the 50s.

Hip hop is being copied by whites who then add heavy rock riffs behind the rapping and getting a lot of airplay and hits. The radio is filled with songs like this.

The only thing that hasn't happened yet is a white female rapper, but somebody somewhere is probably working on that right now.

I agree with a lot of what Rick James said. The "bitches, hoes, and nigga" lyrics were used to shock the listener but then it just became tiresome. It's pointless, just like an adolescent who shouts "shit" just to annoy the adults.

AzureStar said:

I can't speak for gman, but it's been going on since day 1 of Rock and Roll and prior. From "Rocket 88" in 1951 (and prior), to "Pass The Courvoisier", it has always been co-opted.

Supernova said:

I guess it's just more noticable to me now, for whatever reason. I wasn't sure if it was because they simply thought they would look much more cool, or if it was because of Eminem and they thought "why not". I guess it seems odd to me, with my two friends that I'm talking about, because you can tell that it isn't them. You can tell that it isn't coming naturally to them. Thanks for responding.

"Ja Rule and J. Lo or whether it be Ol' Dirty Bastard, you going to hear Rick James and the great thing is that they keep the legend living" - Rick James

Ja Rule & J.Lo's "I'm Real" was based on "Mary Jane".

But did y'all ever hear ODB's remake of "Cold Blooded"? LOL

AzureStar said:

It's interesting the way that I answer the question about how this practice of white kids emulating black music goes all the way back to the 1950s, then 10 minutes *later* Supernova came along and says the same thing.

Yet it's Supernova who is thanked for responding while I am ignored. Lovely site, this prince.org...

Batdance said:

I'm sorry. I totally missed your post when I thanked Supernova. I just went back and read yours. My apologies, Batdance and thank you for answering.

Batdance said:

It has already happened. Check out Princess Superstar. She's not the first I ever heard (I would probably have to give that honor to Tairrie B.), but her lyrics are quite clever and she has an original, almost stream-of-consciousness delivery.

White people have always had a fascination of Black music, ever since the days of slavery. From blues and jazz. To gospel and rock n' roll. To disco and rap. Listen to the interviews of white artists. When they are asked about their musical influences, you ALWAYS hear the names of Black artists. Just listen to their songs(Eric Clapton, Rolling Stones, Beatles,Elvis,Jerry Lee Lewis, etc) The list goes on.

This 'phenomenon' is nothin' new. I remember my grandfather tellin' me about Cab Calloway and how the white girls would go ga-ga over him in Memphis, and this drove the white men crazy! So, they ran ol' Cab outta town and told him never to come back. Or how Elvis was banned from radio in certain cities 'cuz he sang and danced like a black man. For the white kids of this day and time is just like the days of my parents and grandparents...to listen to rap music is just to get their parents all riled up. It's like rebellion; they know their folks don't like it, so they flaunt it in their faces.

I get a laugh sometimes when my hubby and I pull up at the light and we see some white boys in a tricked out Silverado truck bumpin' to NWA here in Texas! What a trip.

The phenomenon of American whites imitating aspects of black culture (music, language, dress, etc.) that have little or nothing to do with their own cultural background is MUCH older than Rock n' Roll. This same cycle played itself out in the "Jazz Age" (1920s), and indeed, goes all the way back into the middle of the 1800s and the slavery era (blackface minstrelsy).

As far as James' remarks about the "ignorant" image that is used as a selling point in modern commercial black music, this goes back at least as far as blackface minstrelsy.
People need to realize that this phenomenon is not new. Blacks have been used (in some cases, allowing themselves to be used) by the "entertainment industry" in this way for a LONG time.
[This message was edited Wed Jun 26 13:12:53 PDT 2002 by polymetric]

Batdance said:

Comin' from Rick James that's like watching a lecturer piss on his shoes.
The lyrics to "Super Freak" glorify promiscuity and horny lusty nymphos.
I ain't mad at him, but he's done everything except a call this type of
woman a "ho".
[This message was edited Wed Jun 26 13:15:23 PDT 2002 by PFunkjazz]

Batdance said:

OH please, get over yourself. This shit ain't that important. Not like you had a copyright

Thanks to everyone for replying. I really didn't realize that it went that far back. You learn something new everyday.

Even ten years ago it wasn't as noticable as it is to me today. As I said, I don't find anything wrong with it, and think more people should dig a little deeper into other cultures, not only for the history, but for a little more knowledge period. I guess, like I said, when they go all out (think Jenny Jones here with the speech mostly) it's just a little strange when they're clearly working towards something...and that's what makes me curious. It's not the facination with Black music, as it is seeing another trying to hard to be something that they're not.

I don't know. I probably shouldn't have even raised the question. because to me it is a touchy subject to ask of anyone - that, and I don't always relay my thoughts well and sometimes what I'm trying to say is misunderstood. It's just something that I've been a little curious about for the past few years, especially after seeing the change in these two guys in particular. The only answer they have ever given me was that they were meant to be born black. I'm just not understanding - they weren't this way three years ago.