New York, NY (Top40 Charts / Universal Music Enterprises) Urban Legends, a division of UMe, Universal
Music Group's global catalog company, is celebrating 50 years of funk, soul, hip-hop, and R&B with a month-long celebration of that includes live DJ sets, new mini-documentaries, new episodes of the docu-series Through the Lens, and new releases of re-mixes of classic songs. The events focus on four genre defining periods in music history over the past half a century, kicking off today, paying homage to "The Godfather of Soul" JAMES BROWN. Spotlighting one of the greatest artists of all-time, "The Godfather of Soul"
James Brown, Urban
Legends explores the music of
James Brown, whose unique style laid down the foundation of Hip-Hop, demonstrating why he is one of the most sampled artists of all-time.
James Brown's official YouTube Channel unveils the trailer for Funky Drummer, episode one of new three-episode animated mini-series titled Get Down, The Influence Of
James Brown. Narrated by Questlove (The Roots, The
Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon), and featuring Lord Finesse and Co-founder/former EIC of Wax Poetics Magazine, Andre Torres, the three-part series was created by UMe along with Dreambear and explores the sonic DNA of
James Brown whose music is continually sampled and whose trademark phrasing is deeply woven into the fabric of Hip-Hop. The full episode of Funky Drummer premieres on July 10th and can be viewed here with part two (Funky President) and part three (The Payback) coming soon.
James Brown (Originals) playlist available here on July 10th.
June 19: Original Def Jam/UMe three-episode mini docu-series Through The Lens focusing on the iconic Hip-Hop photography of Ricky Powell, Janette Beckman and Jonathan Mannion. This original series covers 40 years of the music and culture of the Hip-Hop movement from its infancy.
June 19: a special DJ set by the legendary DJ/Producer Clark Kent paying homage to Def Jam.
June 24: DJ Natasha Diggs performing a live DJ set honoring
Janet Jackson.
June 26: Lord Finesse will perform a special Motown
State Of Mind Live Stream on the Motown socials
June 26: Motown
State Of Mind, a set of Motown classics handpicked, remixed and reimagined by legendary rapper and Hip-Hop producer Lord Finesse.
ABOUT URBAN LEGENDS
Urban
Legends is an imprint and cross-platform initiative devoted to the curation and celebration of the most significant and influential catalog of music and culture spanning R&B, soul, hip-hop, rap, blues, reggae and more. Urban
Legends serves as both an editorial content site and ecommerce platform, delivering daily news, videos, editorial features and franchises. Urban
Legends is a division of Universal
Music Enterprises (UMe), the global catalog division of Universal
Music Group (UMG).