Automated spam (advertising) or intrustion attempts (hacking).“But it was necessary to teach pride then, and I think the song did a lot of good for a lot of people.Your current IP address has been blocked due to bad behavior, which generally means one of the following: “The song is obsolete now,” Brown opined in his 1986 book. Even though he believed the track’s message lost its power over the years, he expressed pride in its historical impact. “Say It Loud (I’m Black and I’m Proud)” would become one of Brown’s most important songs, as well as his most politically charged hit. I don’t regret it, though, even if it was misunderstood.” The racial makeup at my concerts was mostly black after that. “The song cost me a lot of my crossover audience. “That’s why I had children in it, so children who heard it could grow up feeling pride,” Brown continued, alluding to the kids heard in the song.
“But really, if you listen to it, it sounds like a children’s song. “People called ‘Black and Proud’ militant and angry – maybe because of the line about dying on your feet instead of living on your knees,” he explained in his 1986 autobiography James Brown: The Godfather of Soul. Still, Brown also received plenty of negative responses for the track. Because of that one song, black was beautiful. “I remember defining myself as these American terms of negro to colored to black. “As an eight-year-old, ‘Say It Loud (I’m Black and I’m Proud)’ was very clear,” recalled Chuck D, co-founder of the rap group Public Enemy. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100.īeyond chart achievements and sales figures, the song was highly influential on a deeper societal level. 1 spot on the R&B chart for six weeks and peaked at No. Released in August 1968, “Say It Loud (I’m Black and I’m Proud)” became an anthem of the civil-rights movement. Listen to James Brown’s ‘Say It Loud (I’m Black and I’m Proud)’ “This was the real thing, a wake-up call, a rallying cry, a statement of pride.” The Boston experience echoed heavily in Brown’s mind as he penned “Say It Loud (I’m Black and I’m Proud).” “This was not going to be another hit record by a black entertainer like my dear friend Sammy Davis, Jr.’s ‘Candy Man,’” he noted. You know what that is? That’s black power.” “I used to get three cents, then up to five cents, then I finally got to six cents. “In Augusta, Ga., I used to shine shoes in front of a radio station called WRDW,” Brown explained. “There are some things more important than money.”ĭuring the performance, Brown addressed the audience, anecdotally recalling how far he had risen. “Even though I was going to take a financial bath, I knew I had to go on and keep the peace,” Brown recalled in his autobiography I Feel Good: A Memoir of a Life of Soul. Despite concern from some local leaders, he determinedly went through with the show. The next night, Brown was scheduled to play a concert in Boston. The civil-rights leader’s death sparked outrage and rioting across America. On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr. Just four months before unveiling “Say It Loud (I’m Black and I’m Proud),” Brown delivered one of the most important performances of his career. Soul is when a man is judged not for what they do, but what color they are.” “Soul is when a man plays taxes and still he comes up second. “Soul is when a man has to struggle all his life to be equal to another man,” the singer declared.
To Brown, an increased social consciousness was a natural evolution of his music. As a leader in the black community, he saw a responsibility to reflect important issues plaguing his people. For years, Brown had eschewed politically charged lyrics, focusing more on songs about celebration and romance. But the civil-rights movement became impossible to ignore. While the track itself came together quickly, its inspiration had been long building. “In the spur of the moment, it became a song that literally changed the social dynamics of the United States,” Sharpton noted. “And he said, ‘I looked and I said to myself, ‘We’ve lost our pride.’” That night, Brown went to his hotel room and wrote the lyrics to “Say It Loud (I’m Black and I’m Proud)” on a napkin. “I was in Los Angeles and there was all this infighting, this crime and all,” Al Sharpton recalled Brown telling him in the documentary Mr. Racial tensions, rioting in the streets and the murder of an iconic civil-rights leader inspired the singer to release the most politically charged song of his career: “Say It Loud (I’m Black and I’m Proud).” By summer 1968, James Brown had seen enough.