Gerry opens with the shock of losing so many R and B icons in a short period, especially an eight person stretch in about ten days. He stresses the need to go see your heroes while they are alive, support them financially, and stop dismissing older artists because they are over forty. For him, seventies music remains the blueprint for everything that came after, and younger media folks disrespect legends when they chase new stars without even knowing who people like Babyface are.
Rickey talks about the emotional toll of losing these artists, explaining that they shaped Black identity and carried whole generations through life. He highlights how people like Frankie Beverly, Sly Stone, D Angelo, Roy Ayers and Dwayne Wiggins were versatile musicians who could make dance floor anthems, deep ballads and political statements, and who saw music as part of a river of Black creativity, culture and liberation. He also points out the lack of real institutions that honor Black music legends and how corporate control of catalogs blocks museums, tributes and political songs from being fully shared.
The three connect this musical loss to political struggle, bringing in H Rap Brown, later Jamil Al Amin, and his influence on James Brown and on early rap style. They remember a time when funk and soul artists were accessible in the community and their music tracked directly with Black movement politics, something that is now more tightly regulated and commodified.
Throughout the conversation they give listeners homework: dig into Dwayne Wiggins, D Angelo’s Brown Sugar, Jerry Butler, Brenton Wood, Angie Stone and especially the deep catalog of Roy Ayers. They close by plugging Rickey’s History of Funk show on KPFA and Gerry’s I Remember That Song program, both dedicated to keeping this musical history alive and in conversation.
Hard Knock Radio is a drive-time Hip-Hop talk show on KPFA (94.1fm @ 4-5 pm Monday-Friday), a community radio station without corporate underwriting, hosted by Davey D and Anita Johnson.