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I'm trying to change the root of funk, trying to make it more progressive, more melodic and more lyrically structured.

Rick James

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Rick James
Age: 56 †
Born: 1948
Born: February 1
Died: 2004
Died: August 6
Composer
Guitarist
Musician
Pianist
Record Producer
Singer
Singer-Songwriter
Songwriter
Buffalo
New York
Johnson
James Ambrose
Jr.
James Ambrose Johnson
Jr.
James A. Johnson
Funk
Structured
Root
Progressive
Roots
Change
Trying
Lyrically
Make
Melodic

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My music is pretty honest. I can't rap on science fiction. Punk is from the street.
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My teacher said I would either be a hoodlum, or a great entertainer.
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You can't outdo 'Street Songs' and I didn’t even try. [It] had that special magic that comes with timing and good vibrations and you can't even try to capture that exactly again.
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I believe everything happens under God's plan anyway.
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I'm good. Or maybe people just like me.
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I'm still James Johnson. Rick James is a stage name. James Johnson keeps Rick James on the ground... Kind of sort of.
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Whether you're rich or poor, life's still cold-blooded.
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I'm really not tailored for responsibility.
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I wanted to play the Apollo Theater because I didn't think I was going to be on the earth long.
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I try to make the audience forget all their problems -- for an hour and a half or so get them out of themselves, and space, and time, and consciousness.
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When I'm about Rick James, it's all about get out there and kill 'em.
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I didn't even think I would make it that long. I thought I would drug overdose, like Jimi Hendrix. I thank God every day to even be here.
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I'm a long way from Ike Turner.
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I went to India, lived, and studied.
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KISS hammered home the importance of high drama...I decided to design my show with the same goal I wanted my fans to remember my show for the rest of their lives.
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I had $20 million in the bank, girls are following me all over the f - place, people call my name everywhere I go. What would I change? And then one day you get onstage and you see two little girls who look like they are 11 years old sticking their tongues out and pulling their bras down and you quit touring. That's what happened to me.
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If I told you Jesus Christ was black you're going to be afraid of me because I'm telling you the truth. That's where I always come from.
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I'm too old to do crazy things anymore.
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I'm finally locked into the now, and it's great.
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I can't hang out as loose as I used to, but I can still go down Jefferson Avenue and look in the faces of winos, pimps and junkies, all the things I'm made of.
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