Stay juicy

 

What is the link between jazz icon Miles Davis and hip hop legend The Notorious B.I.G.? Apart from the fact that both are major artists in their respective genres, not much: they were active in vastly different eras, played different kinds of music (although the latter might have been influenced by the former), led different lives — one of which ended tragically soon… Yet there actually is a rather direct link, and it would be called James Mtume. That’s right, the founder/leader of namesake 1980’s funk band Mtume actually worked with both!

Let’s start from the beginning: James Mtume was actually born James Forman, but changed his name when he joined a militant African-American organization in the 1960’s. Interestingly, that organization, simply called US Organization, actually started the Kwanzaa festival, a yearly celebration of African-American identity and culture and the very first of its kind. Mtume was among the first celebrants of the holiday — one of many noteworthy facts over the man’s life…

And then there was music. The son of a jazz saxophonist, Mtume was born into a highly musical family, which led him to pick up the piano and percussions from a young age. By the age of 25, the artist started working with perhaps the greatest jazz practitioner there ever was — you guessed it, Mister Miles Davis… Indeed, Mtume was a member of Davis’ band from 1971 until 1975, playing percussions with the icon on no less than 7 records, including live and studio work. Not too shabby…

But if you think this story is over, it means you already forgot the beginning of this article… Wanting to experiment with the new sounds of the era, namely funk, the musician started his own band — named Mtume, to keep things simple. Together with them, he released no less than 5 studio albums between 1978 and 1986. The third one, Juicy Fruit, released in 1983, came with a title track that not only caused a stir then, but produced a rather remarkable following. The issue at the time was the implied topic of the song — oral sex. Wrigley even attempted to sue the man (who’d composed, produced and performed the record) because of the negative effect it had on their brand of the same name. To no avail: the song became a hit, somewhat aided by the controversy…

Now to the end of the story: “Juicy Fruit” actually stands as one of the most sampled tracks in history, with way over 100 songs borrowing parts of its infectious hook. Jennifer Lopez was one of them… and so was The Notorious B.I.G.. Produced by then-called Sean “Puffy” Combs, “Juicy” became B.I.G.’s breakout hit, propelling his debut album Ready to Die into the top 20, the song itself charting at #27. What is most interesting is the lasting effect that song had, though: now considered one of the definitive hip hop anthems, it effectively became a blueprint for many subsequent efforts, with one line even becoming part of the American lexicon:

“If you don’t know, now you know…”

Rest in peace, Mister Mtume!