Generation-HipHop

Pain is love, pain is hate, pain is the artists best friend. Sometimes we cut ourselves to see if we bleed, to see if we are still alive. We utilize the pain of hunger, growth, poverty, relationships and death to make art that expresses what people feel inside but don’t always have the outlet for. Some of the best pieces of music, whether it is “Night Shift” by the Commodores, “T.R.O.Y.” by Pete Rock and CL Smooth, “Candle in the Wind” by Elton John, or “Dillatastic Volume (Won)derful” by the Roots are tribute songs, wrapped in pain and hope.

There were people who have passed on recently that have really touched my life, and I wanted to pay tribute to them over this Pete Rock track so I created “Holy Moly” or Pain. Gerald Levert had a classic voice and carried on the family tradition of the O’Jays properly. He reached out to work with me right before he passed. Rest in Peace brother. James Brown was the Godfather of Soul, but there would be no hip hop without him, we owe him our musical lives. He was a respected musician with a couple of hits until he put out that Live at the Apollo album in ‘66. Then the audience really understood him. I understand that struggle. I also got to tour with him in Austrailia in the year he passed. That’s amazing to me.