black music month
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When Biggie Smalls asked, “What’s Beef?” he posed the question at the height of the East Coast/West Coast rap rivalry, which would ultimately result in the death of the Brooklyn MC—as well as Tupac Shakur.
But, does beef always have to end in death? Most Hip-Hop fans would hope not. The very nature of the culture is competitive, and rivalries can be thrilling and entertaining when they stay on wax.
The recent rivalry between Kendrick Lamar and Drake has been one of those quarrels that has reenergized the culture and entertained Hip-Hop fans in a way not seen in years.
SlotsUp online casino and Media Lab Insights recently prepared and shared statistics that detail the legacy of rap beef—by breaking the statistics and songs into eras which are marked by a major event.
“These timelines were used to better understand the development of conflicts, success, and the demand for performance in the hip-hop industry,” the report notes. “Their comparison is focused on three main points: the technical aspect (the average tempo of the tracks (which can be calculated by the amount of bars, and the length), the profitability (the amount of platinum albums), and the risks involved (death rate).”
Researchers at SlotsUp commented on the study. “Until our current era, the more beef was around, the more successful the artists were. Our current era is going against this pattern, with the same amount of deaths and diss tracks as the first era, but with more platinum albums. Over the years, Hip-Hop became less technically demanding, especially after 2004. This study shows that conflicts aren’t always profitable, and violence can be avoided.”
The first era was marked by what the researchers called “The Roxanne Wars” in the mid-1980s. Two of the most significant songs were “Roxanne, Roxanne” and “Roxanne’s Revenge.” However, cultural commentators say that there were up to 30 songs related to the beef. The only major death to come out of that era was Scott La Rock—whose murder has not been directly attributed to the beef. The clear winner of this battle was Roxanne Shante, who went on to a lengthy career and is credited as one of the foundational female MC’s.
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The second era was one of the most deadly. Lasting from 1992 to 1997, the beef sparked the true rise of the diss track. The research shows that diss tracks and deaths more than doubled while platinum albums skyrocketed to 35. The era saw 10 deaths, with three being the most prominent—Eazy E, 2Pac, and The Notorious B.I.G. The winner of this era could be seen as the recently disgraced Sean “Diddy” Combs as his Bad Boy imprint saw some of its biggest success following the death of B.I.G. This era also marked Hip-Hop’s biggest foray into the pop genre with an increase in record sales that would last for more than a decade—before the proliferation of streaming.
The third era, lasting from 1998-2004, featured the beef between Jay-Z and Nas. This era was also the most financially successful with more than 50 platinum albums. “Eminem was significant in this era,” as the study shows that the Detroit rapper released nine diss tracks. The winner of this era continues to be debated. However, the culture benefited from the end of the beef with Jay and Nas making several concert appearances together.
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The fourth era: 2005-2008, is one largely of peace—kicked off by the end of the beef between Jay-Z and Nas—two New York rap titans. Also worth noting is the average length of rap songs would begin to get shorter with many getting under the 4-minute mark. The fifth era from 2009-2012, was marked by the release of Kendrick Lamar’s Good Kid, M.A.A.D City. It would be the second era that Eminem would be involved in numerous beefs including with Benzino and Mariah Carey. It was during this era that beef would escalate in southern states with one significant death being that of Slim Dunkin.
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Era number six was from 2013 to 2019. The most significant beef was between Drake and Meek Mill. However, the two would eventually collaborate (again, since they were cool prior to Meek’s Twitter fingers) on “Going Bad.” This era is also marked by continued financial success with more than 40 platinum albums. The murder of Nipsey Hussle would mark the end of this era.
Our current era began with the coronavirus pandemic, which affected the entire world but also highlighted the significance of “beef,” with the good-natured but often tense musical battles as part of the Verzuz series. But without question, Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” is thus far the most powerful diss song of the era—but whether or not it’s over is still up for debate, and Drake. Fortunately, K. Dot did his victory lap by bringing gang members together on one stage as a show of unity at the conclusion of his pop out concert on Juneteenth.
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In an exclusive interview with Amazon Music’s Phylicia Fant, HipHopWired got to talk about her love of music, her career journey and her motivation.
As Black Music Month is underway, we have an appreciation of the artists who bring us the music that we remember as well as those who’ve worked to support those artists in their careers through their own visionary efforts. Phylicia Fant, who is currently serving as the head of music industry partnerships at Amazon Music, is definitely one of those figures.
Before taking that role the Marietta, Georgia, native forged a sterling career as the former head of urban music at Columbia Records and the vice president of publicity and lifestyle at Warner Records after rising as a public relations genius working with numerous artists including Erykah Badu and Amy Winehouse with her firm, The Purple Agency, in 2008. HipHopWired got the opportunity to speak to Phylicia Fant about the significance of music, the connections, and how it helped her understand and utilize “the pivot” on her career journey.
HipHopWired: What was your first moment of true connection with music? And how did that love direct you to work in the music industry through public relations?
Phylicia Fant: I think true connection always comes from—I won’t say always, but I think if you grew up in the church, then you’re connected to music in the church. That is something that I think when parents are trying to find activities for you to do. My dad is a deacon, and my mom is a deaconess. My great-grandmother on my dad’s side was a pastor, which was rare for females in the South. So music was always kind of in your life. Now, I can’t sing at all. [Laughs] Okay, I will make sure I say that. But you know, they’re always nice to kids.
But what you recognize in those moments is a certain emotion. Even if you’re not the best singer, there’s nothing like that energy where you get up, you sing in front of the church, and they support you, right? It’s that kind of conversation. And then when the soloist comes out, and they bring people to tears, you understand the effects of music in that way. That’s the immersive experience.
My dad played piano as well, so he would have vinyl in my room growing up. And then my first concert was seeing Michael Jackson with my parents. So I’ve always had parents who kind of kept me in different spaces of music and culture, and I think between church, between the vinyl that was placed in my room strategically, which was Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder, and the first Sugar Hill Gang record, those are the kinds of ways you will discover music though you may not understand it [then].
What I’ve learned over time is the importance of the pivot and how many times I have pivoted, but at the same time, within those pivots, how I still am true to what I love at my core.
How’s it been so far in your role at Amazon Music in terms of expanding all that the platform has to offer? What challenges and successes have you faced?
I always get nervous with the word challenges, because I think they are more or less about challenges than pushing yourself into a different thought process, right? If you grew up in the label system like I did, then it’s always been very much art as sport, right? So how do I relate to an artist who has to deal with criticism, has to deal with their own personal schedules, their own personal lives? How do I build trust with that artist? So the trust factor kind of leads me into the Amazon conversation in that, while we are a tech company, the principle is to make sure we are making sure the consumer is happy.
So, the consumer being the person that’s listening to the music, but also the consumer, as I think we expand that definition to the artists and to the people that we collaborate with, to have a symbiotic relationship of how data and music can come together for the greater good of how we expand music for people. So the benefit of me being on this side is, while I am always “artist first” and have been, it’s great for me to know what products are being made to make that experience that much better. And that’s not something I’ve really thought about until I got here, right? You look at it as, “Oh, it’s just streaming.” But then you realize it’s much more than streaming.
How you share music, or how you use music, what technology is, is created for you to be able to have that maximum experience to even think about what it means to actually collect music and create a playlist. I wasn’t thinking about that type of conversation inside a tech company. You just think these things are there. And because they’re there, when you recognize what it takes to get these things off the ground, there becomes a respect for the type of collaboration behind the scenes that makes your music experience seamless.
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So that takes me to this next question in terms of your path and being a Black woman who’s carved out such a brilliant path in the industry. For those that are coming up, what’s the most important thing to you that you share with those who inquire about making their own way?
It’s funny because I just got off the phone with one of my mentees, and she was talking about how she loves sports and how she doesn’t know how to get into sports. I said that what I’ve learned over time is the importance of the pivot and how many times I have pivoted, but at the same time, within those pivots, how I still am true to what I love at my core. At the core, I love music. And what you recognize in loving music is that the music extends to different places.
So my career evolved, because I recognize where music could take me. It wasn’t just within the walls of a concert, it was now in the walls of an arena, it was Fashion Week, first row. Taking people like JoJo and Lindsay Lohan to fashion week, when the city was at its peak and living in New York, you recognize different ways to use it to carry you in different spaces.
And so once you realize that your core passion can also expand those doors, and you don’t see it as a linear situation, then the pivot becomes more fascinating. It doesn’t become easier. But it becomes fascinating in the sense of, “Oh, I can take this thing that I love, I can open up different doors.” I can understand music from a seat perspective and see what it’s like to have a song placed on television.
Because now I understand how music works in film. I understand music works with intelligence. “Oh, I can get this artist’s song played in the stadium, like Lil Nas X, and see how people react. And see this song becomes a chance for Texas Tech before they get ready to play the game because it pumps them up. I can look at who was curating music for fashion shows when I was in New York. So it still stems from music. But music opened doors for me to go into all these different spaces because I recognize music is universal for a reason.
It is Black Music Month, and I couldn’t end this interview without asking you for your favorite artists that we should be checking for if we aren’t already – like what would be on your select playlist?
It’s such a unique thing because I think about – like, I love Andra Day because I think she has a richness. I worked with Amy Winehouse and I think the ability to blend jazz and R&B and all those conversations is great. But I also love Tommy Richmond’s new song “Million Dollar Baby” because I love what the HBCUs and the Divine Nine’s step teams have done with that song and how you can take one song and it becomes a movement and become also a self-esteem booster at the same time. So there’s different artists I think for different reasons, different moods that I really like. I gotta think about that.
I think that people don’t know this artist named Q live on Columbia Records, who’s R&B. I think Durand [Bernarr], you might know him as a backup vocalist like I do, but his voice is just rich. It’s absolutely phenomenal. I’m really proud of the R&B space, like Muni Long – even though the song became viral on TikTok I like her ability to be bold and kind of say what’s on people’s minds, which is why I think I’m excited about music right now where I think a couple of years ago, I was frustrated because I do think we are looking for our next superstars.
But, you know, I’m also an old-school girl. Never gonna not want to hear Marvin Gaye and Prince. They inspire me all the time. Those are staples on my playlist as well as Stevie Wonder. It’s just a place to take me to. I love Mariah Carey, you know, I’ll never not love her. So I think it’s that constant lens of past, present, and future, which I think is ironic because of our campaign which is called “Forever The Influence.” And if you think about people like Uncle Charlie [Wilson], who will pop up on a Don Tolliver record, who I also love. So I think it will always be a combination of past, present, and future, and I’m excited about the future, but these are the artists that have stuck out to me.
After delighting fans with her flashy new Michael and Janet Jackson-nodding “Alright” music video, Victoria Monét is keeping the Black Music Month celebrations going with an appearance in Amazon Music‘s new Save The Music: Inspiring Music’s Next Generation documentary (June 18) alongside frequent collaborator D’Mile.
The latest in a string of programming in honor of Black Music Month, Save the Music follows Monét and D’Mile as they visit public school students at Brooklyn’s Transit Tech High School, gifting them valuable insight on the music industry and providing them musical equipment and a D’Mile production masterclass.
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The Transit Tech students are undoubtedly learning from the best. D’Mile’s work with R&B stars such as H.E.R. and Lucky Daye have earned him several Grammys and an Academy Award for best original song, while Monét picked up her first three Grammys earlier this year thank to her acclaimed Jaguar II album. D’Mile produced every track on Jaguar II — save the Kaytranada-helmed “Alright” — earning him and Monét a shared victory for best R&B album.
The journey back to the classroom was also a trip down memory lane for D’Mile, who recently re-teamed with Monét for “Power of Two,” a new original song for Disney+’s The Acolyte. “I used to cut class just to stay in band class or my school gospel choir almost all day,” he muses. “I met my now wife at jazz choir class. My favorite memories are the friends I made there, they were all like-minded and talented. I’m still great friends with and still playing or working with [them] professionally in some way. It’s a bond you can’t replace.”
Firmly rooted in R&B, Jaguar II finds the two musicians exploring the vast expanse of Black music, dabbling in reggae, house, hip-hop and soul. Save the Music: Inspiring Music’s Next Generation grants both D’Mile and Monét the space to reflect on the importance of Black Music Month and take part in the sacred traditions of educating younger generations on their cultural history.
“So many genres stemmed from Black artists and musicians: rock and roll, country, disco, house, R&B, soul, techno, rap … the list goes on,” notes Monét. “I love that there’s a month dedicated to educating others on and celebrating Black music, but my hope is that in general, music by Black artists is celebrated in all genres one day. Motown was a breeding ground for so many incredible Black musicians and icons (from The Jacksons to Diana Ross to Stevie Wonder to Smokey Robinson) who truly made quality, POPular music.”
Fittingly, Monét and D’Mile chose to record a new version of “Hollywood,” the penultimate Jaguar II track, for Save the Music. Earning a Grammy nod for best traditional R&B performance, “Hollywood” is a prime showcase of the cross-generational appeal of Black music. The track features the legendary Earth, Wind & Fire, as well as Monét’s adorable two-year-old daughter Hazel Monét Gaines. The new acoustic version of “Hollywood” strips away the grandiosity of the original’s cinematic drum-heavy arrangement, making for a much more intimate and introspective affair.
“I knew I wanted to keep in all the organic elements from the original,” reveals D’Mile. “Which was interesting because about 90% of the song already was organic. But sometimes when you do something as simple as just taking drums out, you start hearing things that you want to be heard more. You get to focus more on some of the string work or even background vocals on the song. It was as simple as taking the groove out and just holding down the chords and letting everything else shine.”
Just as she does on “Hollywood,” Monét’s music is both a love letter to Black music history and a way for her to expose her fans to styles and influences from decades past. The music video for her breakout hit “On My Mama” exalts ’00s Southern Black culture, while Jaguar II standout “How Does It Make You Feel” recalls the classic soul of The Isley Brothers. “Some of my first memories are of the music my mom would play around the house and that helped shape me as I grew older,” she says. “‘My Girl’ by The Temptations is already my daughter Hazel’s favorite song – I’ve played it since I was pregnant with her. Great music really can stand the test of time.”
The reimagined version of “Hollywood,” whose creation is documented in Save the Music, can be streamed in full exclusively on Amazon Music, where the mini-documentary can also be viewed starting Tuesday (June 18).
Johnny Gill, Bootsy Collins, Patrice Rushen and Hezekiah Walker will get their flowers at the ninth annual Black Music Honors. The live taping will take place at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre in Atlanta on Saturday, May 18. The ceremony will be co-hosted by singer/actress LeToya Luckett and comedic actor DeRay Davis.
Walker is a two-time Grammy winner. Collins has won one Grammy, as a featured artist on Fatboy Slim’s “Weapon of Choice.” Gill and Rushen have both been nominated for multiple Grammys, though neither has won, which will likely make this upcoming recognition all the more meaningful.
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“We are extremely proud to bring more visibility to these tremendous icons who have stayed the course from humble beginnings to careers that span decades,” the show’s founder and executive producer Don Jackson said in a statement. “Their lives and stories are part of the beautiful tapestry of Black music…which has impacted the globe.”
The special will premiere on the Stellar Network on Saturday, June 1 at 8 p.m. ET with a rebroadcast at 10 p.m. ET. It will also air in national broadcast syndication June 8 – June 30 during Black Music Month. The show will also air on Bounce TV on Wednesday, June 19 (which is of course Juneteenth) at 9 p.m. ET.
The ninth annual Black Music Honors is executive produced by Jackson with Jennifer J. Jackson serving as producer and executive in charge of production; Michael A. Johnson as producer and director, Erin Johnson as talent producer and Daniel Moore as music director.
Tickets for the live-taping event are available at www.blackmusichonors.com or via Ticketmaster here. For more information, visit www.blackmusichonors.com.
Black Music Honors is an annual two-hour event that acknowledges artists who have made significant contributions to African-American culture and American music worldwide. The celebration of Black musical excellence began as Celebrate the Soul of American Music from 1990 to 1993. In 2016, it was revived as Black Music Honors to be part of Black Music Month celebrations. Black Music Honors is produced by Chicago-based production company Central City Productions.
Launched in April 2023 under the management of Central City Productions, Inc., The Stellar Network is a family-friendly, entertainment/lifestyle network targeting Black audiences. The Stellar Network can be found on Charter Spectrum, Verizon Fios and Xumo Play. For more information visit www.stellartv.com.
This year, the 44th anniversary of the monthlong celebration of Black music’s rich legacy and influence carries an extra special meaning for the observance’s co-founders: Kenneth Gamble and Dyana Williams. That’s because — by presidential proclamation — the name of the annual June campaign has been changed back to Black Music Month after also being called African-American Music Appreciation Month in recent years.
President Joe Biden signed the proclamation on May 31, 2023. It reads in part, “During Black Music Month, we pay homage to legends of American music, who have composed the soundtrack of American life. Their creativity has given rise to distinctly American art forms that influence contemporary music worldwide and sing to the soul of the American experience.”
In tandem with the proclamation, Biden and first lady Jill Biden are hosting a Juneteenth concert on the South Lawn on Tuesday (June 13) at 7 p.m. ET. Performers include Jennifer Hudson, Ledisi, Audra McDonald and Method Man. Biden signed bipartisan legislation two years ago that established Juneteenth as a federal holiday. Celebrated on June 19, Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in the U.S.
“I’m elated that President Biden issued the proclamation,” says Gamble, co-founder of legendary label Philadelphia International with songwriting-production partner Leon Huff. “Black music represents a multibillion-dollar business and cultural asset that informs human beings globally. When we established the Black Music Association in the late 1970s, it was our intention to galvanize different aspects of the Black music business, along with the all-important consumers, to elevate our industry and garner respect for the creatives and professionals. Black is more than just a color; it’s a frame of mind. All genres of music created by Black folks in America are our heart and soul gifts — as well as a universal language widely felt and embraced worldwide.”
The first observance of Black Music Month, which also featured a concert on White House’s South Lawn, occurred on June 7, 1979, under President Jimmy Carter. Inspired by the efforts of the Country Music Association, which had established October as Country Music Month, BMA members Williams, Gamble and Cleveland radio DJ Ed Wright enlisted the assistance of then-Motown president Clarence Avant, veteran label executive Joe Smith and other industry professionals to petition Carter and launch an annual observance. However, in christening June as Black Music Month at the time, Carter didn’t sign a presidential proclamation.
“Had he done that, every American president that came into office after him would have done so,” says Williams, a veteran broadcaster/media strategist.
Dyana Williams
Whitney Thomas
At the suggestion of President Clinton’s administration, Williams began lobbying Congress in the late ’90s. With the help of Philadelphia Congressman Chaka Fattah, the African-American Music Bill was introduced in the House of Representatives. It subsequently secured passage as House Resolution 509 in 2000. But over the years, confusion emerged about which name to use: Black Music Month or African-American Music Appreciation Month.
“I wanted to eliminate the confusion and re-establish the name Black Music Month because that’s how it has always been celebrated in the music industry and broader communities,” says Williams. So she began sending “countless” emails to the succeeding White House administrations over the years. And she kept writing until May 31 when Erica Loewe, the White House director of African American Media, sent her a copy of the Biden-signed presidential proclamation.
“It was a joyful moment,” says Williams, who will also be attending the White House’s Juneteeth concert celebration.
In the meantime, Williams’ and Gamble’s son Caliph Gamble is carrying his family’s music-activism legacy into the next generation as a co-founder of the Sons of Legends Foundation. Like the BMA before it, the foundation will further foster the importance of Black Music Month in addition to launching community initiatives and other projects.
“It’s an honor to have observed my parents’ work over the course of my life,” says Caliph Gamble. “And it’s with great pleasure that we look forward to establishing a blueprint of what they’ve accomplished, so generations to come can use their model as an option toward their own success.”
In lockstep with BMA’s mission nearly 50 years ago to annually recognize and celebrate the economic and cultural power of Black music, Gamble coined the slogan “Black Music Is Green.” Notes Williams, “Kenny was right 44 years ago, and he’s still right now. It’s a profitable business but one that doesn’t always get the respect it deserves. To my very last breath, I will be promoting this music.”
The White House announced on Wednesday (June 7) that President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will be hosting a Juneteenth concert on the South Lawn on June 13. The event comes two years after Biden signed a bipartisan legislation establishing Juneteenth as a federal holiday. Juneteenth, celebrated on June 19 annually, commemorates the […]
Unapologetically gay disco pioneer Sylvester was one of the many LGBTQ artists whose lives were cut short by the AIDS epidemic in the ’80s while the Republican-led government willfully ignored the crisis or actively blamed its victims. But while Sylvester, the human being, died at 41 of AIDS-related complications in 1988, Sylvester, the Queen of Disco, is immortal — and Pride Month 2023 finds the legend being honored twofold.
A newly available anthology, Disco Heat: The Fantasy Years 1977-1981, draws on the six albums he recorded for Fantasy Records, covering his three Billboard Hot 100 top 40 hits – “Dance (Disco Heat),” the undying classic “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” and a version of “I (Who Have Nothing)” — as well as rare 12-inch mixes. After that, New York City’s venerable Lincoln Center is saluting the trailblazer with a tribute concert featuring performances from Inaya Day, Mykal Kilgore, Dawn Richard, Byron Stingily and Kevin Aviance on June 15.
Finally, it seems, the world is catching up to Sylvester – even if it is 50 years after his debut album. But when “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” began to gain traction in 1978, most people simply weren’t ready for a human as mightily real as Sylvester.
“The thing was, my brief for promoting Sylvester was to tell him to downplay his gayness,” Sharon Davis, who worked as a publicist for Fantasy Records in the U.K. in the late ‘70s, tells Billboard. “The U.K. just was not ready for this type of open-minded artist. And it was felt that his career could be dead in the water if he promoted his gayness, despite having an international dance hit under his belt.”
Regardless of any brief from the record company, Sylvester was hardly closeted. He wore women’s clothing, hit the stage wearing makeup and took gender-bending flamboyance to peaks that even a glam-era David Bowie never dared to scale.
Rudy Calvo, a veteran makeup artist who has worked with everyone from Patti LaBelle to Chaka Khan to Natalie Cole, remembers the first time he saw Sylvester and the Hot Band perform at L.A.’s Whisky a Go Go in 1973. “Sylvester and his posse hit the stage like an 5F tornado,” Calvo raves. “His hair was in a turban, and he was wearing lots and lots of bracelets you could hear clinking in the back of the room. His face was painted to perfection, which added to the drama of his androgynous stage persona.”
Davis – whose book Mighty Real: Sharon Davis Remembers Sylvester is currently being expanded and rewritten now that the film rights have been picked up – says Sylvester casually used feminine and masculine pronouns. “Sylvester was happy being a man,” Davis explains. “In leisure time, if he was in gay company, he would use the term ‘she’ but in public always referred to himself as ‘he.’” While she admits that the androgynous imagery of glam rockers like Bowie and Marc Bolan helped bring about “a certain tolerance in the U.K. music business,” people weren’t fully ready to embrace a gay-gay disco star. “Being bisexual seemed to be the get-out clause at that time,” she opines.
Despite Sylvester’s flashy threads — and a falsetto that soared so high it scraped heaven — both Davis and Calvo describe him as comparatively reserved in private. “He was quiet, softly spoken,” Davis says. “I loved the calmness about him. Yet he could be as stubborn as a mule if he didn’t want to do something.” Calvo – who became friends with Sylvester not long after he caught the artist’s 1973 show at the Whisky – recalls him similarly. “He was totally different from the person you saw on stage,” Calvo says. “The way he dressed, he seemed very flamboyant; in reality, he was very low-key.”
Calvo says he and Sylvester bonded over a shared love for “underground artists like Betty Davis” and a mutual respect for each other’s styles. The afternoon before Calvo caught Sylvester’s Whisky set in ’73, he had been scouring a flea market in West Hollywood for the perfect outfit to wear to the show. After picking up “a vintage yellow bowling shirt with silver threading woven throughout” to complement his bell-bottoms and platforms, Calvo clocked a striking man with bright pink hair also browsing the selections. Later that night, backstage at the Whisky, both Calvo and Sylvester realized they had been admiring each other’s fashion sense from afar at the flea market. “Oh, you were the guy at the flea market with the cool haircut,” Sylvester told Calvo when the makeup artist took off his hat to reveal a “short-spiked cockatoo” haircut. In turn, Sylvester “lifted off his turban to reveal his hidden pink electric hair,” says Calvo.
Four years after they first met, Calvo gave Sylvester a preview listen to Patti LaBelle’s self-titled debut album. “The first time he heard the song ‘You Are My Friend,’ he said, ‘I could do something like this.’” Two years later, Sylvester released a live cover of the song (backed by The Weather Girls) on his Living Proof album; the song became a top 30 hit on what’s now called the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and appears on the Disco Heat: The Fantasy Years 1977-1981 anthology. At one concert, the soul icon and the disco pioneer even performed it together. “When he hit the stage, it was like a church experience,” Calvo says. “He brought that energy of gospel to his music. It was like disco gospel.”
“His smile was wonderful, as it lit up his face, and his lisp so attractive,” Davis says. “A beautiful man on many levels. I shall always be grateful to have his friendship. And call him my brother.”
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