(BPRW) R&B Trailblazer Who Created hit, “Juicy Fruit” Passes Away at 76 | Press releases

(BPRW) R&B Trailblazer Who Designed hit, “Juicy Fruit” Passes Away at 76

(Black PR Wire) James Mtume, an R&B legend whose 1983 hit, “Juicy Fruit,” returned to the charts a 10 years afterwards as #1 one of rap legend Infamous B.I.G.’s “Juicy,” died on Jan. 9. He was 76. His loss of life was verified by his publicist, Angelo Ellerbee.

Mtume’s musical genius ranged from disco to jazz, and in all places in between. Not to mention his remarkable compositions for tv (“New York Undercover”) and movie (“Native Son”). “Juicy Fruit,” the major strike from his self-titled R&B group, has been sampled many occasions, most famously on Notorious B.I.G.’s vintage “Juicy.” Mtume also generated and co-wrote strike singles for Stephanie Mills (“Never Understood Like Like This Before”) and Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway (“The Closer I get To You”) in collaboration with his musical associate and fellow Davis alum Reggie Lucas.

Mtume was born in the metropolis of brotherly appreciate, Philadelphia, as the son of saxophonist Jimmy Heath. Raised by his stepfather, Philly jazz pianist James Forman, the young musician grew up with activist roots (he observed Malcolm X discuss as a youngster) and moved to California in the mid-‘60s on a swimming scholarship. There, he joined the Black empowerment group, the U.S. Business (whose founder, Maulana Karenga established the getaway Kwanzaa), and recorded his earliest solo albums beginning with “Alkebu-Lan – Land of the Blacks.”

In accordance to NPR, soon after returning to the East Coast, Mtume (whose title interprets as “messenger” in Swahili), performed with jazz band leaders this sort of as McCoy Tyner and Freddie Hubbard as effectively as recording with his uncle, Albert “Tootie” Heath on the “Kawaida” album. About this time Mtume joined Miles Davis’ band for a four-calendar year stint that provided some of the jazz legend’s most adventurous materials, which includes “Dark Magus” and “Pangaea.”

In his 1989 autobiography, Miles, Davis noted Mtume’s impact on the heartbeat of his band: “With Mtume Heath and Pete Cosey becoming a member of us, most of the European sensibilities were gone from the band. Now the band settled down into a deep African point, a deep African-American groove, with a great deal of emphasis on drums and rhythm, and not on person solos.”

In 1978, subsequent dozens of jazz sessions, Mtume formed his self-named “sophistifunk” R&B-jazz ensemble with Lucas and vocalist Tawatha Agee, releasing the albums “Kiss This Environment Goodbye” (1978).

Soon after 1980’s In Research of the Rainbow Seekers, the band launched 1983’s Juicy Fruit. The title keep track of grew to become the band’s most significant strike, and it was famously sampled on the Notorious B.I.G.’s “Juicy.” The band adopted it with two much more albums: 1984’s You, Me and He which spawned yet another hit report and 1986’s Theater of the Brain.

Mtume was later credited on music by Mary J. Blige, R. Kelly, and K-Ci and Jo-Jo. Mtume turned a radio individuality for new York City’s KISS 98.7 FM. In 2019, he gave a TED Chat titled “Our Common Floor in Audio.”

Adhering to the news of his loss of life, Mtume was mourned on social media by the artists who cherished his audio, such as Gangstarr’s DJ Premier, Talib Kweli and 

other people. “Thank you James Mtume for all the knowledge & really like & regard you’ve demonstrated me & my brothers in excess of the a long time,” Questlove wrote.

“Rest In Electrical power to the wonderful James Mtume,” Philadelphia DJ Cosmo Baker wrote on Twitter. “The South Philly indigenous & prodigal son, Jazz ROYALTY (the son of the terrific Jimmy Heath) and tunes trailblazer & pioneer. His passing is definitely a monumental reduction.”

“Rest In Peace to the famous James Mtume,” included Wager host Marc Lamont Hill. “Thank you for sharing your tremendous gifts with us for so long…”