Syl Johnson

The ”Different Strokes” and ”Is It Because I’m Black” singer has been sampled in songs by Public Enemy, Kanye West & Jay-Z, Wu-Tang Clan, Boogie Down Productions, 2Pac, N.W.A., EPMD, De La Soul, Kool G Rap, J Dilla, and hundreds of others…

“We were Black before the election and we will be Black after the election,“ Salaam says of his powerful new album, which features a ”Strange Fruit” cover by the late Betty Wright, and themes of racial injustice and Black excellence over a backdrop of rap, soul, gospel, reggae, and more…

Tickets to see Damien Rice at the Athenaeum Theatre go on sale today (9/19) at 10AM CST. Tickets to see The Atlas Moth at Beat Kitchen are on sale now…

Syl Johnson @ the Bell House in June (BKLYN) (more by Jacob Blickenstaff) TMZ reports that Chicago soul singer Syl Johnson, who sued Kanye West and Jay-Z in 2011 over the improper use of his song “Different Strokes” in the Watch the Throne track “The Joy,” has now reached an out-of-court settlement with the pair of rappers…

Syl Johnson (more by Andrew St. Clair)”…Ken Shipley has hunted down some of the rarest records in existence as one of the founders of the Numero Group, a Chicago record label that specializes in painstakingly researched reissues of music from the obscure margins of pop…

The Dig Deeper series, organized by DJ’s Richard Lewis (DJ Honky) and Michael Robinson, is now nearing it’s 3rd year anniversary of presenting near-forgotten yet influential and vital soul artists to a NY audience…

“The 2011 Solid Sound lineup thus far: Wilco (Fri. & Sat.), the Levon Helm Band, Thurston Moore, Syl Johnson & the Sweet Divines, Here We Go Magic, Dave Douglas & Brass Ecstasy, Pillow Wand (Nels Cline/Thurston Moore duo), Handsome Family, Liam Finn, Sic Alps, JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound, Sarah Lee Guthrie & Johnny Irion, Glenn Kotche, Pronto, the Autumn Defense, Comedy Cabaret curated by John Hodgman featuring Wyatt Cenac, Eugene Mirman & Morgan Murphy, plus the return of the Story Pirates — all at the largest contemporary art museum in the country with the backdrop of the Berkshire Mountains of Western Massachusetts…

As someone promised, Syl Johnson was the opener for Yo La Tengo at Maxwell’s on Saturday night (12/4). Syl was also in town to play Southpaw on Friday which was the night Jeff Tweedy opened for Yo La Tengo at Maxwell’s…

You might know Steve Arrington‘s voice from his major R&B hit “Just A Touch if Love” from his R&B/Funk band Slave. The song was a major smash in the late 70s and is still a dance club staple for fans of funk/rare groove/hip hop/R&B…