Remembering Baby Huey

 

I am not old enough to actually remember Baby Huey. I have no idea what type of feeling his music had in the 70's. I have no idea what type of impact his sound had during that era but I do know that Baby Huey's single "Hard Times" was way ahead of its time.

2020 was a rough year for the globe and if you're anything like me, you leaned heavily on music to get you thru the struggle. I was all over the place musically... listening to a lot of new Christian hip hop, soul, EDM and much more. Often I found myself listening to oldies and funk but when I stumbled upon "Hard Times" everything else in the music came to a halt.

I listened like it was the first song i ever heard. I had it on repeat all day the first day. The DJ in me was fascinated with dozens of sample this track left behind. I actually bought the track from Itunes music so i could play with it on the turntables.

2020 was the perfect year to hear "Hard Times" but the reality of my crazy life had me feeling baby Huey on so many levels. It was like my man wrote this song specifically for me. It helped! It really did. Music like this can help a man keep his head up, push thru walls of burden and survive. Aside from god and prayer... this song might have been my biggest crutch of the year.

I am not the only one feeling this track. according to WHO SAMPLED this track has already been sampled 72 times. Songs like BUCK 50 from the WU TANG, COMPTON from the GAME, CAN I Kick It by Tribe Called Quest and many many more. Maybe tjat is part of the reason it hit me so hard. I already had is in my subconcious and embeded in my veins.

According to Wikipedia... A native of Richmond, Indiana, James Thomas Ramey was the son of Robert and Ernestine Ramey. He moved to Chicago, Illinois at the age of nineteen, and worked with several local bands as a singer. When he was still in high school, he worked with his first; the Vets. Due to a glandular disorder, Ramey weighed about 350 pounds around this time. His size contributed to his stage presence, but also to health problems. Nevertheless, he made light of his condition, adopting the stage name "Baby Huey" after Paramount Pictures' giant duckling cartoon character of the same name.

With a sound, style and inspiration from the future Baby Huey help mold the birth of Hip Hop and today.. nearly 50 years later its still one of the best songs you can find on the planet. Might be overall better than any song recorded and released during 2020. If you anything like you can agree.

As I share this blog post to Remember Baby Huey, im not just introducing you to him or his music. Im giving you a deeper look at who I am... inside and out. This sound is me. This Song is my soul. These lyrics are my life and Baby Huey is my brother. Rest In Peace James... you da man!!!!!