For Marvin Gaye’s birthday, in honor of the mighty Soul and R&B legend (he would have been 74 today), dig this, one of his Illest tracks of all time:
And of course, it wouldn’t be a Bboy Sound of the Day without the funky, Bboy & Bgirl-friendly rendition by Bboy Funk Phenomenon Breakestra:
Beginning as a drummer with Motown, Marvin Gaye is a symbol not just of excellence in R&B writing, recording and performing, but also of the versatility of the creative spirit. He’s also an example of the highs and lows people go through, creative or otherwise. Through his sometimes tumultuous life, he was able to pop out these amazing recordings, including the well-known hits as well as lesser-known tracks that fed samples for later Hip-hop tracks like Erick Sermon’s “Music.”
From a recent interview with Gaye’s sister Zeola:
“I believe in my heart that if he were here today he would still be trying to minister to the people about the conditions of the world, spreading the word of love and forgiveness and being more spiritual-minded,” she said. “He might still sing about love … whatever he did, we knew it had a message, and I felt that message was coming from God.”
