Rick James Anthology Motown/Universal By David Chiu

Rick James was to soul music in the late '70s and early '80s as Puff Daddy was to hip-hop throughout the '90s: a self-made, charismatic impresario where everything he touched turned gold. James was more than just the cornrowed, beaded haired funkster with the flashy clothes and the scintillating women at his sides; he was also a brilliant producer, arranger, musician, and downright sweat-laded emotive singer. At times, he embodied more of a rock musician than a soul one; his brand of music can arguably be called punk funk. Clearly as this anthology presents, James was both auteur and showman who can turn it up a notch on groove heavy tracks like "Mary Jane" and "Bustin' Out," and deliver the goods with some sensual ballads (his duet with Teena Marie on "Fire and Desire." The big breakthrough for him was his album Street Songs containing two of his most well-known songs "Give It to Me Baby" and of course Superfreak. That song still burns and will forever be synonymous with this flashy character. Whatever you may think of him then and especially his legal problems, Rick James, along with JB and George Clinton, put some much needed bad ass in R&B.

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