1968
IS IT BECAUSE I'M BLACK * SYL JOHNSON * TWINIGHT 125 * USA
Syl Johnson first recorded for Federal records # 12358 Teardrops / They Who Love in 1959, after various labels he moved to Twilight, the forerunner of Twinight, in 1967 where he cut this seminal track. Equally as valid yet the opposite in its position to James Brown's Say It Loud, I'm Black And I'm Proud, released in 1968. Where Brown's song was an assertive and uncompromising shift forward, Johnson's is a questioning, searching and reflective pause. Syl Johnson has enjoyed some attention in recent years when his song Different Strokes caught on with the rap crowd, and his work was sampled by the Ghetto Boys, Wu-Tang Clan, MC Hammer, TLC, Big Daddy Kane, Ice Cube, Ice-T, Michel'le, NWA, Sister Souljah, Public Enemy, EPMD, Eric Sermon, and Tone-Loc.
Note: The reason this is in the 70s Soul section is because until recently I always thought it was.