With his hustler look, his stash of coke and his huge ego, Rick James was the free electron from planet funk. Pushing everything to the limits, both in his life and his music, he embodied the crazy side of America in the ‘80s. With more than 100 tracks, this box set brings together all his recordings for Motown, including B-sides and maxis. There are essentially nine albums: Come Get It! (1978), Bustin' Out of L Seven and Fire It Up (1979), Garden of Love (1980), Street Songs (1981), Throwin' Down (1982), Cold Blooded (1983), Glow (1985) and The Flag (1986).
Of course, Street Songs is the masterpiece that stands out from the crowd. It’s like the missing link between the P-Funk universe and Prince's Purple Rain. Perfectly encapsulating the African-American music from the early eighties, Street Songs is a brilliant fusion of disco and funk. But Rick James injects only the most essential bone marrow of disco into his raw, wild funk. And while the aim is to fill the dancefloor, the lyrics are far from meaningless… Leave Prince alone for two minutes, and rediscover this 5-star funkster, the only musician to ever bring us such a sizzling style of funk and a brand-new sound to Motown in the ‘80s. © Marc Zisman/Qobuz