Rest in power to a true music legend and icon, Quincy Jones

I read a lot of books. Because of my love of reading and my desire to debate and argue about life-changing books, I began a book club with a popular bookstore in Washington, DC, MahoganyBooks. I especially like reading biographies and autobiographies; reading the life stories of famous and infamous figures often inspires me to exit and strive for greatness, or no less than gives me an idea of ​​the pitfalls that may occur to a person in the event that they make bad decisions.

In this respect, certainly one of my absolute favorite books is “Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones,” published in 2001 and written by Quincy Jones (in fact), who died on Sunday on the age of 91. I still remember reading this book for the primary time in 2003. I received it as a gift from a friend who likes to give books as Christmas gifts. I realize how much of an exaggeration it could be to say that a book modified your life, but in this case (and several others) it’s true.

Reading about what Quincy Jones completed and how he did it was so inspiring that as soon as I finished reading the 416-page book, I felt like I could do anything and similarly had no excuse NOT to live out all of my dreams. Quincy Jones has worked with a who’s who of American musical figures, from Frank Sinatra to Michael Jackson and everyone in between. We have Quincy Jones to thank for Michael Jackson’s biggest albums, Off The Wall and certainly one of the best-selling albums of all time“Thriller”. Quincy covered jazz, rock, pop, R&B and hip-hop.

Most of us first heard Tevin Campbell on the household’s favorite album, 1989’s seven-time Grammy Award-winning “Back On The Block,” when Tevin covered the Brothers Johnson song “Tomorrow (A Better You Better Me),” modified the course of Black America. “Back On The Block” showed how adept Quincy was at adopting recent styles and genres, something lots of his contemporaries didn’t; The album’s title track featured Kool Moe Dee, Melle Mel, Ice-T and Big Daddy Kane. Quincy understood music and how necessary it was to include all musicians and artists.

While he likely didn’t see how his own musical compositions could change into a part of the backbone of hip-hop, Quincy’s work was sampled by artists starting from Pharycde, SWV, Nas, LL Cool J and Monica; the list goes on and on. Quincy’s work with Michael Jackson alone is enough to guarantee GOAT status, as he produced “Off The Wall”, “Thriller” and “Bad”, however the production influence on these albums helped create songs that may eternally remain in hip-hop. hop and R&B are truly amazing.

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Sure, those self same musicians could have found other artists to sample from to create their music, but would they’ve been as great without the muse of already classic, groundbreaking music? I doubt it.

And don’t even get me began on Quincy’s fingerprints on popular culture by founding Vibe magazine and executive producing certainly one of the best TV shows of all time, “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.” By creating platforms for the display and evaluation of black popular culture, Quincy was able to make sure that we not only told our own stories, but additionally saw them every week. Will Smith from the rapper Fresh Prince became the highest-grossing movie star in the world thanks to his appearance in the series “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”, the casting of which was prepared by Quincy Jones himself. And who can forget the theme song to “Sanford and Son”, also often known as “The Streetbeater”, arguably probably the most iconic theme song of all time?

Do you remember “We Are The World”? Yes, that is Quincy Jones. “The Color Purple” – yes, it was produced by Quincy Jones. Quincy was instrumental in creating a lot black popular culture that we still cherish it today. It is not possible to fully list all of his achievements; Quincy lived such a full life that in 2001 his autobiography probably needed a few hundred more pages. He survived the 2010s and continued working, making a sensation.

I often return to his book. When I would like inspiration or wonder if every thing I need to do is feasible and even price it, I examine a man who got into every room and directed a lot work that I do know and appreciate that I can not help but feel I can do anything. I’m grateful for a man whose life created so many artistic endeavors that shall be necessary to me until I pass away.

Quincy Delight Jones is a true music icon. We use terms like icon and legend very frivolously, but Quincy is each; his legacy has been cemented for many years. His contributions are being noticed and couldn’t be more praised. There are individuals who leave with still some work to do. Quincy Jones can have still wanted to do things, but he had done enough for a lot of lifetimes.

Rest in power, Quincy Jones, a true music legend.