Dr. Deanna Brown-Thomas, the daughter of James Brown, has carried on her father’s legacy through music, business, and philanthropy. President of the James Brown Family Foundation, she helps thousands of families in need, Brown has also established the James Brown Academy of Musik Pupils to teach kids to play instruments, write, and produce music.
Brown-Thomas’ latest project “Papa DIDN’T Take No Mess” is a musical that explores her father’s family life.
Brown-Thomas shared thoughts on the new project with ADW.
“Jeremy E. Cormier and I had a conversation about me doing a book, and I was like, that’s really not my vibe,” Brown-Thomas said. “I’m more into Broadway musicals. Once we started writing, it showed me that he was really serious. We developed the musical ‘Papa DIDN’T Take No Mess.’ This is the first time I will be telling the story of my world. And it’s been really interesting to go back and remember different times with my dad and how those times came about because of who he was and where he came from.”
Cormier also shared the writing process of the new musical.
“The first thing I did was my research,” Cormier said. “I wanted to prove that I was serious about the project. Between research and going back to the source, she would give me the correction or the accurate information, and then just fine tuning it to make sure that it fits on stage. But we also had to tell the story in a short amount of time, because we could be telling stories of James Brown for the rest of our lives. It was important to keep it authentic.”
While growing up as the daughter of The Godfather of Soul, Brown-Thomas began to understand her father’s overall impact as she got older.
“Our relationship went from being his daughter, to being an employee, to being a partner,” Brown-Thomas said. “While working for the radio station that we own, I became a fan of my dad. And it was probably during that time when I realized that he’s really huge. I didn’t really get it until I was doing a research paper on him while in college. So it really began to hit me. And then, as I began to do radio, I started to learn more about my father while working in the broadcasting world.”
James Brown is also viewed as the architect of hip-hop as multiple artists within the genre sampled Brown’s music. Brown-Thomas shares her thoughts on how her father impacted hip-hop.
“Hip-hop artists have shown their love and their respect,” she said. “They respect his music, his beat, his formula, and him creating a whole genre called funk. It was the way that he formulated his music. He touched everyone in some form with his music…With the musical, people will get to see his story in a new light. Also, it’s giving people an opportunity to work. From the actors, to the sound people, to the musicians. It’s giving people jobs and so that is a huge part of my dad’s experience. I’m proud to be his daughter.”
Papa DIDN’T Take No Mess opens on Oct. 17 at Porter Sanford III Performing Arts Center
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