James Brown Remembered As a Soul Man and Bitch Slapper
‘James Brown, the Godfather of Soul, was remembered this week as a music legend who instilled black pride, and also as a man who gave black men across the nation justification to beat their wives and girlfriends.
Mr. Brown died of congestive heart failure after taking a swing at his girlfriend, and missing. The uncontrolled motion of his arm, not having been slowed by its intended target, tore his left ventricle, according to his agent, Frank Copsidas.
Mr. Brown sold millions of records and slapped thousands of women in a career that lasted half a century, and his music provided the rhythms that are the basis of hip-hop and much of current pop. Mr. Copsidas said Mr. Brown was working up until the day he died, and said his slogan was: “I’m the hardest working man in show business, and I’ll slap anyone who says otherwise.”‘
