Sleepy Brown Lets Us Into The Dungeon In RBMA Lecture
Photo by Brian Hall for Red Bull
Photo by Brian Hall for Red Bull
Any discussion of Atlanta's imprint on music is entirely incomplete without mention of the powerhouse production team, Organized Noize. Comprised of Rico Wade, Ray Murray and Sleepy Brown, the trio mastered the recipe for what would become the ATL's hallmark sound; that slow-cooked southern fried funk.
They helmed early hits for the likes of TLC, Outkast, Goodie Mob and the collective that would eventually be known as The Dungeon Family, all of which is detailed in the recent documentary, The Art Of Organized Noize. It's a great film and backstory to what is perhaps the most influential city in modern music, regardless of genre. But while Red Bull Music Academy was installed in the ATL over the summer as part of their weeklong live broadcasts from Patchwerk Studios, they zeroed in on Sleepy Brown in hometown to go a little deeper into the legend of ON and the origins of. For Brown, music came into his life by way of his father, a storied local musician with a few hits under his belt and a habit of leaving his instruments out for a young Sleepy to dabble. Eventually he'd learn how to actually produce by deconstructing his ultimate grown-and-sexy '80s r&b groove, The Isley Brother's "In Between The Sheets," setting himself up for a career's worth of innovations as part of one of hip-hop's most foundational crews.
But don't take it from us, watch as Sleepy Brown unlocks the secrets to the dungeon in Atlanta's famed Patchwerk Studios for RBMA's latest lecture in the video below. Be sure to have a pen and pad ready, you'll sure enough need 'em.
