Chicago rapper Bumpy
Johnson has landed a special guest on his debut album that he hopes will set him
a part from the competition. The 24 year-old
Southside native managed to land Rick James and Kanye West on one song titled
“On The Run.”
Kanye West produced
the track, which will be released on Johnson’s major label debut. James’
involvement with the two Chicago artists developed out of a casual conversation.
“My son called
me up and said to me that his favorite rapper was Kanye West,” Rick James
revealed to AllHipHop.com. “I liked working with them because they are
not just talking about b**ches, hoes, and shooting people. Kanye actually has
some religious connotations to his music, which really attracted me. I went
out and bought his album. The next thing I know, I am getting a call to do a
song with Kanye West and Bumpy Johnson. So you know God works in mysterious
ways.”
That phone call
came as a result of leg work done by Free Maiden, CEO of Free 4 All, the Atlantic
distributed label that is releasing Johnson’s album.
After discussing
how James has re-emerged into pop-culture with Mark from production team Trakboyz,
Maiden pulled some strings, tracked down James and persuaded him to record with
Johnson and West.
“Ive always
been a big Rick James fan,” Maiden said. “I had been thinking of
a fresh idea for a record for Bump and Kanye to do together. So I came up with
the idea of them doing a record with Rick. When I told Kanye, he was down. We
found Rick & he was excited.”
And after years
of recording with some of the most well known rappers, Maiden said that being
in the studio with Rick James was an experience.
“Being with
Rick was the wildest sessions I have ever been in,” Maiden said. “It
was like 100 Dave Chappelle shows in one session. Rick is a walking movie. He
said so much funny s**t and we have all the footage!”
Johnson concurred
with Maiden’s statements, which highlight James’ colorful personality.
“He was in
there acting a fool,” Johnson said. “Like, the Rick you hear about,
That’s [really] Rick. That’s how he acts, no holds barred.”
“On The Run”
will appear on Johnson’s debut album. The title may conjure up images
on an outlaw seeking to escape the clutches of the law, but the song is actually
a metaphor for another concept.
“It’s really
about [being] on the run from a relationship,” Johnson explained. “Kanye
explained it to me when he first made it. It’s like a [having] a life
sentence with that girl.”
The first single from Johnson’s
album impacts radio in September while his untitled debut will hit stores in
February of 2005 and features Kanye West, Rick James, Twista, Jagged Edge, John
Legend and others.