Rick James Records With Bumpy Johnson And Kanye West

[Walter Cronkite]

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.

Source: allhiphop.com