WEBVTT

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Welcome to the Deep Dive. Today we are strapping

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in for a journey that's less a straightforward

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musical biography It may be more an exploration

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of human extremes. Yeah, definitely. We're talking

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about a man who ran from the Navy, helped save

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Motown records, invented a whole genre, and then,

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well, lost pretty much everything to addiction

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and violence. Exactly. And, you know, if the

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name Rick James triggers one thing for most people

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today, it's probably Dave Chappelle in that wild

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wig yelling, I'm Rick James, bitch. Right. That

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2004 sketch, it's hilarious, totally unforgettable.

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It brought his name roaring back into pop culture.

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But the real story of James Ambrose Johnson Jr.

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is, well, it's profoundly more chaotic and ultimately

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much more tragic. And that's really our mission

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today, isn't it? To get beyond the catchphrase,

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to try and understand the man he actually was.

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Rick James, the self -proclaimed super freak.

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I mean, a prodigious singer, songwriter, retro

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producer. His life was this wild fusion of musical

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genius, what he brilliantly called punk funk,

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and just a frightening level of personal chaos

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and, frankly, excess. Our source material today

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gives us a really comprehensive, pretty unvarnished

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look at his life. Yeah. You know, his almost

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impossible early career playing with rock legends,

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his revolutionary sound, those intense personal

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struggles. And that dramatic downfall that came

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before, maybe one of the most unexpected celebrity

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comebacks ever. Absolutely. It's quite the arc.

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So we're going to try and quickly but thoroughly

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unpack the sheer scale of this man's story. Get

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ready for some details on his early life as basically...

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A fugitive. Yeah. His tumultuous relationship

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with the star of The Exorcist. The Blair. Yeah.

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That's a whole story in itself. The surreal irony

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of him winning his only Grammy Award while he

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was actually incarcerated in one of California's

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toughest prisons. So let's get into this legend.

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OK, so to really get the audacity, the chaos

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of Rick James, we kind of have to start right

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at the beginning. James Ambrose Johnson, Jr.,

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born in Buffalo, New York, 1948. One of eight

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kids. Right. And his early connection to music

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seems pretty conventional at first glance. Sang

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in the choir at St. Bridget's Catholic Church.

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You know, standard stuff. But that conventionality,

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it didn't last long. His father, who worked in

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auto manufacturing, just walked out when James

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was about 10. And that event just thrust his

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mother, Mabel, into this kind of high stakes

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dual reality. It really shaped his whole outlook.

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You can see it later on. What a life she had.

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Our sources describe her as someone living right

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on the edge. By day, she's a cleaner, just working

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hard to make ends meet for eight children. But

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she also had this fascinating creative past.

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She'd been a professional dancer for the legendary

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choreographer Catherine Dunham, so there was

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artistry there. And then by night, she was something

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else entirely. a numbers runner for the Buffalo

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crime family. Yeah, I mean, talk about pressure.

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That was her survival strategy, right? High risk,

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high reward. It must have taught James Jr. really

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early on that maybe rules are flexible sometimes

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and that taking big risks is often necessary

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just to get by. So it doesn't seem that surprising

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then that James quickly developed his own, let's

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say, high stakes approach to life. By his mid

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-teens, the Army draft is looming. Vietnam era.

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And he makes this pivotal decision. joins the

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U .S. Naval Reserve instead, thinking it's the

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safer bet. A sensible choice on the surface,

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maybe, except he almost immediately deserted

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the service, just poof, gone. So by 1964, he's

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a fugitive, abandons his post in Brooklyn, flees

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north to Canada, Toronto. And to dodge the military

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authorities, he immediately takes on a new name,

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Ricky James Matthews. And this escape, this running,

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leaves directly to one of the wildest How I Met.

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stories in rock history. It really does. Soon

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after he gets to Toronto, he's outside a club.

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Some drunk guys try to jump him. Right. And he

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gets saved by these three musicians. One of them

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happens to be LaVon Helm. LaVon Helm from the

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band. Well, at that time, he was in Ronnie Hawkins'

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backing band, The Hawks, which became the band

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later. But yeah, LaVon Helm. How incredible.

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Helm sees something in James. This energy invites

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him back to their show that night. James apparently

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had a guitar with him, ends up doing an impromptu

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set right there on stage. So his unofficial debut

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happens basically because he needed protection

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from a street fight. Pretty much. Classic Rick

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James entrance in a way. And that performance,

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it kicks off the formation of the Mina Birds,

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which this is the part of his early career that

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just makes your jaw drop. Oh yeah. James is fronting

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this band and they're mashing up soul, folk,

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rock. A mixed race band, too, which was not the

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norm then at all. And just look at who we pulled

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together. By 65, the lineup includes bassist

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Bruce Palmer. Later of Buffalo Springfield. Exactly.

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And, crucially, Neil Young joins on guitar, replacing

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someone else. Neil Young. Neil Young. This wasn't

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just some local garage band playing covers. This

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was a short -lived assembly of future icons.

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Foundational members of Buffalo Springfield,

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Steppenwolf connections. It's nuts. And this

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group, the Minor Birds, they actually get signed.

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They did. Signed a recording deal with Motown

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Records in 1966. Motown saw their potential,

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this raw contemporary sound. They invested in

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them. But it all fell apart. Completely. Motown's

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great missed opportunity, the contract just collapsed

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before they could release a single track. Why?

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The military. The military finally caught up

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with Ricky James Matthews. His fugitive status

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came out. Contract halted immediately. Motown

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literally had Rick James, Neil Young, and Bruce

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Palmer under contract, and the Navy just stepped

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in and shut it down. So he had to turn himself

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in. He was still just a teenager, right? Yeah.

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Surrendered to the FBI, still only 18, sentenced

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by the Navy. But, you know, even military prison

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couldn't really hold his chaos. What happened?

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He actually escaped from the Brooklyn Naval Brig

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after only six weeks, spent another six months

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on the run again before surrendering, eventually

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served time at Portsmouth Naval Prison. It's

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just... An unbelievable pattern of resisting

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authority. Totally. But the sources point out

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something interesting. Prison wasn't just punishment.

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It was also a connection point. While he was

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locked up, he met Stevie Wonder. Wait, Stevie

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Wonder visited him? In prison? Apparently so.

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And during one of their chats, Stevie told him

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the name Ricky James Matthews was, quote, too

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long. No way. Yeah. And suggested he shorten

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it to just Ricky James. That's incredible irony.

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Stevie Wonder, the established Motown genius,

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unknowingly helps rename and sort of relaunch

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the career of the guy who eventually helped save

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the label. And then later publicly blast Motown's

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biggest stars, including Stevie, implicitly,

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for being tokens. The layers there are just endless.

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So after he gets out in 67, he goes back to Toronto

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for a bit. Then by 68... He's working for Motown

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again. Still under the radar. Yeah, still using

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the Ricky Matthews name. Strictly behind the

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scenes, though. Producing, writing for acts like

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The Miracles, The Spinners, Bobby Taylor and

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The Vancouver's. Learning the ropes. But then

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he heads west. Right. Having kind of conquered

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the military justice system, he steps right into

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the absolute whirlwind of 1970s California rock

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and roll, moves to L .A., and the chaos there

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kind of dwarfed his earlier troubles. He started

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hanging out with musicians in the Laurel Canyon

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scene, hooks up with Greg Reeves. Mm -hmm. James

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really wanted to be the bassist for that new

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supergroup forming, Crosby, Stills, Nash, and

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Young. But it was Reeves who got the gig. Young's

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was on the sidelines again. And the stories from

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that time are just wild and kind of terrifying.

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Legendary, yeah. Like, one of his first nights

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crashing on Stephen Stills' couch, he wakes up,

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finds Jim Morrison there. The Jim Morrison. The

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Jim Morrison. High, bleeding from cutting his

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own wrists. Just there. Jeez. Another night,

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after a show at the Whiskey A Go -Go, Morrison

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apparently tricks James into taking acid. Pretty

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forceful introduction to psychedelics. Man. But

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the most chilling detail, the one that really

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gives you pause, involves the Sharon Tate murders.

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Yeah, this one's heavy. James claimed he was

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invited to that party at Tate's house in 69 by

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his friend Jay Sebring, the hairstylist who was

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murdered that night. But he didn't go. He said

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he was too hungover, couldn't get out of bed.

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Wow. So he narrowly avoided being present on

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one of the most infamous crimes of the century.

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Just by chance. When you connect all these dots,

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the desertion, the famous bandmates before they

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were famous, the brushes with death, the rock

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icon chaos, you realize he was seasoned in this

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incredibly volatile world very early on and had

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to shape his whole approach. It wasn't until

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1976, really, that things started to solidify

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for his own breakthrough. He goes back to Buffalo.

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Yep, forms the core of the Stone City band. And

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by 1977, he finally signs a proper solo contract

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with Motown's Gordy Records imprint, officially

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changes his stage name to Rick James. The stage

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was finally set. The super freak was about to

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emerge. Right, and this is where the Motown rebirth

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really kicks off. Rick James shows up at such

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a crucial time for the label. Things were slowing

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down for them. Yeah, by the late 70s, Motown's

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hit -making machine wasn't quite what it used

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to be. They were relying a lot on legacy acts,

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struggling to find sounds that could compete

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with disco, and especially those big funk bands

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like Parliament Funkadelic. And James was the

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jolt they needed. His debut solo album, April

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78, Come Get It, featuring the Stone City Band.

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It was immediate. A massive success. Raw, aggressive.

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It sounded completely new. That album was a lifesaver

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for Motown, commercially and critically. It gave

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them, you and I, his first number one R &B hit.

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And, of course, the infamous single Mary Jane.

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Which we'll get back to. Oh, yes. The album sold

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a million copies. It proved Motown could still

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sign and break new, relevant artists who weren't

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just doing disco. He kept that pace up, didn't

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he? Busting out of L7, fired it up, both in 79.

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Relentless. And that fired up tour, that's a

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piece of music history right there. Shows his

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eye for talent. He invited two opening acts,

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both kind of up and coming at the time. Who were

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they? Prince and Tina Marie. Get out. Prince

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and Tina Marie opening for Rick James. Can you

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imagine that triple bill today? It basically

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defines a whole decade of music. Just incredible

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foresight. But the real peak, the defining moment,

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came in 81 with Street Songs. Oh, absolutely.

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That album was a phenomenon. Sold over 4 million

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copies worldwide. Number one R &B, number three

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on the pop charts. And it defined his signature

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sound, punk funk. OK, let's bring that down musically.

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What was punk funk exactly? What made it different?

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Well, it was this fusion, right? Engineered for

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maximum impact. It deliberately grabbed aggressive

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elements from rock music, specifically distorted

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guitar riffs, kind of loud and in your face.

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And it blended those with the really high energy

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rhythms of funk. But unlike a lot of the smooth,

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polished R &B or even the orchestrated disco

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sound. Punk funk was raw, built on these heavy,

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driving bass lines, very influenced by P -funk

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George Clinton. Often played by James himself,

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right? He was a great bassist. Fantastic bassist.

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So you had that gritty, deep bass overlaid with

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new wave synthesizers, which were becoming big

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then, and his powerful, sometimes screaming vocals.

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It was really the opposite of smooth. Yeah, you

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can hear that. Street Songs gave us the big ones,

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Give It To Me Baby. Massive hit. And his biggest

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crossover hit, Super Freak, peaked at number

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16 on the main Billboard Hot 100 chart. That

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proved he could cross genre lines, racial lines

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on the radio. Definitely. But what's key is his

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versatility, too. He wasn't just the punk funk

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wild man. He could deliver these incredible,

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soulful ballads. Like Fire and Desire. Oh, that

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duet with Tina Marie. Just stunning. Their chemistry

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was so strong, a lot of fans actually thought

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they were a couple. Right. And he did Ebony Eyes

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in 83 with Smokey Robinson, a Motown legend.

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So he could still command that classic Motown

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soul intensity when he wanted to. Exactly. And

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like Prince, who he toured with, James had ambitions

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beyond just his own records. He wanted to be

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a star maker, launch other acts that he produced.

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Like the Mary Jane Girls. Yep. Featuring Joanne

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Jojo McDuffie on lead vocals. He produced their

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big hits all night long, Candyman. Big successes.

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His production touch was kind of everywhere for

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a while there. In 82, he produced the Temptations

00:12:19.470 --> 00:12:22.230
big comeback hit, didn't he? Standing on the

00:12:22.230 --> 00:12:25.769
top, got them back in the R &B top 10. And what's

00:12:25.769 --> 00:12:27.990
fascinating is he puts his signature shout right

00:12:27.990 --> 00:12:31.409
in the track. Temptations, S -ing. He used that

00:12:31.409 --> 00:12:33.549
on Super Freak, too. And on a Tina Marie track.

00:12:33.590 --> 00:12:35.330
It was like his producer tag, almost signing

00:12:35.330 --> 00:12:38.269
his work right there in the mix. And then, maybe

00:12:38.269 --> 00:12:42.179
his biggest outside production hit. 1985. Eddie

00:12:42.179 --> 00:12:52.220
Murphy. But this huge star status, it was always

00:12:52.220 --> 00:12:54.340
running parallel to this controversial public

00:12:54.340 --> 00:12:58.159
image. He was famous, or maybe infamous, for

00:12:58.159 --> 00:13:01.690
promoting marijuana use. Live on stage. Oh, yeah.

00:13:01.929 --> 00:13:04.450
Even when that put him in a serious legal jeopardy

00:13:04.450 --> 00:13:07.450
sometimes. Motown executives, incredibly, apparently

00:13:07.450 --> 00:13:09.809
thought Mary Jane was just a sweet love song

00:13:09.809 --> 00:13:12.409
at first. Completely missed the obvious cannabis

00:13:12.409 --> 00:13:14.230
reference. After they missed that. You tell me.

00:13:14.370 --> 00:13:16.850
Maybe wishful thinking. But the real friction,

00:13:16.990 --> 00:13:20.149
the big clash, came with MTV. Right. MTV launches

00:13:20.149 --> 00:13:23.570
in 81, becomes the absolute gatekeeper for pop

00:13:23.570 --> 00:13:26.049
music. for Image. And James submits the video

00:13:26.049 --> 00:13:27.730
for Super Freak, which is one of the biggest

00:13:27.730 --> 00:13:31.090
songs in the country, and MTV rejects it. Flat

00:13:31.090 --> 00:13:34.360
out. What was their reasoning? They cited vulgarity,

00:13:34.399 --> 00:13:37.399
said the video was too explicit, too suggestive.

00:13:37.440 --> 00:13:39.659
But James didn't buy that. Not for a second.

00:13:39.820 --> 00:13:43.100
He immediately, very publicly accused the network

00:13:43.100 --> 00:13:46.279
of racism, pointed out the massive underrepresentation

00:13:46.279 --> 00:13:48.440
of black artists on the channel, despite his

00:13:48.440 --> 00:13:50.799
own crossover success, said they just didn't

00:13:50.799 --> 00:13:53.299
want his kind of black artist. This leads to

00:13:53.299 --> 00:13:55.220
a really infamous moment, doesn't it? When Michael

00:13:55.220 --> 00:13:57.740
Jackson and Prince do break through on MTV. He

00:13:57.740 --> 00:14:01.039
doubles down hard. goes on this angry, widely

00:14:01.039 --> 00:14:04.559
reported rant in 1983, calls Michael Jackson

00:14:04.559 --> 00:14:08.500
and Prince tokens. Wow. Yeah. Basically suggesting

00:14:08.500 --> 00:14:11.279
they'd sanitize their image, sold out, to appeal

00:14:11.279 --> 00:14:13.620
to a white mainstream audience that MTV was comfortable

00:14:13.620 --> 00:14:16.539
with. He demanded that all black artists pull

00:14:16.539 --> 00:14:19.419
their videos from MTV in protest. That is an

00:14:19.419 --> 00:14:22.759
incredibly aggressive move. Using his clout to

00:14:22.759 --> 00:14:25.419
try and force a cultural shift. But wasn't there

00:14:25.419 --> 00:14:27.159
a contradiction? I mean, he's accusing them of

00:14:27.159 --> 00:14:29.539
rejecting him for race, but his videos were pretty

00:14:29.539 --> 00:14:31.679
sexually explicit and his music used explicit

00:14:31.679 --> 00:14:33.980
language. Wasn't he maybe giving them an easy

00:14:33.980 --> 00:14:36.460
out? That's the paradox of Rick James, isn't

00:14:36.460 --> 00:14:38.899
it? He always operated at the extremes. He wanted

00:14:38.899 --> 00:14:40.799
that mainstream acceptance, but completely on

00:14:40.799 --> 00:14:42.899
his own terms. And his turns involved pushing

00:14:42.899 --> 00:14:45.519
every single boundary, musically, lyrically,

00:14:45.679 --> 00:14:48.940
visually. His complaint about MTV wasn't totally

00:14:48.940 --> 00:14:52.120
dismissed, though. David Bowie famously later

00:14:52.120 --> 00:14:55.100
confronted an MTV VJ in an interview asking why

00:14:55.100 --> 00:14:56.820
they weren't playing more black artists. So the

00:14:56.820 --> 00:14:58.759
pressure was building. Did James ever get played

00:14:58.759 --> 00:15:01.840
on MTV? Eventually, yeah. But ironically, it

00:15:01.840 --> 00:15:03.820
was with the Eddie Murphy video Party All the

00:15:03.820 --> 00:15:08.500
Time, which was arguably a bit more. palatable

00:15:08.500 --> 00:15:11.340
for the network's audience at the time. So amidst

00:15:11.340 --> 00:15:14.120
all this career explosion, the fame, the controversy,

00:15:14.360 --> 00:15:17.700
his personal life was just as intense. He starts

00:15:17.700 --> 00:15:20.259
dating actress Linda Blair. Yeah, Linda Blair,

00:15:20.379 --> 00:15:22.820
star of The Exorcist. They dated from about 1982

00:15:22.820 --> 00:15:26.409
to 1984. How did they even meet? Seems like an

00:15:26.409 --> 00:15:28.289
unlikely pairing. Apparently, she called him

00:15:28.289 --> 00:15:30.570
sexy in an interview somewhere. He heard about

00:15:30.570 --> 00:15:32.629
it, tracked her down, contacted her. That's the

00:15:32.629 --> 00:15:34.889
story, anyway. Their relationship was intense,

00:15:35.070 --> 00:15:37.409
and it directly inspired one of his big hits.

00:15:37.549 --> 00:15:40.370
Cold -blooded. That's the one. James wrote it

00:15:40.370 --> 00:15:42.830
about Blair because, as he put it, she could

00:15:42.830 --> 00:15:45.950
freeze my blood. Wow. But there's a really painful

00:15:45.950 --> 00:15:48.570
detail James shared later in his memoir about

00:15:48.570 --> 00:15:50.649
why things ended and the impact it had. What

00:15:50.649 --> 00:15:53.279
was that? He wrote that Blair got pregnant early

00:15:53.279 --> 00:15:56.159
in their relationship and she chose to have an

00:15:56.159 --> 00:15:58.279
abortion, apparently without really consulting

00:15:58.279 --> 00:16:01.179
him. He wrote about looking back on that choice

00:16:01.179 --> 00:16:04.360
with just profound sadness, wondering if having

00:16:04.360 --> 00:16:06.159
that child might have completely changed his

00:16:06.159 --> 00:16:08.580
path, maybe pulled him back from the self -destruction

00:16:08.580 --> 00:16:11.120
that was coming. That's heavy. It really feels

00:16:11.120 --> 00:16:14.720
like even at his absolute peak of fame and success,

00:16:15.019 --> 00:16:17.340
the seeds of his downfall were already being

00:16:17.340 --> 00:16:19.759
sown. Yeah, the trajectory was already starting

00:16:19.759 --> 00:16:21.879
to curve downwards, even if it wasn't obvious

00:16:21.879 --> 00:16:24.679
from the outside just yet. And by the late 80s,

00:16:24.679 --> 00:16:28.399
that curve gets steep fast. The sheer speed and

00:16:28.399 --> 00:16:31.620
scale of the super freak lifestyle just it wasn't

00:16:31.620 --> 00:16:33.639
sustainable. We're moving into the really tragic

00:16:33.639 --> 00:16:36.240
period of decline now, starting around 89, 90.

00:16:36.360 --> 00:16:38.220
He lost his record deal. Yeah, lost his deal

00:16:38.220 --> 00:16:40.879
with Reprise Warner Bros. And the true scale

00:16:40.879 --> 00:16:43.159
of his addiction just became devastatingly clear.

00:16:43.379 --> 00:16:45.820
The source material is incredibly blunt about

00:16:45.820 --> 00:16:48.379
this. He admitted himself. Yeah. What was the

00:16:48.379 --> 00:16:50.500
figure? He admitted that for five years straight,

00:16:50.580 --> 00:16:53.200
he was spending about $7 ,000 a week on crack

00:16:53.200 --> 00:16:57.460
cocaine. $7 ,000. A week. For five years. Yeah.

00:16:57.580 --> 00:16:59.720
I mean, just do the math. It's staggering. His

00:16:59.720 --> 00:17:03.000
drug use had started way back. Marijuana, some

00:17:03.000 --> 00:17:06.119
heroin in his teens. But it escalated into this

00:17:06.119 --> 00:17:09.039
daily crippling addiction to crack. And the physical

00:17:09.039 --> 00:17:11.940
damage must have been immense. Oh, severe. By

00:17:11.940 --> 00:17:14.559
1984, remember, he'd already been hospitalized

00:17:14.559 --> 00:17:16.940
after being found unconscious at home. The coal

00:17:16.940 --> 00:17:19.700
was adding up. But what makes this period just

00:17:19.700 --> 00:17:23.200
so utterly surreal is that right in the middle

00:17:23.200 --> 00:17:26.099
of this intense personal spiral, when his career

00:17:26.099 --> 00:17:28.960
is... stalling and his life is literally falling

00:17:28.960 --> 00:17:32.220
apart from drugs, he gets his only major industry

00:17:32.220 --> 00:17:34.680
award. This is the you can't touch this moment,

00:17:34.799 --> 00:17:36.799
the ultimate irony. It's almost unbelievable.

00:17:37.079 --> 00:17:40.099
So 1990, MC Hammer drops You Can't Touch This,

00:17:40.339 --> 00:17:43.119
samples that iconic bass riff from Super Freak.

00:17:43.160 --> 00:17:45.019
Instantly recognizable. The song blows up. It's

00:17:45.019 --> 00:17:47.200
everywhere. One of the biggest pop hits of the

00:17:47.200 --> 00:17:49.740
entire decade. Rick James, along with his original

00:17:49.740 --> 00:17:52.519
co -writer Alonzo Miller, they immediately sued

00:17:52.519 --> 00:17:54.480
Hammer for songwriting credit. And they got it.

00:17:54.500 --> 00:17:57.700
They won. As a result, in 1991, Rick James receives

00:17:57.700 --> 00:18:01.500
his only Grammy Award. Best R &B song for composing

00:18:01.500 --> 00:18:03.900
You Can't Touch This. So he wins a Grammy for

00:18:03.900 --> 00:18:06.059
writing a song based on his own earlier song.

00:18:06.299 --> 00:18:08.700
At the exact moment his life is collapsing due

00:18:08.700 --> 00:18:11.019
to crack cocaine addiction and he's about to

00:18:11.019 --> 00:18:14.480
face major legal disaster. It just perfectly

00:18:14.480 --> 00:18:17.519
crystallizes the whole paradox of his life. Genius

00:18:17.519 --> 00:18:20.500
and disaster hand in hand. And that disaster

00:18:20.500 --> 00:18:23.539
became total. His addiction led directly to these

00:18:23.539 --> 00:18:27.390
convictions for... Well, for two separate extremely

00:18:27.390 --> 00:18:30.869
serious violent incidents, kidnapping and assault.

00:18:31.130 --> 00:18:33.029
Yeah, these are grim. We need to be clear about

00:18:33.029 --> 00:18:35.210
the details reported in the sources because they

00:18:35.210 --> 00:18:37.430
explain the complete derailment of his career

00:18:37.430 --> 00:18:40.150
and public image. The first incident was August

00:18:40.150 --> 00:18:43.529
1991 in Los Angeles. Right. James was arrested

00:18:43.529 --> 00:18:45.650
with his girlfriend at the time, Tanya Hijazi.

00:18:45.829 --> 00:18:48.069
They were accused of holding a 24 -year -old

00:18:48.069 --> 00:18:50.789
woman named Frances Alley hostage for up to six

00:18:50.789 --> 00:18:53.940
days. Hostage. Yeah. The sources state that under

00:18:53.940 --> 00:18:56.400
the influence of crack cocaine during a week

00:18:56.400 --> 00:18:59.079
long binge, they tied her up, forced her to perform

00:18:59.079 --> 00:19:02.160
sexual acts and burned her legs and abdomen with

00:19:02.160 --> 00:19:04.859
the hot end of a crack pipe. Oh, my God. That's

00:19:04.859 --> 00:19:07.019
horrific. Just horrific. The charges were extensive,

00:19:07.339 --> 00:19:09.799
aggravated mayhem, torture, kidnapping, really

00:19:09.799 --> 00:19:13.079
serious stuff. And then while he was out on bail

00:19:13.079 --> 00:19:17.250
for that. Unbelievably, yes. November 1992, while

00:19:17.250 --> 00:19:20.230
awaiting trial, he commits a second similar violent

00:19:20.230 --> 00:19:23.089
act. What happened then? He assaulted a music

00:19:23.089 --> 00:19:26.829
executive named Mary Sager, again while intoxicated.

00:19:27.009 --> 00:19:29.730
This happened over a 20 -hour period at a hotel

00:19:29.730 --> 00:19:33.269
in West Hollywood. Sager testified she met James

00:19:33.269 --> 00:19:35.170
and Hijazi for what she thought was a business

00:19:35.170 --> 00:19:38.190
meeting and ended up being kidnapped and beaten.

00:19:38.410 --> 00:19:42.210
So the trial, what was the outcome? The verdict

00:19:42.210 --> 00:19:44.470
was pretty clear -cut. James was found guilty

00:19:44.470 --> 00:19:47.410
of kidnapping and assault in both cases. Crucially,

00:19:47.450 --> 00:19:49.210
though, he was cleared of the torture charge

00:19:49.210 --> 00:19:51.029
in that first incident. That was significant,

00:19:51.210 --> 00:19:53.509
wasn't it? Hugely significant. It probably saved

00:19:53.509 --> 00:19:56.190
him from a potential life sentence. As it was,

00:19:56.369 --> 00:19:58.269
he was sentenced to three years to be served

00:19:58.269 --> 00:20:01.230
at Folsom State Prison. Folsom. Wow. Yeah. And

00:20:01.230 --> 00:20:03.809
the legal fallout didn't stop there. While James

00:20:03.809 --> 00:20:06.849
was locked up, Mary Sager won a major civil lawsuit

00:20:06.849 --> 00:20:10.000
against him. The second victim. Right. In 1994,

00:20:10.319 --> 00:20:12.779
she was awarded nearly $2 million in damages.

00:20:13.059 --> 00:20:15.880
And James himself was ordered to pay about $1

00:20:15.880 --> 00:20:18.599
million of that personally, a massive financial

00:20:18.599 --> 00:20:20.680
hit that would hang over him for the rest of

00:20:20.680 --> 00:20:23.039
his life. This really represents the absolute

00:20:23.039 --> 00:20:25.799
bottom, doesn't it? The complete fall from grace

00:20:25.799 --> 00:20:28.839
for this Motown savior, this crossover star.

00:20:29.359 --> 00:20:31.720
Prison. Total rock bottom. He was eventually

00:20:31.720 --> 00:20:34.680
paroled in August 1996 after serving more than

00:20:34.680 --> 00:20:36.660
two years. What's interesting, though, or...

00:20:37.079 --> 00:20:40.180
maybe just complicated, is his relationship with

00:20:40.180 --> 00:20:43.099
Tanya Hijazi, the woman arrested with him in

00:20:43.099 --> 00:20:45.680
the first incident. Yeah, that connection persisted

00:20:45.680 --> 00:20:47.680
through the crisis. They actually had a son together,

00:20:47.839 --> 00:20:50.180
Tasman, born in 1993, while they were both dealing

00:20:50.180 --> 00:20:52.279
with the legal system, potentially both incarcerated

00:20:52.279 --> 00:20:54.599
at points. And they got married. They did. In

00:20:54.599 --> 00:20:56.819
1996, shortly after they were both released,

00:20:57.039 --> 00:20:59.920
stayed married until 2002 when they divorced.

00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:02.279
So even in the midst of that utter chaos, that

00:21:02.279 --> 00:21:04.900
relationship endured for a while. So James gets

00:21:04.900 --> 00:21:07.180
out of Folsom in 96. What happens next? Does

00:21:07.180 --> 00:21:09.140
he try to come back? He does, almost immediately.

00:21:09.400 --> 00:21:12.859
In 1997, he releases a new album, Urban Rhapsody,

00:21:12.980 --> 00:21:15.740
tries to get back out on the road, touring again.

00:21:16.039 --> 00:21:18.160
He even did that VH1 Behind the Music episode

00:21:18.160 --> 00:21:20.259
around then, didn't he, in 98? Yeah, that was

00:21:20.259 --> 00:21:22.819
a big deal. Gave people a glimpse into his life

00:21:22.819 --> 00:21:25.839
after Motown, after prison, trying to frame his

00:21:25.839 --> 00:21:28.900
narrative again. But his health, those years

00:21:28.900 --> 00:21:32.720
of hard living, the addiction. It must have taken

00:21:32.720 --> 00:21:35.880
a serious toll. A massive toll. We know that

00:21:35.880 --> 00:21:38.660
earlier in 98, before the Behind the Music aired

00:21:38.660 --> 00:21:41.380
even, he'd had hip replacement surgery. Why?

00:21:41.619 --> 00:21:44.180
Severe bone damage. The sources attribute it

00:21:44.180 --> 00:21:46.480
to a combination of long -term substance in life

00:21:46.480 --> 00:21:49.859
and just years of his high -energy stage performances

00:21:49.859 --> 00:21:52.619
jumping around. It literally wore his body down.

00:21:52.839 --> 00:21:55.039
And then came the stroke. Yeah, later that same

00:21:55.039 --> 00:21:57.599
year in 1998. During a concert in Denver, he

00:21:57.599 --> 00:22:00.009
suffered a mild stroke. a blood vessel ruptured

00:22:00.009 --> 00:22:01.890
in his neck. That was really the thing that forced

00:22:01.890 --> 00:22:03.829
him to finally step back. He announced a semi

00:22:03.829 --> 00:22:06.029
-retirement after that. The man who lives life

00:22:06.029 --> 00:22:08.430
at 100 miles an hour was now essentially physically

00:22:08.430 --> 00:22:11.950
broken. Pretty much. And the stage was set really

00:22:11.950 --> 00:22:15.670
for maybe the most bizarre, unexpected career

00:22:15.670 --> 00:22:19.089
revival in modern pop culture history. Because

00:22:19.089 --> 00:22:21.009
James had been out of the mainstream spotlight

00:22:21.009 --> 00:22:23.670
for years at this point. Semi -retired, dealing

00:22:23.670 --> 00:22:25.750
with all these chronic health problems. And then...

00:22:25.960 --> 00:22:29.059
Bam. Early 2004. Everything changes overnight.

00:22:29.480 --> 00:22:32.319
Chappelle's show. Chappelle's show. The Charlie

00:22:32.319 --> 00:22:35.779
Murphy's true Hollywood stories sketch. It just

00:22:35.779 --> 00:22:39.240
exploded. It instantly transformed Rick James's

00:22:39.240 --> 00:22:42.359
image, his entire legacy for a whole new generation

00:22:42.359 --> 00:22:46.099
who maybe only vaguely knew Super Freak. Those

00:22:46.099 --> 00:22:48.759
sketches were everywhere. Charlie Murphy recounting

00:22:48.759 --> 00:22:51.960
these hilarious, often just... completely unbelievable

00:22:51.960 --> 00:22:54.059
stories about hanging out with rick james in

00:22:54.059 --> 00:22:56.599
the 80s and dave chappelle's portrayal unforgettable

00:22:56.599 --> 00:22:59.140
he gave us those two catchphrases that just define

00:22:59.140 --> 00:23:02.319
rick james for millions i'm rick james and that

00:23:02.319 --> 00:23:05.019
simple chillingly funny explanation for all the

00:23:05.019 --> 00:23:07.720
madness cocaine is a hell of a drug the impact

00:23:07.720 --> 00:23:09.660
was huge wasn't it suddenly everyone was talking

00:23:09.660 --> 00:23:12.279
about rick james again massive and immediate

00:23:12.279 --> 00:23:15.859
and james to his credit capitalized on it He

00:23:15.859 --> 00:23:18.579
hit the road again. He joined Tina Marie on her

00:23:18.579 --> 00:23:22.299
LaDanya tour in May 2004, performing live again

00:23:22.299 --> 00:23:24.759
with his longtime friend and collaborator. And

00:23:24.759 --> 00:23:27.630
his final public performance. It was a kind of

00:23:27.630 --> 00:23:29.730
a perfect bookend, wasn't it? Back with his Motown

00:23:29.730 --> 00:23:33.690
roots, in a way. It really was. June 29, 2004,

00:23:34.069 --> 00:23:36.829
at the BET Awards, he performed Fire and Desire

00:23:36.829 --> 00:23:39.309
live with Tina Murray. Wow. And apparently, even

00:23:39.309 --> 00:23:41.549
backstage, he was leaning into this new Chappelle

00:23:41.549 --> 00:23:44.289
-fueled persona. There's a story he called out

00:23:44.289 --> 00:23:46.309
some young woman who didn't recognize him, saying

00:23:46.309 --> 00:23:48.250
something like, never mind who you thought I

00:23:48.250 --> 00:23:50.849
was, I'm Rick James, bitch. Embracing the caricature.

00:23:51.049 --> 00:23:53.589
Totally. But that resurgence, that final lap,

00:23:53.730 --> 00:23:55.829
it was tragically short -lived. He died just

00:23:55.829 --> 00:23:57.619
over a month. month after that BT performance.

00:23:58.420 --> 00:24:02.500
August 6th, 2004. Only 56 years old. Found in

00:24:02.500 --> 00:24:04.900
his home in LA. Yeah. The official cause of death

00:24:04.900 --> 00:24:07.660
was listed as pulmonary failure and cardiac failure,

00:24:07.819 --> 00:24:10.259
associated with a whole laundry list of pre -existing

00:24:10.259 --> 00:24:13.460
conditions. Diabetes, the stroke he'd had, heart

00:24:13.460 --> 00:24:15.619
problems that required a pacemaker, a previous

00:24:15.619 --> 00:24:18.500
heart attack. His body was just worn out. But

00:24:18.500 --> 00:24:21.819
the toxicology report... That's a key detail

00:24:21.819 --> 00:24:24.099
for understanding his final state, right? Absolutely

00:24:24.099 --> 00:24:27.359
crucial. The autopsy found a cocktail, a whole

00:24:27.359 --> 00:24:30.319
mix of nine different drugs in his system. Nine?

00:24:30.400 --> 00:24:33.259
Like what? Things like Xanax, Valium, cocaine,

00:24:33.680 --> 00:24:37.279
methamphetamine, hydrocodone. A bit of everything,

00:24:37.519 --> 00:24:40.599
seemingly. He overdosed. See, that's the critical

00:24:40.599 --> 00:24:43.240
point the coroner made. Despite that list of

00:24:43.240 --> 00:24:45.819
drugs, the report explicitly stated that none

00:24:45.819 --> 00:24:47.880
of the drugs or drug combinations were found

00:24:47.880 --> 00:24:49.660
to be at levels that were life -threatening in

00:24:49.660 --> 00:24:52.019
and of themselves. So he didn't die from an overdose,

00:24:52.180 --> 00:24:54.099
technically. Correct. He died from the accumulated

00:24:54.099 --> 00:24:56.759
damage, the ruin caused by years and years of

00:24:56.759 --> 00:24:59.380
chronic substance abuse and health neglect. His

00:24:59.380 --> 00:25:01.480
system just gave out under the weight of it all.

00:25:01.599 --> 00:25:03.539
After his death, there was a big public funeral

00:25:03.539 --> 00:25:05.740
back in Buffalo, right? Yeah, huge outpouring.

00:25:05.799 --> 00:25:09.039
An estimated 6 ,000 fans attended. His ashes

00:25:09.039 --> 00:25:11.480
were later buried there at Forest Lawn Cemetery,

00:25:11.680 --> 00:25:15.559
a return home in the end. And his legacy, it

00:25:15.559 --> 00:25:17.980
continues to evolve even after his death. His

00:25:17.980 --> 00:25:20.480
autobiography finally got published properly.

00:25:20.759 --> 00:25:24.160
Yeah, an edited version called Glow. The autobiography

00:25:24.160 --> 00:25:27.180
of Rick James came out in 2014, gives his perspective,

00:25:27.279 --> 00:25:29.299
though obviously filtered. And his music is still

00:25:29.299 --> 00:25:31.660
valuable. That catalog sale. Right. In 2020,

00:25:31.920 --> 00:25:34.380
his estate sold a 50 % stake in his publishing

00:25:34.380 --> 00:25:36.559
rights and master recordings to the Hypnosis

00:25:36.559 --> 00:25:39.259
Songs Fund. Shows the enduring commercial power

00:25:39.259 --> 00:25:41.680
of those hits. And culturally, people are still

00:25:41.680 --> 00:25:45.279
fascinated. That documentary. The 2021 documentary,

00:25:45.759 --> 00:25:49.779
Bitchin'. The sound and fury of Rick James. Critically

00:25:49.779 --> 00:25:53.299
acclaimed. Got 100 % on Rotten Tomatoes. Really

00:25:53.299 --> 00:25:55.539
reinforced his musical genius and the complexity

00:25:55.539 --> 00:25:57.779
of his life. And now there's even a stage musical

00:25:57.779 --> 00:26:01.000
touring. Yep. Super. freak a rick james story

00:26:01.000 --> 00:26:04.059
premiered in 2024 shows that interest in his

00:26:04.059 --> 00:26:06.960
story his sound it's still very much alive hashtag

00:26:06.960 --> 00:26:09.200
tag outro so where does that leave us what does

00:26:09.200 --> 00:26:11.779
it all mean we've traced this life just defined

00:26:11.779 --> 00:26:14.400
by staggering extreme right from james ambrose

00:26:14.400 --> 00:26:16.880
johnson jr the kid running from the navy playing

00:26:16.880 --> 00:26:18.680
in a band with neil young before anyone knew

00:26:18.680 --> 00:26:21.240
who they were to rick james the motown savior

00:26:21.240 --> 00:26:24.200
the absolute pioneer of punk funk a sound that

00:26:24.200 --> 00:26:28.599
changed music and then the slide The deep dive

00:26:28.599 --> 00:26:31.420
into addiction, the horrifying convictions for

00:26:31.420 --> 00:26:34.119
kidnapping and assault, only to be followed by

00:26:34.119 --> 00:26:36.599
that completely surreal Grammy win for a song

00:26:36.599 --> 00:26:38.799
he didn't even sing based on his own hit. The

00:26:38.799 --> 00:26:42.259
story of Rick James is just this painful synthesis,

00:26:42.380 --> 00:26:45.680
isn't it? The musical genius who really did revolutionize

00:26:45.680 --> 00:26:48.299
funk and R &B and the deeply, deeply troubled

00:26:48.299 --> 00:26:52.180
man whose $7 ,000 a week crack habit led directly

00:26:52.180 --> 00:26:54.740
to horrific violence in prison. He was this force

00:26:54.740 --> 00:26:57.980
of nature. A brilliant producer who arguably

00:26:57.980 --> 00:27:01.099
helped save Motown's fortunes in the late 70s.

00:27:01.099 --> 00:27:03.559
Yeah. And also a man who just self -destructed

00:27:03.559 --> 00:27:06.019
so publicly, so completely. Yeah. And that complex

00:27:06.019 --> 00:27:07.940
relationship he had with mainstream success,

00:27:08.200 --> 00:27:10.400
it's perfectly captured by that single Grammy

00:27:10.400 --> 00:27:12.619
award, isn't it? How so? Well, he gets it for

00:27:12.619 --> 00:27:14.660
composing the source material for Hammer Sample,

00:27:14.720 --> 00:27:16.420
a victory that comes while he's at his absolute

00:27:16.420 --> 00:27:18.619
lowest point personally and legally. It just

00:27:18.619 --> 00:27:20.839
highlights how difficult it was for him to get

00:27:20.839 --> 00:27:23.220
that kind of uncontroversial acclaim purely on

00:27:23.220 --> 00:27:25.519
his own terms, for his own direction. work during

00:27:25.519 --> 00:27:28.259
his peak and now the modern generation they know

00:27:28.259 --> 00:27:30.519
him mostly through that Chappelle show caricature

00:27:30.519 --> 00:27:34.410
exactly a caricature that brilliantly distilled

00:27:34.410 --> 00:27:37.130
his fury, his audacity, his over -the -top lifestyle

00:27:37.130 --> 00:27:41.049
into those two perfect punchlines. That comedy

00:27:41.049 --> 00:27:44.089
sketch gave him this unexpected final act, this

00:27:44.089 --> 00:27:47.470
resurgence. But it also massively simplified

00:27:47.470 --> 00:27:49.789
a life that was just incredibly rich with musical

00:27:49.789 --> 00:27:52.829
innovation, but also defined by profound, costly

00:27:52.829 --> 00:27:55.390
human tragedy. So I guess this raises a pretty

00:27:55.390 --> 00:27:57.289
big question for you, the listener, to think

00:27:57.289 --> 00:27:59.950
about. Knowing the full scope now, the runaway

00:27:59.950 --> 00:28:02.009
sailor, the genius architect of punk funk, the

00:28:02.009 --> 00:28:04.099
violent addict the musical revolutionary who

00:28:04.099 --> 00:28:07.000
collaborated with legends can that i'm rick james

00:28:07.000 --> 00:28:10.640
bitch legacy as funny and memorable as it is

00:28:10.640 --> 00:28:12.940
truly ever capture the full picture the sound

00:28:12.940 --> 00:28:16.180
of the fury or will the sheer unbelievable audacity

00:28:16.180 --> 00:28:18.720
of his actual life always make the man himself

00:28:18.720 --> 00:28:21.460
somehow more compelling maybe even more tragic

00:28:21.460 --> 00:28:23.220
than the incredible music he created