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James Brown gave the drummer some, and we loved him for it. 35 years later, future soul icon Sleepy Brown, of Atlantas famed Dungeon Family, is giving the ladies some. And we love him for it too. I just wanted to make a record that was smooth and that the ladies could enjoy, says the 30-something singer/songwriter. I felt like a lot of the R&B out right now was very club oriented, and I wanted to make something that stood out from that. His Purple Ribbon/Virgin Records debut, ALBUM TITLE TK, does just that. With soft, sensual sounds, falsetto crooning, and sensitive, thoughtful lyrics, the album conjures a futuristic feel with a roots Al Green/Marvin Gaye appeal. Exemplifying the LPs refined feel is its lead single, the Neptunes produced, Pharrell-guested Margarita. Bouncy bongos, organ hits and hand claps compliment Sleepys dream-like vocals and Pharrells infectious chorus, creating vintage pop-soul. It seems finally the man behind the Grammy winning, multi-platinum success of groups like Outkast and TLC will finally have some plaques and awards of his own in the near future.

However, Pat Sleepy Browns success is no fly by night affair. Meeting up with the other members of the acclaimed production crew Organized Noize, towards the end of high school, Sleepy, whos father incidentally was a member of the oft-sampled funk group Brick, got his first shot in the industry as one of the members of the slept-on Outkast/Dungeon Fam predecessor Society Of Soul. That group wasnt really anything planned, he says. It was just the natural evolution of what we were doing at the time. Their 92 LaFace debut failed to resonate with the pop charts, but it did give them the forum to play LA Reid a demo theyd been working on by a young duo named Outkast. Brown, along with partners Rico Wade and Ray Murray, helped to produce the groups first two multiplatinum LPs, Southernplayalisticaddilacmusic and ATLiens, in their entirety, and as a result shaped the sound of southern hip hop as we know it. In addition to production, Brown provided back up vocals on several tracks.

Though Outkast flew from the nest, producing much of their subsequent 3 albums, Brown and co. contributed key tracks to all of them. You know, everything we do with Outkast is like a family thing, he says. We just work and keep it organic, its not about having so many beats on a record or anything. Among Browns more notable additions are So Fresh And So Clean, the brilliant second single from Stankonia, and the absolutely mesmerizing The Way She Moves which sat atop the pop charts for several weeks thanks in part to Sleepys addictive chorus.

Shortly thereafter, in 2004, Brown signed his first solo deal with Interscope records and made most of an album which was to be called Grown And Sexy (it should be noted that when his album was shelved everyone and their mother bit his title). I just had creative differences with the execs over there, he explains. It wasnt really no bad blood, but it was just that they wanted more straight-forward commercial R&B, and I wanted to make something that went against the grain.

One year later Brown secured release from the label, and was promptly signed by longtime friend Big Boi, of Outkast fame, to his new Virgin Records distributed label, Purple Ribbon. With me and Big its just straight family, he says. We do business together, but in a lot of ways hes always been like my little brother, even though hes gone on to have all this success. So its just a beautiful thing that all these years later we can still be working together towards the same goals of making great music. And that is exactly what theyve done. Produced mostly by Brown and his Organized Noize brethren, the LP boast work from the Neptunes as well as appearances by Big Boi and Erick Sermon among others. I just want to bring that real soulful vibe back to the music, he says. And I think we made something that is just different than anything else that people have heard, even though hopefully, itll remind them of the records from back in the day. And not only that, itll remind them what a woman wants.