Born James Ambrose Johnson Jr. (1948-2004), Rick James transformed from draft dodger to funk legend after being signed to Motown’s Gordy Records in 1978.

His debut album “Come Get It!” delivered the hits “You and I” and “Mary Jane,” but his 1981 masterpiece “Street Songs” really cemented his legacy with “Give It to Me Baby” and “Super Freak” (later sampled in MC Hammer’s Grammy-winning “U Can’t Touch This”). All these hits, including “Glow”, “Loosey’s Rap” (feat. the queen of hip hop Roxanne Shanté),“In The Ghetto” (with Busta Rhymes), “Standing On the Top” (with The Temptations) and the soulful ballad “Ebony Eyes” (feat. Smokey Robinson), can be found on this definitive Rick James compilation: Collected.