Barry Hampton

“Music is my Life”

“Barry’s dream was music, he felt it in his soul. With tons of work his dream became his reality and he defined himself through the sounds he created.”

He has been into music since 1979. The "All 'N All" album by Earth, Wind & Fire, which happens to be the first album he bought with his own money, is what Barry says made him want to be a musician. Being thrust into a position where he was, for the most part, usually the only black kid, Barry ended up on a lot of sports teams in school. He always desired to do more so he started pretending he couldn’t play sports in order to be left alone. From there he spent most of his teenage years wood-shedding, (which means staying locked in a room or secluded space) practicing his craft. He would borrow instruments from people, learn them and then give them back after a few months. Due to his tenacity and dedication as a youth he now plays several instruments, including bass, drums, guitar, piano, saxophone and little bit of trumpet. He recently bought a trombone but admits he’s going to need some help with this one. Barry jokes, “I only got one note out of it and that note ain’t right.”

Barry’s performing days began early. He’d put on shows at home for his family. He’d stand at piano in the den, put his hat on, grab his mother’s guitar and do covers of Bootsy Collins songs. “I’d always save the really big performances for when my cousins would come down from Jersey,” says Barry.

Bootsy Collins and Jimmy Hendrix were a big influence on him musically, but his biggest influence came from his parents and the music that they exposed him to. He says he enjoyed the styles of Bootsy and Hendrix because they were different, so wild and free, but Barry tends to be a lot more even-keeled these days. He said in his early days, as many do, he had a tendency of trying to be everywhere at the same time. Barry sums it up as representing yourself without knowing what you’re representing, being young and wild.

Barry says he makes soul music, not neo-soul. He says, “Neo is cool for the younger set because it might be the old relationship they have to soul music, but the music I make, I like to call straight soul music." He calls it that because he feels that regardless of whether it’s a rock-n-roll, country or pop song, if it comes from the heart, it's soul. “People write from the heart and that’s what the soul of the music is all about. I try to label myself as that all of the time because I think it’s important,” says Barry.      

“With the artist coming out now, it’s like you can’t just be a singer," he says. I feel as if the image of a person is being projected before the talent, but I still dig some of the new stuff. I dig the hip-hop element, the dancing and a lot of the underground stuff. As far as mainstream I like Ludacris and all them cats, The Game (to a certain degree) and Eminem (to a certain degree), but it seems like some of the artist are more concerned with the production and putting out hits one at a time. Don’t get me wrong I’d love to make a hit and ride it out for awhile. But I’d also like to make something that stands up, like “Songs in the Key of Life” by Stevie Wonder. It’s one of those albums that just stands the test of time, you know, forever."

"I enjoy the cats that are not just performing but are out speaking to the people," Barry continues. The ones that are not necessarily mainstream, but still have a fan base and are out there touring all the time. The old school hip-hop cats like KRS-One, De La Soul and cats like that, those are the ones that I respect. I also love that fact that the new music is so influential. It’s re-introducing old music to a new generation all the time and they don’t even know it. So much of the old music is a part of the new, because it’s to the point where, how else would someone else 15 or 16 learn about old music? They weren’t born in the 60’s or 70’s so their parents can’t put that music on them like my parents did me."     

"Music is my life," says Barry. "It used to be my dream but then it became my life. Before I was experienced in it, I had to learn how to play, I had to learn about what I was doing and where it was coming from. I just tried to soak up everything that I could soak up from punk rock to jazz, heavy metal, hip-hop, all of those things. I tried to play all of those types of things in order to gain an understanding. I’ve tried to take that same attitude towards meeting people and learning about them because you have to respect yourself an awful lot, to stand up and play in front of people, and bare your soul. This is my manhood. That’s the way I consider it, just like brothers that play sports, brothers that work and make money or hustle in any other way. Music is my hustle, I may be clownin’ and things like that, but when it really comes down to it, this is how I live and this is what I live for."

"I am successful, but the thing that I crave, and my goal, is longevity in the world of music, with all of the things that I take on. That one record that stands the test of time."

Since the original publication of this article, Barry Hampton has passed away. May he rest in peace.

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This article was originally published in Flossin Magazine. This article is edited by Edna Waters. This article is optimized for web by Steven Christian (Artist | Author | Podcaster).