Cash's 80th birthday, legacy to be celebrated

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Johnny Cash is still cool.

Like Elvis or Hank Williams, Cash retains a certain cachet in current popular culture even in death. More proof of his enduring legend is on the way as plans to celebrate what would have been the American icon's 80th birthday unfold later this month and year.

There will be a groundbreaking on the project to preserve Cash's childhood home in Dyess, Ark., on Feb. 26, his birthday. A new Cash museum will open in Nashville later this year and several music releases are expected to commemorate the anniversary of his birth. There are three documentaries in the works as well.

Interest remains as high as ever more than eight years after his death in 2003 at 71 of complications from diabetes.

"He appealed to people and still appeals to people who have a small CD collection and live in middle America just as much as the punk on the streets of Germany," Cash's son, John Carter Cash, said. "And that's sort of magical the way he's been able to do that still, that his image still draws people from all walks of life."

The Cash family is most excited about the project in Dyess. Many of Cash's children and grandchildren will attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the Johnny Cash Boyhood Home Project, an undertaking led by Arkansas State University.

Fundraising for the project began last summer and the family and university hope to restore the house Cash grew up in and its outbuildings. ASU also has taken over other buildings of historic importance that remain from the New Deal era Dyess Colony and want to reflect not only Cash's life, but the reality of The Great Depression.

The government put 500 families in homes with small agricultural land grants at a time of great hardship, and Rosanne Cash says without exaggeration that it saved her family. Her father would later become a citizen of the world, but his time in Dyess was instrumental in shaping his sound and his world view.

Rosanne Cash says of all the thousands of tributes and moments of recognition her father has received over the years, the restoration "has really captured my heart."

The house is being restored based on photos and the memories of relatives. It will be furnished and decorated as it was when the family lived there in the 1930s and '40s. ASU plans to establish a museum and a space for workshops, demonstrations and classes.

"It's so amazing how you don't realize how important these touchstones in your ancestry are until your parents are gone," Rosanne Cash said. "There's this paradox that you can't really feel it or realize it while they're here, so there's a tremendous amount of poignancy and embracing it and protecting it and preserving it for future generations, and drawing my own children into it. It's a big deal to me."

Bill Miller, a Cash memorabilia collector and the operator of the Johnny Cash website is behind the Nashville museum, which will be located on Music City's busy Lower Broadway tourist strip, "right in the middle of the hubbub," John Carter Cash said. The museum will be filled with pieces from The House of Cash, which closed in 1999, and other items endowed by the family.

"He's been an incredible supporter of my dad and one of the largest collectors of memorabilia," Rosanne Cash said. "If anybody has the whole structure to put up a museum, he does. So I have a lot of trust in him and I think it's great at this point. I think he'll do something with dignity and class that's historically important, not some kitschy thing. I'm very interested in seeing what he does."

No celebration of Cash would be complete without music. There's been plenty since his death, including the completion of his American Recordings work with producer Rick Rubin and the start of a bootleg series. The two-CD "Bootleg IV: The Soul of Truth," focusing on gospel and spiritual songs recorded in the 1970s and '80s, will be out April 3 and will include some unreleased material. And Columbia/Legacy plans other releases later this year, including a large box set, but details on those projects are not yet available.

Whatever is released will find a willing audience, eager to hear new material or learn something new about The Man in Black.

"Dad was, I don't know how else to put it but to say, he was the real deal," John Carter Cash said. "He had a humility and a charm and a style and a charisma that just still attracts people to him. Through his music, his writings and the other people who study his life, it's inspiring. And I think that's a great thing that people are inspired by my father still."

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Look at him now: Chris Brown winning as rapper

NEW YORK (AP) — Chris Brown is known pop singer, a slick bedroom crooner and at other times, a Euro-flavored dance singer. But it's his rapping that has taken his career to new heights.

With his hit single "Look at Me Now," Brown has dominated more than just the R&B territory: The boastful track, which co-stars Lil Wayne and Busta Rhymes, was Billboard's No. 1 rap song of 2011 and it's nominated for best rap song and best rap performance at Sunday's Grammy Awards, where Brown's competition includes Jay-Z, Kanye West, Dr. Dre and Eminem.

The song is just another example of Brown's rapping prowess. At last year's BET Hip-Hop Awards, Brown went toe-to-toe with other hip-hop acts during one segment, and was so strong he left 50 Cent wowed.

"Chris particularly was impressive," said 50 Cent. "He rapped better than the rappers. I'm going to give it up. I'm watching the show (like), 'How did they let that happen?'"

50 Cent is not the only member of the hip-hop community impressed by Brown: "(Chris) did a mixtape that really blew my mind and I didn't know that was him rhyming," said Questlove of The Roots.

But Brown isn't the only singer who has ventured out to rhyming: Usher rapped on his 1998 hit "My Way" and Trey Songz has released rap mixtapes. Others who have spit a few bars in song include Justin Timberlake, Ne-Yo, Monica, Erykah Badu, R. Kelly, Janelle Monae, Jill Scott, Tyrese, Chrisette Michele and Miguel.

English-based R&B singer Marsha Ambrosius said her first-ever single featured her rapping under the name Ms. Parker, and Brandy — as her alter-ego Bran' Nu — rapped on two songs from Timbaland's "Shock Value II" album, and even had plans to release a rap album before she scrapped the project.

Mary J. Blige also has a rap alter-ego: Brook Lynn. Brook Lynn first appeared on Blige's 2005 album "The Breakthrough." Blige says she's not sure other singers will find success as rappers, though.

"I don't know if it will translate to what a real hip-hop artist would do like 50 (Cent) or Jay-Z or Common or Kanye," Blige said.

But rappers have had luck with singing over the years, from Nelly to Ja Rule. West used the Auto-Tune on most of his "808s & Heartbreak" album, to mixed critical and commercial success. And Nicki Minaj's latest hit — the David Guetta song "Turn Me On" — features the animated rapper belting semi-high notes.

There are also acts like Lauryn Hill, Drake and Missy Elliott — arguably the most respected singer-rappers in the game — who are often praised for blending the two.

"I think you have to come out as a hybrid," said rapper J. Cole, who sings his own hook on the song "Work Out."

"(With) Drake, some people look at him as a rapper who sings, some people look at him as a singer who raps, but he came out that way so nobody's really right or wrong, and he can win forever in either world," Cole continued.

Brown's "Look at Me Now" spent eight and 10 weeks at the top spot on Billboard's R&B/Hip-Hop and Rap songs charts, respectively. Mark Pitts, the president of urban music at RCA Music Group who signed Brown to Sony at age 16, said he initially didn't want to see the singer rapping.

"It took me a minute to really appreciate ('Look at Me Now'). I didn't want to like it because I didn't want him rapping," Pitts said.

Rapping is a departure for 22-year-old Brown, who debuted on the scene in 2005 as an R&B-pop heartthrob. Pitts said that past Brown songs where a rapper is featured most likely had a rap verse from Brown first, but they were never used. Pitts, who has overseen the careers of the Notorious B.I.G., Diddy and Usher, says he once thought singers and rappers should stay in their own lanes.

But Brown helped change his perception.

"It's a different age now," Pitts said. "I'm not surprised by anything from (Chris) anymore. He's not in one category. It works for him, and not everybody can do that."

Brown's CD where "Look at Me Now" appears — "F.A.M.E. (Forgiving All My Enemies)" — is nominated for best R&B album at the Grammys; his upcoming fifth disc, "Fortune," will most likely feature rapping, Pitts said. Brown has received respect from the rap community, and often appears on hip-hop tracks. But not all singers are poised to have a similar triumph.

"It's definitely difficult for an R&B singer to be accepted as a hip-hop rapper, but I know it's possible," Common said. "If you do it well, it will be accepted."

50 Cent agrees, adding that musicians are often typecast.

"In music there becomes a cut-out of what they'll accept from you and what they won't," he said. "We can take a hit Drake song and I'll deliver it and people will be like, 'Man, get this (expletive) out of here.' They'll be like, 'We want the old 50 (Cent).'"

But Pitts says he's encouraging his newer singing acts to rap.

"It doesn't really bother me (any) more. It used to bother me. But why fight it? If it sounds good, it sounds good," he said. "As long as you're not trying to be someone else, I'm cool with it."

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Online:

http://www.chrisbrownworld.com

http://www.grammys.com

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Mesfin Fekadu covers entertainment for The Associated Press. Follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/musicmesfin

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