Reggie Lucas Essay

The producer, Reggie Lucas, has done a few things while living on the planet earth. His main focus was in the music industry, as for many people who strive for the music industry. People use music to send messages out but in a way for the people in the world to catch on. Lucas was a record dealer, producer, jazz artist and had other hobbies in his life which cannot all be determined, given only a small bit of information on his personal life. He played the guitar as a fifteen year old and from then on, he rose to a high level in the music industry. Music has inspired the people and these artists brought sound to people so they could embrace themselves in America’s ups and downs. Lucas was one of the individuals who delivered hope and change,

in the country at least. He produced for many artists in the 1980’s, which had made those musicians stand out and succeed in some cases. To add on, his original name was Reginald Grant Lucas. Reggie Lucas was in a jazz band called Mtume and played the guitar for his group.
He made audio tracks for pop artists and had those sounds popularized. In today’s world many other pop artists and movie producers use old school sounds in their music and their films. Reggie Lucas was affiliated with jazz music and R&B as well. He has produced the song Borderlines and the album Survival Themes. He was conformed with the sounds of the jazz era and played his guitar with those sounds. Throughout his years, Reggie Lucas has performed in R&B groups, won a Grammy award with Mtume, produced samples for artists, created instrumentals of his own and founded the Quantum Sound studio in 1986. Lucas set out to achieve in the music industry and so he did.
The group he was in was called Mtume, named after the artist James Mtume. There he played the piano and the guitar with the rest of the members playing other instruments. They utilized a funk sound, which would later create the similar type of sound in the first known hip hop song, Rapper’s Delight. The first hit the R&B group created was the song Juicy Fruit, it consisted of smooth jazz and soul beats. When Lucas joined the group, the band was called Mtume and Lucas so his name would be mentioned and heard to the public. They had many other songs, far more to name. The group would have definitely succeeded throughout their career because people in the black community were into the R&B and smooth jazz music. The music they played was stereotyped to be for black people. Since he was a producer, he could compromise how the group would want their music.
Reggie Lucas was a professional in the music industry and so he was recognized for his work with the other producer he worked with in the 1980’s.

As a producer, the importance of having a significant sound was a major role in order for the ratings to rise up in his productions. He could have the sounds fit in with the preferences of the public. When he produced for famous celebrities, it would make the audience admire the rhythm and the singing. Later, he won a grammy award, along with James Mtume, for the help on composing the song Never Knew Love Like This Before. The song consisted of Stephanie Mills singing to the beat of the instrumental. The Grammy Award for the Best R&B Song was achieved as a result of writing the song for Mills to perform. The song was recorded in 1979 and released in August of 1980. He and the other producer Mtume produced samples for artists in the music industry and those people later succeeded from the producers. They were given credit for their work but they were not as idolized as the artists themselves. Achieving takes of critical analysis and determination to earn a highly valued award. The song they produced stood out to the public and inspired them to realize what it has taken to succeed. When Lucas had when the Grammy with Mtume and Mills, his credibility was boosted and he was viewed to be certified to produce. The award made Reggie Lucas appear capable of producing for

others.
When Lucas worked with James Mtume, he helped to create samples for other artists and groups as well. It was said he worked with Miles Davis, where he met the producer James Mtume. Together they would create a type of history in R&B music. From then and on, the two musicians become production partners and later formed Mtume. The reason Lucas and Mtume succeed is because people in their ethnic background listened and other people of different background admired the sound they heard. People would pass on the sound and it would create a chain reaction. The word, funk, came from the slang terms which were used during those times. When individuals hear the word, funk, the idea of low bass and low voice singing pops into their mind. In a certain way, the producer was able to convert R&B sounds into pop culture.A few of the people he produced for were Randy Crawford, Rebbie Jackson, Models, John Adams and many others who would take much time to name.
James Mtume was a productive friend whose style in music was more based on funk. Perhaps, Lucas was inspired by him and began to experiment with the genre he was introduced to. Funk was the stereotypical music placed on black people during the era of the 70’s. Mtume delivered the genre onto the youth. As they say, the younger generation will become more indoctrinated by their surroundings. Funk and R&B had an impact in the minds of younger people. Mtume and Lucas decided for it to be an extraordinary idea to use the genres.
The instrumentals Lucas played were full on sounding similar to a solo Carlos Santana would perform.

The guitar he played contained a smooth flow and smooth drum beat would be heard along the background. If a person wanted to sit back and relax, these songs would be perfect for smoothing the tension in one’s mind, if a person was into peaceful music. Lucas, before producing for pop artists, began to play the guitar as a teenager and his mind was set to becoming a musician. Throughout the years, he played solos on the guitar despite being known as an R&B artist for the group he was in. The way he played his guitar was smooth and peaceful and the solos could have lasted for five or more minutes. He played the guitar on the 1978 album Survival Themes. Along with many other artists, he had a unique way of playing the guitar. The sounds of the distortion could be heard similar to another rock n roll artist in the 1970’s. He would not play the instrument in chords but in individual strings. Lucas was one of the people who could play music in order to attract the attention of his audience. When he plays the guitar, the sound of the instrument draws his attention and takes him over by the way he appears to move around with the flow. Years of practice is required to becoming a master at playing the guitar, along with any other

instrument.
In the 1980’s, Lucas bought a building and used it as a studio for music and as a location to keep a list recordings of music. The studio was named the Quantum Sound Studios and the word quantum was used to imply the high frequency of sounds which could be heard. The building was a chandelier factory before the year 1981. In the studio, he worked with different clients. In Quantum Sound Studios, he recorded for the pop artists during the 1980’s. By 1994, he left the studio without having the location fully remodeled and it was later taken over and renamed Big Blue Meenie.
In all of the years in the past, Reggie Lucas has set aside his differences in music and learned to work with what he had been given. The 1980’s was quite the time for different types of sounds to play. There was pop, funk, hip hop, rock, dance, and disco.