Historian of Music, Dr. Scot Brown Drops New Single, Last Man

Dr. Scot Brown is not just a historian of music, he makes it. Brown — a renowned scholar, music historian and commentator — who’s made appearances on HBO/Cinemax, TV One, VHl, Sirius/XM Radio, BET /Centric, National Public Radio and PBS, recently released his debut single, “Last Man”, a danceable and uplifting tune inspired by a style of Reggae music known as Lovers Rock. We sat down with the musician to hear more about his latest single, Last Man.

See full interview below:

Rapper D-Smoke, the winner of Netflix’s Rhythm + Flow, is one of your past students. What would you say about his career today and in what ways did you contribute to his artistry?

Daniel was actually very important in my own journey. He was a student here at UCLA. After he graduated, we stayed in touch while he was teaching high school. I was working on producing an album for poet and spoken word artist Kalamu ya Salaam and I sought Daniel’s input. He encouraged me to record and make music using newer technologies and sounds. The former student changed roles and then became the teacher. We need more instances like that. He’s a multi-talented, special artist destined for even more great accomplishments.

You recently released a debut single titled “Last Man.” What reasons made you decide this to be your debut single, and what do you hope listeners will take from it?

A friend of mine, who is a big fan of Beres Hammond, introduced me to the Lovers Rock style of Reggae, which is a very romantic, warm sound. I wrote a track with a smooth bassline and a joyful-sounding chord pattern: trying to capture that Lovers Rock feeling and combine it with an R&B and pop sensibility. I teamed up with vocalist Mr. Ric and guitarist Rick Marcel. Mr. Ric co-wrote and sings lead on the song, and Rick Marcel added Brazilian Afro Jazz-sounding licks to the song. I previously played with them both in a band called “Radiance” during our high-school years. I brought in a fellow UCLA professor, Bryonn Bain, who laid down a rap verse. What ended up becoming “Last Man” came together so naturally that it felt to me as if we were all fulfilling a higher purpose in making the song. I received extremely helpful input from an African American Studies graduate student, Mario Ewell, who is an accomplished music producer. He reached out to Dal Lowe Keyboardist, and Grammy-Award winning engineer Bob “Bassy” Brockmann, who did the mix, and the brought in famed mastering engineer Mike Bozzi of Bernie Grundman Mastering. All these ingredients put extra sauce and sheen on the recording, adding beautiful textures to the song.

The “Last Man [Remix]” music video is available online, what inspired this creative direction?

The video celebrates the everyday beauty of black women. Not all music videos capture the essence of the message in a song, where the viewer travels down the road of an emotion that the artist wants to evoke. This video takes you there. My vision was to have real people being themselves in the video and connecting with an uplifting spirit. The video was filmed by Greg Everett of Ultra Wave Media. The song itself is about love and I want people to hear, feel and see love in this song. Now, more than ever, we need to see beauty in one another.

What do you hope for the future of your music endeavors?

I have been collaborating with Ohene Savant, a Hip Hop innovator and musical genius. I have a single coming out with him called “Scotronixx,” which combines old school-styled bars, walking bass lines and funky tones. It’s coming out soon on all major digital platforms. I plan to release singles regularly, and continually collaborating with great artists like Savant, Mr. Ric, Rick Marcel, and Bryonn Bain.

Overall, I would like to offer an alternative to the idea that making quality music requires an ‘all-or-nothing’ approach. What does it really mean to “blow up?” Most artistically-driven people don’t have the luxury of making a living off their art or passions. Sometimes we have to define success in ways that build on who and where we are. The digital age we live in presents some powerful opportunities. Yesterday’s musical weekend warrior can become a major music-maker. I hope to be one of them.

For all of the latest on Dr. Scott Brown, check out his instagram page.

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Tags: Dr. Scot Brown, historian, last man, reggae, RHYTHM + FLOW