Felton C. Pilate II (born November 5, 1952) is an American singer,

songwriter A songwriter is a person who creates musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music genre and film scoring. ...

multi-instrumentalist A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays two or more musical instruments, often but not exclusively at a professional level of proficiency. Also known as woodwind doubler, doubling, the practice allows greater ensemble flexibility and mor ...

and

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

. He is best known as a member of the 1970s and 1980s

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

- R&B band

Con Funk Shun Con Funk Shun (formerly known as Project Soul) is an American R&B and funk band from Vallejo, California, formed in 1969. They were influenced by funk progenitors James Brown and Sly and the Family Stone. Signed to Mercury Records in 1976, the ...

. Pilate is also notable for the songs and albums he produced with

MC Hammer Stanley Kirk Burrell (born March 30, 1962), better known by his stage name MC Hammer (or simply Hammer), is an American rapper known for hit songs such as "U Can't Touch This", "2 Legit 2 Quit", and "Pumps and a Bump", flashy dance movements, e ...

Early life and music career

Pilate was born in

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city sits on the Pearl River (Mississippi–Louisiana), Pearl River and is locate ...

(United States). His father, Felton Pilate Sr., was a naval physician. His mother, Benita Akines Pilate, was a music major and social worker. After many military assignments, the Pilate family’s last move would be a move to

Vallejo, California Vallejo ( ; ) is a city in Solano County, California, United States, and the second largest city in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area. Located on the shores of San Pablo Bay, the ci ...

. Felton Jr. would spend his formative years there. Pilate knew from a young age that music would be an important part of his life. He took trumpet and piano lessons, and self taught himself to play guitar and the trombone. In high school, he created a band and performed locally, while honing his craft. Michael Cooper, who had another local band, asked Pilate to join his band during their final high school years. This was the beginning of his career as a member of Project Soul. The band went on the road with

The Soul Children The Soul Children was an American vocal group who recorded soul music for Stax Records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. They had three top 10 hits on the U.S. ''Billboard'' R&B chart – "The Sweeter He Is" (1969), "Hearsay" (1972), and "I ...

and moved to

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

. There they got a record deal and were asked to change their name from Project Soul. The band chose the name

. The band went on to record a string of hit records, in the 1970s and 1980s. Pilate was co-record producer and songwriter, for his own group's albums and singles. He continued to perform with Con Funk Shun in later years. Pilate proclaimed the

music industry The music industry are individuals and organizations that earn money by Songwriter, writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music and sheet music, presenting live music, concerts, ...

has been his only income since 1972. As a collaborator with rapper

, Pilate's joint efforts with Hammer have sold over 30 million albums, between 1986 and 1995. Albums included: '' Feel My Power'' (1986), ''

Let's Get It Started "Let's Get It Started" is a song by American group the Black Eyed Peas. It is a clean version of "Let's Get Retarded" from their third studio album, ''Elephunk'' (2003). The album version was originally only reworked for its use in promotion fo ...

'' (1988), '' Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em'' (1990), '' Too Legit to Quit'' (1991) and '' Inside Out'' (1995).

Discography

* ''Nothing But Love Spoken Here'' via New Media Studio (2006) * ''Can't Get E'nuff'' (1987) * ''Cleopatra'' (1987)

References

External links

Felton Pilates Official Site
1952 births Living people Record producers from Mississippi {{music-producer-stub