Pushkin.

Since getting his start in the late 60s,

Laby Sifery has had an unflinching commitment to writing exactly what he feels.

The result was a debut album that announced a singular talent, a British singer-songwriter

who could move seamlessly from jazz-inflected soul to tender love songs, all while addressing

themes of love, identity, and justice that most pop artists wouldn't touch. Over the next decade,

Sifri built a catalog that defied category. Still, his 1972 song, Crying, Laughing,

loving, lying became an international success, and his song, Something Inside So Strong,

written years later in response to apartheid, also became a big hit, revealing the true scope

of his artistry. And then there's Igottha. From his 1975 album, Remember My Song, that would quietly

become one of the most sampled songs in hip-hop history, most famously by Dr. Dre on Eminem's,

my name is. Yet despite his influence, which instead of waning has actually grown over generations,

Sifreya's remained something of a hidden treasure,

an artist whose integrity and independence kept him just outside of the mainstream.

On today's episode, I talked to Labby Sifery about growing up in 50s London in the music he

discovered that set him on his particular artistic path.

Labby also talks about how he wants music to enliven him and how much it annoys him when people tell him to chill.

And he explains why after decades in the music industry, he's never regretted choosing honesty over commercial compromise.

This is Broken Record. Real musicians, real conversations.

This is an I-Heart podcast.

Guaranteed human.

I'm Jonathan Goldstein, and on the new season of heavyweight.

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