What did Jimi Hendrix have to do with Young M.C.’s "Bust a Move"?

He wrote the original, lyrics and all.

Nah, just kidding. But, he was actually childhood buds with the guys that did…sort of.

Like Jimi, Luther Rabb (vocals/bass) and Ronnie Hammon (drums) were Seattle natives. The three were friendly as kids. Indeed, Luther even played in Jimi’s first-known local ensemble–the Velvetones.

So when Jimi catapulted to stardom, Luther and Ronnie were inspired to follow in his footsteps. In 1969, they formed a band called Ballin’ Jack and moved to L.A. in search of fame.

Of course, by that time, Jimi was pretty widely recognized as the most innovative guitarist in the world. Ballin’ Jack never quite achieved that level of fame. They scored a minor chart entry with 1970’s “Super Highway”. It reached #93 on the Billboard Hot 100 (but remains obscure enough today that nobody has bothered to correct its misspelling on Spotify).

That same year, Jimi invited his friends to open for him on his Cry of Love tour.

Then came Jimi’s tragic death at 27, on September 18th, 1970.

Ballin’ Jack soldiered on, touring extensively and even headlining for a future-famous Billy Joel in 1972. The band called it quits in 1975, at which point, Luther Rabb went on to compile a brilliant resume, first as a member of Santana (1976) and, subsequently, War (1978-1982).

Sadly, a car accident in 1986 led to permanent nerve damage that diminished Luther’s ability to play bass and ultimately derailed his career.

But 1989 would bring some good fortune.

That year, Jamaican-bred, London-born, and Queens-raised Marvin Young was a student of economics at the University of Southern California. It was at USC that he first met Michael Ross and Matt Dike from Delicious Vinyl. As the story goes, Marvin demonstrated his lyrical skills by rapping over the phone to Ross and Dike from his dorm room.

He landed a contract in 1989 as Young M.C. and launched his career through a fruitful double-barreled collaboration with Tone Lōc on "Wild Thing" and "Funky Cold Medina”.

He carried that mojo into his debut album. Stone Cold Rhymin’ rocketed to platinum status on the strength of “Bust a Move”, a song built primarily around a sample from the Ballin’ Jack album cut, “Found a Child”.

“Bust a Move” reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and won that year’s Grammy for Best Rap Performance. Luther Rabb enjoyed partial songwriting for the achievement.

Young MC wasn’t the only noteworthy artist to sample Ballin’ Jack in 1989. That very same year, the Beastie Boys released a groundbreaking collage of sampled sounds called Paul’s Boutique, which included a song called “Shadrach”.

They borrowed the break from another Ballin’ Jack album cut.

Sadly, Rabb’s health continued to deteriorate in the years following his accident, eventually leading to paralysis, and death from a stroke at age 63, in 2006. But he left behind a long and colorful discography.

We’ll leave you with this charming 1977 one-off, where Luther backs an underappreciated singer named Aalon, who falls somewhere between soul and power pop.