Bad News Brown (Paul Frappier), Hip Hop Harmonica Legend

 

I'm a harmonica guy. That means I am deeply interested in obscure musicians that play harmonica.  Many of these folks are mostly forgotten - only a small crew of harmonica cultists remember them. I don't want Paul Frappier to be forgotten.

Better known by his stage name, Bad News Brown, Frappier was born in Haiti. He moved at a young age to Canada and ultimately settled in the Little Burgundy neighborhood in Montreal. Little Burgundy was the hub of the English-speaking Black community in Montreal and was a center for music and culture. The great jazz pianist, Oscar Peterson, was from Little Burgundy. Frappier struggled in school due to dyslexia and left home as a teenager.  He was on the streets for a bit.  I don't know the details, but somehow he discovered the harmonica and found he had a natural affinity for the instrument. He combined his harmonica playing with hip hop backing tracks and became a very successful busker, often setting up in the Montreal Metro subway stations. The money he made playing on the streets paid his rent, kept him fed and ultimately launched his career as an emerging hip hop star.  His track, "Reign" from the 2010 album Born 2 Sin, has the harmonica front & center producing infectious, trance-enducing melodies.

Bad News Brown was catching fire. He opened for Kanye West, 50 Cent, and Snoop Dogg (back when these three were still top names in hip hop).  I think Bad News Brown was about to greatly increase the visibility of the harmonica with an audience that generally was not interested in the instrument.

This didn't happen. 

On February 11, 2011, Paul Frappier was found in an alley in an industrial area near the Lachine Canal in Montreal. Police pronounced him dead at the scene.  Bad News Brown joined the long list of hip hop artists that died from violence. No one has been charged with his murder.

The people in Montral remember Bad News Brown. they have memorialized him in murals, like this one:

I'm not sure that too many other folks remember Paul Frappier.  There was a brief flurry of articles in the Montreal press on the 10th anniversary of his death. There has been little progress in solving the crime that took his life.

I don't hear Bad News Brown mentioned by many other harmonica players or discussed in any on-line harmonica forums. I think our community should do its part to make sure that this innovative artist is not forgotten.