Snoop Dogg knew what he was doing when he reached out to Charlie Wilson for a sample and four guest vocals to enhance Tha Doggfather, the rapper's 1996 follow-up to Doggystyle. Charlie Wilson's original act, the Gap Band (named for Wilson's North Tulsa neighborhood of Greenwood, Archer and Pine, which was once called the black Wall Street and was burned to the ground by white Tulsa in the 1920s), was a '70s and '80s hit maker with a difference. Aaron Hall, of the band Guy, credits them with inspiring New Jack Swing, and it's easy to hear that in the way Wilson's smooth yet powerful vocals hug the band's keyboard-heavy groove on hits such as "You Dropped a Bomb on Me" and "Early in the Morning." Wilson himself recognized how his band's sound inspired a new generation of rhythm and blues with his 2000 return, Bridging the Gap. Since then, he has been everywhere, performing with UGK, Pharrell, T-Pain, Justin Timberlake and R. Kelly. He has also released two more Top 10 solo albums, one that hit No. 1 on the R&B chart this February, and his voice only sounds stronger and more supple with age. Though Wilson has just been through a battle with prostate cancer, he reportedly is cancer free and elated over reaching the highest chart positions of his career. Both a fine singer and showman, Charlie Wilson's visit to Kansas City promises to bring the generations together in the here and now.
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