Hear Cassisus Clay sort-of rap on 1963's "I Am the Greatest"

Jan 15, 2015 at 7:58 pm

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Word is that Muhammad Ali, born Cassius Clay, the heavyweight great, genius raconteur, conscientious objector and international symbol for black power, has taken ill. We're thinking very good thoughts for Ali and his family, starting by finding and throwing on the turntable that copy of his 1963 LP for Columbia, I Am the Greatest.

This video is for a single, which is also the title track of the record. We can all be glad Ali/Clay didn't quit his day job to pursue a career in music, but it's of course riveting and worth hearing.

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Mike McGonigal

Metro Times music editor Mike McGonigal has written about music since 1984, when he started the fanzine Chemical Imbalance at age sixteen with money saved from mowing lawns in Florida. He's since written for Spin, Pitchfork, the Village VOICE and Artforum. He's been a museum guard, a financial reporter, a bicycle...