R&B master Johnny Otis certainly will know what's hip by the time he steps on stage Sunday at Fort Mason's Great Meadow to close the San Francisco Blues Festival. ''What is hip? Tell me, tell me, do you think you know?'' (accessed May 9, 2017).Talks about being back behind the funkiest horns in the biz Williams is also an ambassador for Lazarex Cancer Foundation. The Keep Music RockinвЂ™ Foundation Lenny Williams Golf Classic also raises funds for the foundation, which supports music in schools. On November 14, 2013, the San Leandro Unified School District and the Keep Music RockinвЂ™ Foundation unveiled the Lenny Williams Music Room at San Leandro High School, with Williams and his wife, Debbie, in attendance at the dedication. Williams has been honored for his involvement in the Oakland community. It was announced in February 2017 that he would be inducted into the Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame in Detroit, Michigan. In the twenty-first century, he released It Must Be Love (2007) and Unfinished Business (2009) on his own label, LenTom Entertainment, and he released Still in the Game in 2012. Williams made a number of solo albums throughout the 1980s and 1990s. The song was also sampled in 2007 by Scarface for his single вЂњGirl You Know.вЂќ WilliamsвЂ™s song вЂњHalf Past LoveвЂќ was sampled by the Coup for their 2006 single вЂњMy Favorite Mutiny.вЂќ In 2005, he won a BMI Urban Award along with Kanye West and Twista for contributing to вЂњOvernight Celebrity.вЂќ In a 2013 interview, Williams-who had three daughters in college at the time-discussed his pleasant surprise at receiving two royalty checks for $94,000 each to pay for music Kanye West/Twista had sampled he compared it to planting a seed a long time in the past and watching it grow into something substantial years later. His 1978 hit вЂњCause I Love YouвЂќ was sampled by Havoc of Mobb Deep for the track вЂњNothing Like Home,вЂќ and by Kanye West for the songs вЂњOvernight CelebrityвЂќ by the rapper Twista and вЂњI Got a LoveвЂќ by Jin. Williams and his music continue to influence R&B and hip-hop artists in the twenty-first century. In 1986, Williams sang the vocals for вЂњDonвЂ™t Make Me Wait for LoveвЂќ on popular saxophone artist Kenny GвЂ™s album Duo Tones. He garnered a number of hits, including вЂњShoo Doo Fu Ooh,вЂќ вЂњChoosing You,вЂќ вЂњYou Got Me Running,вЂќ and вЂњMidnight Girl.вЂќ Choosing You (1977) was his first gold LP (selling more than 500,000 copies). He then moved to ABC Records in 1977 and recorded several albums. In 1975, Williams left the band to resume his solo career, recording a few albums for the Motown label. The group had its heyday during the few years Williams was its lead singer, producing three hit albums: Tower of Power (1973), Back to Oakland (1974), and Urban Renewal (1974), with hit songs such as вЂњSo Very Hard to Go,вЂќ вЂњDonвЂ™t Change Horses (In the Middle of a Stream),вЂќ вЂњWhat is Hip?,вЂќ and вЂњThis Time ItвЂ™s Real.вЂќ Putting his solo career on hold, in 1972, he tried out to become the lead singer for funk group Tower of Power, whose front man Rick Stevens had gone to prison. He then signed briefly with Atlantic Records. He signed his first record deal with Fantasy Records and recorded two singles: вЂњLisaвЂ™s GoneвЂќ and вЂњFeelinвЂ™ BlueвЂќ (written by John Fogerty of Credence Clearwater Revival fame). He also knew members of Tower of Power, which was at that time a вЂњblue-eyed soulвЂќ group called the Motowns. Williams made connections with Bay Area musicians, the most notable being Sly Stone (who fronted the legendary R&B band Sly and the Family Stone) and Larry Graham, who was Sly and the Family StoneвЂ™s bass player. He started singing in church and considered becoming a minister before deciding to pursue a career in secular R&B. He learned to play trumpet in elementary school. Leonard Charles (Lenny) Williams was born on February 6, 1945, in Little Rock (Pulaski County) his family later moved to Oakland, California. He was inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame in 2012. He pursued a solo career after leaving the band. Soul singer Lenny Williams is an influential rhythm and blues (R&B) artist who is best known for his time as the lead singer of funk band Tower of Power in the mid-1970s.

Tower of power lead singer