Roy Burrow is the second child of eventually six siblings born to Samuel Burrow and Alice J. Cawthorne. His father's roots are from Birmingham, Alabama and his mother's from Beckley, West Virginia.
Roy's courageous mother, at the age of 18, decided that there was no future to raise a family in the strictly coal mining town of Sullivan, West Virginia. She convinced his father, who worked in those same underground mines for two years, to move to Toledo, Ohio.
Shortly thereafter, his father went to New York to learn to be an “Auto Transmission” Mechanic. Mom eventually moved to the Eastside of Baltimore, MD with 3 boys (her first of six).
Roy's brother was one of the best "Bass Guitar" players in the world and Roy played lead guitar for most of my life. Their musical roots most likely stemmed from his father's side of the family, as he and some of his brothers played “Blues” guitar.
They had the same neighborhood friends and hung out on the corners drinking wine and singing songs from all of the top groups including the Temptations, Intruders, Four Tops and Delfonics.
That love and passion of music has not wavered, as Roy has taken it to the studio to record a very lyrically powerful song that shows there's no age limit to music. Because of its youthfulness as a genre, Hip Hop music has often fallen victim to "ageism", unlike no other genre of music.
Hip Hop, as a culture, is set to turn 50 August 11, 2023. Many of its early innovators, participants and followers are in their 50s, 60s and even 70s, yet they STILL contribute to the culture.
Brother Roy is one of them.
Don't miss our conversation with Brother Roy and the debut of his new song on ItzYourzRadio on Live 97.5 FM this Sunday April 2 at 5pm.