A rollicking vocalist and gifted harmonica player, Syl Johnson's blues-informed soul found respectable success as he toiled through the 1960s and '70s, but took on a second life as later generations discovered his punchy, celebratory recordings. He scored hits like 1967's "Different Strokes" and 1969's sociopolitical reflection "Is It Because I'm Black?" but had left music behind by the mid-'80s to focus on real estate and his chain of restaurants. As the years passed, samples from Johnson's songs found their way into multiple high-profile rap and hip-hop tracks, and new generations of crate diggers began seeking out the original artifacts. He returned to the studio and the stage in the mid-'90s, and was the subject of both anthology compilations and a documentary film as he released new material like 1999's Talkin' Bout Chicago and 2002's collaboration with his brother Jimmy, Two Johnsons are Better Than One.