Unity (Afrika Bambaataa and James Brown song)

"Unity Part 1 (The Third Coming)"
Cover of the 12" version
Single by Afrika Bambaataa and James Brown
B-side	"Unity Part 2 (Because It's Coming)"
Released	August 1984 (1984-08)
Recorded	June 1984, Unique Studios, New York, NY
Genre	Electro, funk, hip hop
Length	3:20 (Part 1) 3:30 (Part 2)
Label	Tommy Boy/Warner Bros. Records 00847
Songwriter(s)	James Brown Khayan Aasim Bambaataa Douglas Wimbish Bernard Alexander Keith LeBlanc Robin Haplin
Producer(s)	Tom Silverman Afrika Bambaataa
Afrika Bambaataa singles chronology
"Wildstyle" (1983) "Unity Part 1 (The Third Coming)" (1984) "Bambaataa's Theme" (1986)
James Brown singles chronology
"Bring It On...Bring It On" (1983) "Unity Part 1 (The Third Coming)" (1984) "Living in America" (1985)
Audio video
"Unity, Pt. 1 (The Third Coming)" on YouTube

"Unity" is a song recorded by Afrika Bambaataa and James Brown as a duet in 1984. It was the first recording in which Brown collaborated with a performer associated with hip hop, a then-new idiom heavily influenced by Brown's own funk music. The record's title and its cover showing the two performers clasping hands express solidarity between the two styles. The song's music is similar in its structure to Brown's own funk songs of the late 1960s and 1970s, but uses the drum machine and keyboard-generated timbres of electro. The song's rapped lyrics are on the themes of "Peace, unity, love, and having fun". The single charted #87 R&B.^[1]

"Unity" contains several references to Brown's earlier recordings. The song's a cappella opening paraphrases the beginning of his 1970 songs "Get Up, Get Into It and Get Involved", "Soul Power" and an instrumental passage in the middle of part 1 is borrowed from his 1969 hit "Give It Up or Turnit a Loose".