Sly Stone was more than a legendary musician. He made moments — moments of joy, rebellion, connection and radical love. With his band, Sly and the Family Stone, he created a sound big enough to hold multitudes. It had funk, it had soul, it had rock, gospel, and so much more.

After a life marked by turbulence as much as exuberance, Sly Stone passed away last week. The world feels quieter — maybe a little bit less colorful — without him, but the joy hasn’t gone anywhere. He’s still reminding us to “Dance to the Music” every single day.

This week on the Joy Beat, we’re remembering Sly through someone who has felt that joy firsthand: Nephtaliem McCrary. He performs under the name “Nephrok,” and is one of many playing tribute to Sly Stone through his music. He joined GBH’s All Things Considered host Arun Rath to celebrate Sly’s life and musical legacy. What follows is a lightly edited transcript of the conversation.

Arun Rath: Let me start off with the news from last week. Take us back to when you found out about Sly’s passing. How did that hit you?

Nephtaliem McCrary: It hit me pretty hard. I found out probably 20 minutes after it had officially been announced, and then my phone blew up, and everybody was calling me and texting me. I just got really quiet. I didn’t post anything right at first or call anybody back. I was just … the air had sort of been sucked out of the room.

Rath: Such a big figure. It’s just sort of like, you struck blank, right?

McCrary: Yes.

Rath: Do you remember the first time you heard Sly Stone’s music?

McCrary: I want to say I must have been seven or eight, maybe nine years old and had discovered my dad’s stereo and decided to — against the rules — check out some of those records.

My parents actually met in San Francisco in 1969, so in the heyday of Sly and the Family Stone forming and coming into their own. My parents were in the Haight-Ashbury district at that time. I think that their music and that movement were very meaningful to my parents, and so they had one record underneath there by Sly and the Family Stone, and that record was “Stand.”

I immediately resonated with “Sing a Simple Song” and some of the funkier cuts, and I was fascinated and sort of mystified by “Don’t Call Me N-Word” — I don’t know what I’m allowed to say on the radio, but I mean, I just couldn’t understand. I listened to it over and over and over again, like “I can’t believe this.” I don’t think I fully understood the message behind it, but that one really, really, really had an impact on me.

Rath: That’s pretty real for a seven-year-old.

McCrary: Sure.

Rath: You know, this is a Joy Beat, and we have this attraction with Sly because the music is very joyful and exuberant, but his music did deal with the darker side. There were race riots going on in the '60s and '70s; the National Guard was getting called into cities, right?

McCrary: Sure.

Rath: Sly died in Los Angeles [last week], while there was a riot going on, like the name of his record. It just feels like this music is very much of our time right now.

McCrary: Absolutely. I don’t think I can recall a time in my life that, in some way, his music didn’t have some sort of relevance. That’s the magic of his music. This message, the sound of it — it’s timeless, and I feel like sometimes it doesn’t get the credit it deserves. There’s great classic rock, Motown music and ‘80s pop music that you could argue is timeless, right? It still gets played at parties and weddings, and it just never seems to sound out of place or out of date.

But on a message level, I believe that Sly and the Family Stone and Sly’s mind was just so far ahead of what a lot of music was at the time. It had pop sensibilities, it had rock and roll, it had rhythm and blues, it had gospel, it had soul. But the message underneath was just such a good reflection and embodiment of the human condition and society [in] the ‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s and even right now — especially right now.

Rath: It’s just striking how, talking about this really serious stuff, there is that quality of exuberance and joy in that. Like, even on an album like “There’s a Riot Going On,” it’s a dark album, but you’ve got “Family Affair” that has this tenderness and humanity.

McCrary: Absolutely. It does have a sort of sweetness to it. But again, going back to the lyrics, “One child grows up to be somebody that just loves to learn. Another child grows to be somebody you just love to burn.” In any family, there are family dynamics, you know?

There’s a love and there’s a bond there, but within that, there are interpersonal relationships, and to somehow capture all of that and have it packaged in a song that sounds like the love of a family — but definitely not all positive attributes — reflected in the song is just genius. I mean, the man was just far beyond most songwriters that ever lived.

Rath: All of these things that shouldn’t work together, both musically and conceptually, but it makes it music.

McCrary: Absolutely, and it’s interesting you started with “Dance to the Music.” I mean, that song and that sound kind of catapulted him into another level of recognition and fame. His first album was super different; you know, his first album is very experimental, it was very groundbreaking, and it dared to be different. It was almost so different — and maybe a little early for that kind of thing — that it didn’t do as well. It’s an amazing album, and I think the lack of recognition and fame edged him towards making something that was a little simpler, a little more accessible, a little more digestible.

“Dance to the Music” and the album right after, “Life,” are very, very catchy songs, very upbeat, very positive, you know, not too heavy. By the time we got to “Stand,” America had gotten to a certain fever pitch of unrest and turmoil. He had everyone’s attention at that point, and the timing of it was brilliant. Right on time.

Rath: Talking about responding to the time, “There’s a Riot Going On” was apparently in response to Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On.” There’s a riot going on. That was 1971.

McCrary: Yes. That album, some parts of it are unconventional, and then other parts are disarming in their listenability and so heavy in their message, you know? Right there is, you know … That’s the juice right there. I love it.

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