James Thomas Ramey (August 17, 1944 – October 28, 1970), better known as Baby Huey, was an American singer. He was the frontman for the band Baby Huey & the Babysitters, whose sole LP for Curtom Records in 1971 was influential in the development of hip hop music. Life and career A native of Richmond, Indiana, James was the son of Robert and Ernestine Ramey. He moved to Chicago, Illinois, at the age of nineteen, and worked with several local bands as a singer. When he was still in high school, he worked with his first; the Vets. Due to a glandular disorder, Ramey weighed about 350 pounds (160 kg) around this time. His size contributed to his stage presence, but also to health problems. Nevertheless, he made light of his condition, adopting the stage name "Baby Huey" after Paramount Pictures' giant duckling cartoon character of the same name. In 1963, Ramey, organist/trumpeter Melvyn "Deacon" Jones, and guitarist Johnny Ross founded a band called Baby Huey & the Babysitters, which became a popular local act and released several 45 RPM singles. The four songs, "Beg Me", "Monkey Man", "Messin' with the Kid" and "Just Being Careful" were spread over various single releases. During the late-1960s, the band followed the lead of Sly & the Family Stone and became a psychedelic soul act. Huey began wearing an Afro and donned psychedelic African-inspired robes, and adding sing-song, self-referential rhymes to his live performances. According to his bandmates, Ramey's rhymes were very similar in style to those later popularized by rappers in hip-hop music. The Babysitters were a popular live act, but never took the time out to record an album. They toured widely in the US, and were seen by a member of the Rothschild family, who flew the band to Paris, France, to play at a family ball. The band's appearances in clubs there led in turn to a feature in Vogue magazine. In early 1969, the band's agent Marv Heiman secured them an audition with Curtom Records arranger Donny Hathaway. Heiman states that Hathaway came by the Thumbs Up club and was very impressed by the act, and got Curtom Records head Curtis Mayfield to come the following night. Mayfield wanted to sign Baby Huey, but not the band. Although the band participated in the recording of Ramey's debut album, there were feelings of unease among them, and Jones quit