Paul 'H.R.' Hudson

Paul D Hudson born February 11 1956 known professionally as HR Human Rights is an American musician who leads the hardcore punk band Bad Brains and is an instrumental figure in the development of the genre His vocal delivery has been described as diverse ranging from a rapidfire nasal whine to feral growling and screeches to smooth nearcrooning or staccato reggae rhymes He has departed the band periodically to pursue solo efforts that are more inspired by reggae than Bad Brains punk sound He is the older brother of Bad Brains drummer Earl Hudson HR was born in Liverpool England to a Jamaican mother and American father stationed with the US Air Force in the UK His family moved to the United States when he was a toddler and proceeded to move around until finally settling in Washington DC He was a gifted athlete from an early age competing in swimming and polevaulting He and his younger brother Earl both entered the local DC music scene as teenagers with their friends and future bandmates Dr Know and Darryl Jenifer HR was an early nickname that initially stood for hunting rod but which he changed to stand for human rights HR and his bandmates became Rastafari around 1979 after attending a Bob Marley concert at the Capital Centre This spiritual direction influenced the music of Bad Brains via his vocals and inspired the creation of his reggae band Human Rights or HR Although reggae is the main focus of his solo material he explores rock and other musical genres He has had numerous albums released on SST Records A Village Voice review of a Bad Brains concert described HRs presence on stage like James Brown gone berserk with a hyperkinetic repertoire of spins dives backflips splits and skanks HR has collaborated with the Long Beach Dub Allstars on their song New Sun on the Right Back album and with POD on their song Without Jah Nothin on the album Satellite In recent years HRs Human Rights performances have become markedly more mellow and restrained focusing primarily on reggae This is a stark contrast to his wildly animated aggressive stage performances of the late 1970s and 1980s Interviews with HR feature prominently in the 2006 documentary American Hardcore in which he discusses the early days of the hardcore scene in New York City and Washington DC and his association with peers like Minor Threat and the CroMags In particular he recalls encouraging Ian MacKaye to fully articulate Minor Threats emerging straight edge philosophy to give young people a positive direction As depicted in the 2012 documentary Bad Brains A Band in DC HRs bizarre behavior such as wearing a motorcycle helmet during a performance and refusing to sing caused friction with other members of the band In late 2016 the film Finding Joseph I The HR From Bad Brains Documentary premiered in Europe and the United States Directed by James Lathos the documentary features interviews with HR as well as other musicians peers and family member while chronicling his life struggles and philosophies particularly PMA positive mental attitude The films companion book was published by Lesser Gods in January 2017