Paul 'H.R.' Hudson

Paul D. Hudson (born February 11, 1956), known professionally as H.R. (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 rapid-fire nasal whine, to feral growling and screeches, to smooth near-crooning 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.

H.R. 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, D.C. He was a gifted athlete from an early age, competing in swimming and pole-vaulting. He and his younger brother Earl both entered the local D.C. music scene as teenagers with their friends and future bandmates Dr. Know and Darryl Jenifer. H.R. was an early nickname that initially stood for "hunting rod", but which he changed to stand for "human rights".

H.R. 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 H.R.).

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 H.R.'s presence on stage: "like James Brown gone berserk, with a hyperkinetic repertoire of spins, dives, back-flips, splits, and skanks".

H.R. has collaborated with the Long Beach Dub Allstars on their song "New Sun" on the Right Back album, and with P.O.D. on their song "Without Jah, Nothin'", on the album Satellite.

In recent years, H.R.'s 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