According to his representatives, Brown, 73, was admitted to Emory Crawford Long Hospital on Sunday, suffering from pneumonia. He died around 1:45 a.m. with manager Charles Bobbitt by his side. "We really don’t know at this point what he died of," Brown’s agent Frank Copsidas told the Associated Press.

Rapper Nas, who incorporated a portion of Brown’s song "Get Up, Get Into It, Get Involved" on the song "Where Are They Now" from his latest album Hip-Hop Is Dead, was lucky enough to meet Brown before his passing.

"I spoke in front of hundreds in his honor," Nas told AllHipHop.com in a statement. "I looked directly at him. He smiled while I told him how I used his music with mine and how much he’s done for us and how I love him. I’m lucky to have had that moment, shook his hand. He was pure greatness."

Rapper Snoop Dogg labeled Brown his "soul inspiration." "I am hurt. That’s my Godfather," Snoop Dogg said. "The hardest working man in show business of all time. He’ll be missed, but his music and his legacy will live on through me, in everyway you can imagine."

Rapper Ice Cube acknowledged Brown’s iconic status within the Hip-Hop industry as well, as he influenced nearly every rapper or producer that participates in the craft.

"James Brown was the first solo singer that I loved as a kid," Ice Cube admitted. "He was not only the Godfather of Soul, but the Godfather of Funk and Rap. Music will never be the same."

James Brown, will return to one of the many stages that made him famous, the one at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, tomorrow, so that the public who adored him can wish him goodbye one final time. Revered Al Sharpton broke the news about the service and viewing for James Brown and it was reported by The New York Times.