Got a little distracted last week, what with list-making and all, but no worries, we haven't forgotten. This time around it's more of a funk crossword, and both of our samples come from a really amazing compilation we've been spinning for a while– 'Can You Dig It? The Music & Politics of Black Action Films 1969-75' from Soul Jazz Records. It's a collection of music from the Black Action/blaxploitation films of the early 70s (Shaft, Super Fly, Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song, etc.), the first films written, produced and acted by almost entirely blacks and focused on black life. Pretty unsurprisingly, the genre is steeped in controversy (hence the negatively-connotative 'blaxploitation'); was it a perpetuation of stereotypes, or a groundbreaking expression of previously ignored themes? Regardless, their soundtracks fucking slayed, featuring the best, most sophisticated funk and soul jazz tunes of the time.
Isaac Hayes - Theme From Shaft (223 kbps)
Young MC - Know How (251 kbps)
Our first pairing starts with Isaac Hayes' theme from Shaft from '71, a smooth and richly orchestrated number punctuated by can you dig it's and bad mother shut your mouth's– how can you go wrong? Young MC (who you know better for his Grammy-winning 'Bust A Move') deftly sampled it in his '88 track 'Know How,' one of our favorite hip-hop tracks of all time.
Willie Hutch - Theme of Foxy Brown (203 kbps)
Cassius - Foxxy (320 kbps)
Next up is Willie Hutch (dope Motown artist who soundtracked The Mack and Foxy Brown, as well as cowrote the Jackson 5's 'I'll Be There') and his awesome theme for Foxy, which the legendary Cassius sampled on 'Foxxy' from Cassius 1999. Catch ya same time same place next week for another crossword!
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