#76 Curtis Mayfield, 'Superfly' (1972)
Previously #72
This was another major standout for me last time around. Arguably the most iconic Blaxploitation soundtrack of all time. Starting with stabbing horns and Mayfield’s sweet voice, ‘Little Child Runnin’ Wild’ sets the scene; father’s split, mother’s struggling to make ends meet and the little child is running around the streets. He runs into the Pusherman (aka drug dealer) who turns him onto a life of addiction. The kid wants more but all his money’s gone. The next song, ‘Pusherman,’ is a smooth, funky song in total contrast to the previous. This one’s from the perspective of the dealer; “I'm your mama/I'm your daddy, I'm that nigga/In the alley, I'm your doctor/When in need, want some coke?/Have some weed, you know me/I'm your friend—your main boy/Thick and thin/I'm your pusherman/I'm your pusherman/Hahaha.” This record shows all perspectives of black lives in the ‘70s. The next song, which was the first single, ‘Freddie’s Dead (Theme from ‘Superfly’)’, tells the story of Fat Freddie, a character in the movie that was run over by a car. Unlike the previous song, which glorified drugs from the dealer’s perspective, this song warns of its perils; “Everybody's misused him/Ripped him off and abused him/Another junkie plan/Pushin' dope for the man/A terrible blow/But that's how it goes.”
Whereas the film’s standpoint on dealers was vague, Mayfield’s was definitive; there was a major drug epidemic in the States, mostly heroin, and he was strongly critical of it. The soundtrack was a surprise hit and was not expected to do as well as it had. In fact, this soundtrack is one of the few that would outgross its accompanying film. The title track closes the record, the endlessly cool ‘Superfly.’ Like a lot of Soul and Funk records from the ’70s, this song was a major influence on Hip Hop, most notably sampled by Beastie Boys in ‘Eggman,’ from ‘Paul’s Boutique’ (#125), Notorious B.I.G. on ‘Intro’ from ‘Ready To Die’ and Alicia Keys. Mayfield defined a genre with this one and created the blueprint for ’70s Soul and Funk.
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