Superfly

Q - 5 Stars - Indispensable Spin - Ranked #4 on Spin's list of the "Top 10 Reissues." - "A defiantly timeless soundtrack to the ultimate period picture..." Mojo - "One of the few essential blaxploitation soundtracks...more renowned for its Curtis Mayfield score than its on-screen content..." Rolling Stone - 4 stars out of 5 - "...this is the seminal blaxploitation soundtrack....And it's history." Rolling Stone - Ranked #69 in Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums Of All Time" - "...An astonishing album, marrying lush string parts to funky bass grooves and lots of wah-wah guitar..." Vibe - Included in Vibe's 100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century Rolling Stone - 4 stars out of 5 - "...this is the seminal blaxploitation soundtrack....And it's history." Mojo - "One of the few essential blaxploitation soundtracks...more renowned for its Curtis Mayfield score than its on-screen content..." Entertainment Weekly - Ranked #6 in EW's "100 Best Movie Soundtracks" - "...A testament to the powers of a musician at the top of his game..." Q - 5 Stars - Indispensable Mojo - Included in Mojo's "100 Coolest Movie Soundtracks". Spin - "This definitive blaxplotiation-flick soundtrack spiked his do-right nature with just the right amount of baaaaddness." Vibe (12/99, p.164) - Included in Vibe's 100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century Entertainment Weekly (10/12/01, p.28) - Ranked #6 in EW's "100 Best Movie Soundtracks" - "...A testament to the powers of a musician at the top of his game..." Mojo (6/02, p.66) - Included in Mojo's "100 Coolest Movie Soundtracks". Rolling Stone (2/3/00, p.53) - 4 stars out of 5 - "...this is the seminal blaxploitation soundtrack....And it's history." Q (9/94, p.128) - 5 Stars - Indispensable Mojo (11/99, p.133) - "One of the few essential blaxploitation soundtracks...more renowned for its Curtis Mayfield score than its on-screen content..." Pitchfork - "SUPER FLY perfectly encapsulates the post-Civil Rights/early Black Power feel of black America struggling to survive the social and political consequences of the nation's conservative backlash."

With his socially conscious messages and positive, pro-active stance, Curtis Mayfield seemed an unlikely candidate to score a blaxploitation film. That SUPERFLY resulted not only in an excellent soundtrack for the film, but in one of Mayfield's best albums, is all the more surprising. In fact, Mayfield's forward-thinking philosophy added a layer of depth to the movie, painting its realistic urban scenes through song in ways that comment on socio-economic hardships and the plight of many African Americans. He is especially skilled at character sketches, as on the driving "Freddie's Dead", and writing from particular points of view, as on the sly, slinky "Pusherman".
Along with Isaac Hayes's SHAFT, SUPERFLY wrote the book on blaxploitation music, pioneering sounds, themes, and moods that would be indelibly associated--thanks in part to the films they accompanied--with black inner-city life in the '70s. Mayfield achieves this with an array of lean funk grooves punctuated by brass arrangements, interlocking percussion, wah-wah guitar, and his wispy, soulful tenor. The title track, which closes out the set, is one of Mayfield's signature tunes, and still stands among the most recognisable, and pleasurable, musical emblems of the era.|