Black Caesar

the take

James Brown is a fucking legend. That should go without saying. That's why it's shocking for me to say that while I have not listened to a single full album by the man. I decided to take a chance and listen to this soundtrack for "Black Caesar", not because of my appreciation for the film (haven't seen the movie either, but now I'm genuinely interested), but because of one of the tracks on here that was sampled for Das EFX's "They Want EFX"... which blew my mind, obviously. Anyway, for an album that's supposed to be a soundtrack to an accompanying blaxploitation film, this doesn't have much of that soundtrack vibe here. Oh no, this project is sonically still a James Brown one: one with his usual style of funk and soul. Hell, even the obvious "soundtrack" moments are still good moments nonetheless. Naturally, this soundtrack is home to many songs that would be sampled in the years to come. (The most obvious that comes to mind for me is Das EFX's "They Want EFX" sampling "Blind Man Can See It".) I can't say it's the best blaxploitation soundtrack of its era yet (shout out "Super Fly" soundtrack), but it's still an enjoyable musical capsule of the early 1970's funk and soul.