For those hip hop heads
out there, much of the music that we consider the classics, are rooted in the
scores of blaxploitation cinema. Point blank, producers have sampled some of
the most dynamic enriching funky tunes from the era establishing the fundamentals
of hip hop.
The music is relevant to
a period when social and political conscious was shifting in the black
community. The sounds were starting to reflect the times. Funk was making
its way within the spirit of the people; particularly those who were on the
bottom side of the caste system, poor black folks (also known as the blues
people). With the assassinations of MLK and Malcolm X, upheaval was inevitable.
Change permeated the atmosphere. A revolutionary ideology was espoused by many
black youth along with Marxist intellectuals.
Funk, which has a
genealogy that consists of: blues, gospel, be-bop, rhythm&blues,
rock&roll, and soul was becoming the voice of objection. It was a
countercultural antithetical entity of bold polyrhythmic expression. Funk was
the soundtrack of revolution. The music represented freedom from systematic
oppression. Because funk was
incongruous with the standards of the American way, it was the perfect genre to
underscore blaxploitation films.
Blaxploitation films were intended to reflect a black power, freedom,
and slough off the stereotypical tropes of the past. The often funky
soundtracks of blaxploitation were the soul and musical impressions of the
movies which quickly became formulaic in narrative.
Blaxploitation
soundtracks were definitely appropriate for the times. They hold a valuable
space in the lineage of our American musical ancestry. In his epic book
that explores all that is funk, Rickey Vincent states:
The soundtrack album ultimately served two extremely
important functions: first, like the films in general, soundtrack albums gave jobs to struggling artists who may not
have had the opportunity to release and distribute a record on their own. Second, and most significant, the range of
the movie soundtrack allowed the artists to explore-and reflect-the diverse
moods of the film and thus the diverse moods of their people.
It is indeed necessary
to preserve the cool, boundless, and funky musical narratives that are the
blaxploitation soundtracks. They have offered so much to en rich our culture.
They were a way to express the blackness of a people. We also must make sure
that future generations understand the primary source of contemporary music and
how relevant it is to way that music can be shaped in the future. As the saying
goes, you have to know your past in order to be prepared for your future-there
is power in that.
