Stax Soul icon and blaxploitation funk composer Issac Hayes passed away this weekend at the age of 65. The “health fanatic” and former voice of the “South Park” character Chef was found dead next to a treadmill. Hayes was the first black composer to win an Academy Award for best song, with 1971’s wah-wah filled “Theme from Shaft,” the titular song from the 1971 Gordon Parks film that launched the blaxploitation film movement into the mainstream and legitimized the form.
Theme To “Shaft”
Opening Scene: “Shaft”
“Walk On By”
Rodrigo Perez is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Playlist, which he launched in 2008. He has worked in entertainment journalism since 2000, including at MTV, and has written for SPIN, IndieWire, Pitchfork, Complex, Magnet, and various music, film, and entertainment publications over the past two decades.
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
- Rodrigo Perez
