"Super Fly" is a gritty, low-budget blaxploitation flick about an inner city drug dealer, and Curtis Mayfield's soundtrack is the perfect backdrop: a high watermark in the funk/soul genre, full of cautionary tales about the perils of dealing and life on the street, all sung in Mayfield's distinctively soothing high falsetto.
Like Marvin Gaye at around the same time, Mayfield was a socially-conscious voice for Afro-America, and despite the themes in the movie there is a strong "don't glorify the ghetto" message on this album, particularly in the album highlights "Pusherman" and "Freddie's Dead".
The arrangements and musicianship on this album are second to none, and if you're not in the mood after listening to these funky wah-wah guitars then you don't have a pulse. A seriously good album from one of the most talented & influential singer/songwriters of 20th century.
Bonus fact: In 1990 Curtis Mayfield was paralyzed from his neck down after a lighting rig fell on him while performing live in concert. Why can't that sort of thing happen to the Justin Bieber's of the world instead??
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