• Written, directed, produced, and scored by Melvin Van Peebles!

It’s October, y’all! We’re celebrating what we call Black Cinema Month at Soul Music Society! That means we are highlighting some of the most legendary films from the 70s including their stars and their music. ⁠

Not a widely known film, but still significant! Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song was released in 1971. It was written and directed by legendary Melvin Van Peebles! Whew! Check out this clip from the official trailer! ⁠

What it’s about? Well, it’s a story of a poor black male prostitute who saves a Black Panther from racist white cops — so he goes on the run!⁠ Y’all need to see it because the entire film was written, directed, produced, scored — you name it — by Van Peebles; no studio would touch it, so he did it all himself. He spent $150,000 to do it and it ended up earning $15.2 million at the box office despite showing on very few screens. ⁠

AND to top it all off…..the soundtrack to Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song was performed by then-unknown Earth, Wind & Fire on Stax Records. To attract publicity for the film without spending significant money, the soundtrack was released before the movie. It performed well reaching #13 on the Billboard Top R&B Albums chart.⁠

In this article

Sweet-Sweetbacks_Baadasssss_Song

Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (Soundtrack)

Movie: Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song

Purchase vinyl

Check out the other classic films that we’re celebrating for Black Cinema Month. You might rediscover an old favorite or discover something new!

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