Every so often a nude scene gets paired with a song that, for better or worse, ends up making it that much more memorable, and in honor of Black History Month we’re celebrating the most baadaassss song of them all!
In 1971, African-American filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles premiered his first feature as writer, director, producer, and star, Sweet Sweetback’s Baadassss Song. Considered by many to be the catalyst that launched the blaxploitation era of film, this dramatic action film has earned an important place in cinematic (and skinematic) history - but also like a lot of revered classics, is an influential part of music history as well.
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Rhetta Hughes Nude in Sweet Sweetback's Baadaasssss Song
The film centers on the titular character, an orphaned boy in Los Angeles who grows up in a brothel and becomes a male prostitute who ends up on the run from police after a run-in with member of the Black Panther party. The film kicks off in high gear with a raucous display of the legendary sexual prowess that gave Sweetback his name, bedding a topless Rhetta Hughes while we listen to a Black choir wailing away at a medley of recognizable spirituals under her moans of pleasure.
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That opening music leads into the ultra-funky instrumental theme “Sweetback Losing His Cherry” before going back into the choir music as their bedroom rodeo wraps up, and we see Rhetta’s tig ol’ bitties as Melvin goes to leave. We only really need Rhetta’s reaction to understand sex with Sweetback is a religious experience, but the music really sends the message home.
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Besides being a perfect pairing, the historical significance of the music is actually two-fold. Obviously, this film is a precursor to even more memorable film music of the era, like Shaft, Superfly, and Car Wash, plus without the blaxploitation genre, we may not have the acclaimed, music heavy African-American cinema of today from Spike Lee, Robert Townsend, Eddie Murphy, Michael Jai White, and of course, his son, Mario Van Peebles.
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But secondly, the biggest success story of the film might actually be the band preferring the sound track. As the story goes, due to limited funds, Melvin ended up writing the music himself and found a band struggling to afford food through his secretary (who was dating one of the members) to play his melodies. And because he couldn’t really afford marketing, Melvin just released the soundtrack before the movie as a way to drum up interest. The band was Earth, Wind, and Fire and it ended up reaching No. 13 on the Billboard Top RB chart, so without this skinfluential film, we might not be bah-dee-dahing every September 21st. Any way you slice it, the accolades for the film, the music, and Rhetta’s rack are the epitome of sweet!
