This article was first published May 23, 1995
It seems rather appropriate that we'd be having collard greens and corn bread with Mr. "Hot Buttered Soul" himself — Isaac Hayes.
The prolific singer/songwriter's music has been the soul food of the "black and proud" as much as greens, black-eyed peas and sauce-dripping ribs.
Though Hayes hasn't issued a record since 1988's "Love Attack, " he is releasing two today: "Branded" and the instrumental "Movement: Raw & Refined."
In the interim, Hayes, who lived in Atlanta from 1979 to 1992, became disheartened with the direction of black music, so he spent more time pursuing a burgeoning love: acting. On this day, the 52-year-old artist, in town filming a BBC movie titled "Soul Survivor, " steps from his gray Lincoln Continental in a flowing white linen shirt, purple jogging pants and tennis shoes.
Settling into lunch at South City Kitchen in Midtown, he talks about his absence, his hesitancy to record again and why he thinks audiences are ready for seconds.
Q: So what got you back into the music business?
A: John Wooler, president of Pointblank Records [Hayes' label] told me, "Isaac, there's a market for your music." He had an understanding of what I'm trying to do. And what I've done. He got the music, and he's British, where I knew people in the United States probably thought I was washed up.
Q: What did the soul music of the '60s and '70s offer that today's urban contemporary doesn't?
A: Soul offered more of a reality about life's experience. Music today is a bit shallow and in some cases too crass, abrasive, and there's not a lot of live playing going on. There's a lot of samples, a lot of electronic equipment, which takes away from the natural feel of things. It can't feel natural if it's manufactured. I mean, some of these guys don't even know how to play instruments. They just know how to hook stuff up.
Q: How do you feel about gangster rap, and its embrace of the blaxploitation period that you, Curtis Mayfield and others helped foster?
A: I don't go along with it. I wrote music for those kinds of movies . . . but "Shaft" was a detective. We fought the pimps and the people like that. And we won in the end. So good did triumph over evil. But these guys tend to try to glorify the bad, the evil.
Q: Do you think people take you seriously as an actor?
A: As an actor, I think I'm better than I'm perceived to be. I just have to earn the respect, and I do that by just getting more and more work, and one day I'll get the role. Good roles are a premium. And therefore you have to stay in the race, stay in the game, and you'll finally get a good pitch and knock it out of the park.
Q: Have you ever thought about letting your hair grow?
A: [Big laugh] No! It just doesn't fit the picture.
About the Author
Keep Reading
The Latest
Featured
