Superfly

Thursday morning. Nearly the end of the week. Lounging on my velour recliner for a moment of contemplation, it's a sunny day and the light is streaming through the window highlighting the dust in the air. Rising out the seat, I glance in the mirror and my oversize collar is on point with the brown and yellow earth tones in the tie I picked out earlier. Aviators on and quickly check the moustache - nice. I leave for work, climb into the car and Curtis plays in the background on the 8-track. Sunlight glints on my glasses and I'm feeling the beats, one arm out the window as I drive. It's going to be a good day.

“Super Fly” by Curtis Mayfield (1972) Now this is how urban ‘social justice’ music is done. A concept album with a coherent, humanistic concept. Soulful poetry painting vivid scenes of the heartbreaking reality of the pain and hopelessness of black ghetto life. No pontificating on ‘root cause’; no rage directed at dubious agents of evil; no thinly disguised Marxist political posing; no plea to do wrong in order to set things right. Mayfield touches the individual heart with moral guidance that is edifying and redemptive. “Freddie’s Dead” is so much more than funeral dirge or eulogy. From the abyss of urban lament, It announces salvation. And check out the rap in the intro to “No Thing on Me”. Beats anything I’ve heard from the 90s. And the music soars. Mayfield’s vocals push and pull real tears. Very well controlled falsetto transcends gendered chains. Instrumentals are arranged with symphonic expansiveness, and (even if somewhat dated) are richly varied—and exquisitely performed. The well executed mix draws the listener with relentless mystery. I wish “Junkie Chase” (at only 1:41) would go on for another ten minutes. But alas, real junkie chases probably don’t last that long. For those into folk rock, the acoustic guitar work (Mayfield?) on the intro to “Think” is very well done, setting up a pleasantly surprising stylistic transition. There is so much good music on this album. And this is not the voice of nostalgia speaking. This may shock you, but . . . 5/5

This was a great album. Smooth as butter, with surprising depth.

I'm glad this was our weekend album. There's just... so much. So many layers. Organ, hand drums, regular drums, distorted bass (and surely that's a whammy bar on the bass), spitting fuzz guitar, clean guitar with a wah (of course), any number of horns and strings, and... is that a fucking harp? Yes, yes it's a harp. And that's just the first minute of the first song. And it feels like they're all played by individual humans. All playing little bits and pieces, but also coming together in unison often enough that the songs feel like songs, not just jams. Somehow, even with all that instrumentation, it has a real live feel. There are mistakes here and there, and the vocals aren't the strongest, but I don't find they distract from the experience. They give it an energy. It feels alive. You're not listening to a product that has been painstakingly constructed and polished over months in a studio, you're in a room full of great musicians having a good time. The off the cuff feeling of the album comes with downsides. No Thing On Me feels cheesy, both lyrically and melodically. The wah in Give Me Your Love sounds like someone is strangling a duck. Both songs could have used more time in the oven, but I think more overall production time would have dulled some of the rawness that gives the rest of the album it's energy. So I'll take two (relative) duds if it gives me 7 songs that are brilliant, rich without being busy, dirty without being muddy, somehow simultaneously groovy and contemplative. I'll be listening to this for years to come.

Where do you start to peel back the layers of this album?! The percussion, the guitar, the horns, the strings, the lyrical content, this is 36 minutes of absolute pure glory!

Interesting to learn that this album earned more than the corresponding movie. The sounds good, but I only got hooked by a couple of tracks, and eventually the falsetto got kind of old.

Beautiful soul and funk sounds, and as a Chance fan it was cool to hear the origin of Pusha Man.

A plush pillow for the weary head of the ghetto's victims.

Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for this but I was really bored.

Feel like a Little Child Runnin’ Wild listening to this. Felt, Superfly!

No começo pensei em dar 4 estrelas mas depois percebi sua grandeza , ótimo disco

Incredible. The production and instrumentals along with Curtis Mayfield's voice and lyrics just takes you to this really blissful place that's vulnerable and embraces it. It's by no means a downer either, because it can set the mood for a really great party.

I'm a big fan of this album. Think Mayfield is a genius, great concept album soundtrack and love the use of strings.

Funky, groovy fun. Loved it.

I was thinking to myself “I’ll bet there won’t be a soundtrack album on this list” but I had forgotten about this album. So bleeding good.

With this soundtrack in tow, anyone can be superfly!

Funky and fun. This album was consistent with its delivery of a catchy beat and some sweet falsetto. Many of the songs sounded very similar, so I am only feeling three stars.

Not my favorite genre

70's porno music mixed with a low budget heist film 3 ⭐️

A couple good songs and a bunch of ok songs. It is a fun listen, but I don't think it is good enough for a 4. Fun Fact: the intro to Superfly was sampled for the Beastie Boy's song Egg Man.

Just not my cup of tea. I understand it is a reflection of lifelong decisions to make good decisions in the worst of situations, but it is a subject that just don’t find myself attuned to. It’s weird that this album soundtrack is supposed to imbue soul, but I find it utterly soulless with how repetitive it is.

Great top to bottom

Dope

I probably would not have listen to this album on my own but this was really, really good. There is no denying how prolific Curtis was with his writing in the 70s. There wasn't a bad song on this album in my opinion. "Freddie's Dead" was a banger but my favorite was "Think" because it was so different from anything else he's done.

I rate pusher man a 5 star because the beat is nice and the lyrics are nice and the singing is beautiful. I rate Freddys dead a 5 star because the beat is nice and the lyrics are nice and the singing is beautiful. And the setting good. I rate Super fly a 5 star because the beat is nice and the lyrics are nice and the singing is beautiful. And the setting good.

I like this song because it has a lot of instruments. I like listening to jazz a lot and playing the instruments took him a while. Again I like all the instruments and his voice is so smooth

Dang, this is awesome - really kick ass soul! I think I'd only heard "Pusherman" before, but the whole album is great - I can definitely see why it became so popular! Haven't seen the movie, so can't comment on whether it deserved to be eclipsed by its soundtrack. Fave tracks - "Little Child Runnin' Wild", "Pusherman", "Superfly" but my absolute fave was "Freddie's Dead"

This was great, his voice is amazing, the whole band is amazing. I listened to it twice cause it flew by so fast.

Loved this one. Those horns. Those drums. That little splash of flute. Possibly some harp? There was a lot going on here. All of it absolutely fantastic. Peak 70’s blacksploitation soundtrack right here. Only complaint was I wanted more.

This whole album is fire....'Pusherman', 'Freddie's Dead', and 'Superfly' makes it 5 stars by itself. I noticed 'Think' is used in the beat for 'Nobody's Perfect' by Missy Elliot and J. Cole. Always fun to track one of those down in the wild.

Incredible album of jazz and funk infused soul. I mean, it has both Pusherman and Superfly! Two stone cold classics. And the rest of the tracks are equally great. I’ve been listening on constant rotation for the last few days. It’s such a rich album full of funk and beauty. Do yourself a favour and listen to ”Makings of you” from the Curtis! Live album from 1971. One of recording history’s finest moments.

incredible soul that mixes a bit with jazz and rock. bangers

Groovy start to finish. I have no knowledge of the film, but from the songs alone you can paint a picture. Really enjoyable.

So much better then the last Mayfield item on this list! Only my second experience with him but this was a fun time, as I said in my previous review of his work, he's got such a fantastic voice and the instrumentals on this one shine so much more. Solid 4.5 but I'll give it five stars for the sake of how much I was surprised by my enjoyment of this!

One of the all time great soul albums. Nothing more to say about this one.

Funkiest album ever, just bop after bop

it’s superfly!

Two words...Supa Fly.

OVERALL: Extremely fly. This funk, jazz, and soul album has probably gotten me into the genres as a whole. Little Child Runnin', Eddie You Should Know Better, Think, and Freddie's Dead are absolute masterpieces, and the jazz elements, especially in Superfly, are incredible and extremely well utilized. I guess I don't like Pusherman or Give Me Your love that much, but they aren't that bad. Also, this feels a lot longer than just 9 songs. SONG AVG: 8.83/10 PERSONAL RATING: 9.55/10 Little Child Runnin' Wild: Fantastic, so unbelievably funky. I have never heard a song by this man before, and I am very impressed. He used every single instrument that he could, and he did it so incredibly well. Also, that saxophone is NNN ending. 10/10 Pusherman: I really like this, it sounds exactly like how I imagine a drug dealer's theme song would sound like, but why do the percussion instruments sound like that? I don't hate it, but it is a bit weird when paired with the melodic stuff. Speaking of which, the instruments (not percussion) sound more boring, but they are still very well performed. This is the song that made me realize that this album was for a movie. 6.5/10 Freddie's Dead: The intro was a bit boring, but it got so much better. The bassline is great, and Curtis Mayfield continues to use his massive array of instruments to their full capability. The only things I don't like about it are the intro and outro for being boring, but the rest of the song is fantastic. 9.5/10 Junkie Chase: The weird ass percussion is back at around 0:15, but it actually works really well this time. It sounds like a Cowboy Bebop chase. The instruments are, once again, played incredibly, and the drummer goes insane. The only problem is the length and the weird ass percussion. 8.75/10 Give Me Your Love: Was this played during a sex scene? It kinda sounds like it was, and I refuse to elaborate. As per usual, the entirety of the instruments are done very well, especially those strings, but I feel like this song drags on a bit. Also, Curtis Mayfield sounds out of place due to the general lack of vocals. 7/10 Eddie You Should Know Better: I need more of this. I cannot name a single thing wrong with this, and I really tried. It sounds great, it's lyrically great, and its absolutely incredible. There just is no producer tag (we depressed music) 11/10 No Thing on Me: Sung beautifully and sounds pretty good, but it does the fade out outro :(. The speaking in the intro brings this song down, and the song kinda drags on. With that being said, this is one of, if not the best instrumental in this album. 8.75/10 Think: The oboe and the French horn have the best dialogue in this whole album. It's so beautiful, I can't put it into words. Listen to this right now. I guess it's not lyrically impressive, probably because it doesn't have any lyrics. 9.5/10 Superfly: This is more what I was expecting from a movie soundtrack. Such a mood switch between this and think. Incredibly funky, and it is definitively fly. I guess as an album outro, it works, but it just so happened to be right after Think. 8.5/10

Extremely cool album.

Never listened to Mayfield until now. This blew me away. Think, superfly, pusherman. Vocals, sax, guitar, arrangements. Loved it.

When I graduated college I moved into a place with my cousin and some friends. We all had similar musical tastes and at some point we went into a collective manic obsession with 70’s R&B and Soul and Curtis Mayfield was our North Star. We were constantly exchanging songs and the closer we could get to Mayfield, the better. We had a gigantic Superfly poster on the wall, which we didn’t contemplate the optics of (4 white guys with a blaxploitation movie poster) I still don’t think I know if that’s cool? Looking back I’m not sure exactly how we all landed at the same conclusion at the same time: Curtis Mayfield rules and was cool as hell. This time through I’m really astounded with how great this album is. There really isn’t a bad moment. This time through Little Child Running Wild and the instrumentals stood out. I also hadn't contemplated how seriously he took this, but in many ways its a lot like What's Going On. Mayfields concept album (concept album boys stand up!) I just learned Mayfield wrote the music largely as a critique to the film (glorifying drug use and culture). I'm less interested in that and more so just appreciative of how great his songs and this album sounds. It starts with the grooves (Pusherman for example) but it goes beyond that to consistently engaging songs and moments that are incredibly "cool". Curtis was a wise choice for a movie called "Super Fly". One of my favorite Impressions songs is "It's Alright" and I wouldn't say that's cool, but it does make you feel good and has a great groove. Quick retraction on RHCP: I said I don't like music that makes me feel sad, which is too broad. I just don't like RHCP and trying to understand why.

This a completely foundational album for me, so I’m incapable of analyzing it or being critical. Have a distinct memory of being like 16, blasting this album while driving around the lily white suburbs, filled with desire to go out into the world of danger and desperation he’s describing. It’s absurd I guess, in 2025, for a suburban whjte Dad to feel such strong nostalgia for an album that was already 25 years old when I first heard it - an album dealing with a world I had absolutely no understanding of and couldn’t relate to at all.( Thinking now - I wonder if this album was playing in my subconscious when I decided, for reasons I still don’t understand, to be a social worker in the bronx for like 5 years. What a strange move, Frank) Maybe it’s resonance speaks to the universality of the themes, the perfection and creativity of the music, the storytelling that neither romanticizes, wallows in, or glorifies the issues it explores. I don’t know. In any event I’ve been blasting this for like 3 days now. Kinda wanna quit my corporate cushy job and jump back into the fire w my old friends Freddie, Eddie and Superfly. This is one of my favorite albums of all time. Blows my mind now just like it did when I was 16.

i was already familiar with superfly but yeah its masterful both in its lyrics and its SHEER GROOVE POWER

maybe the haziest, most impressionist effect that has ever been achieved by a record where thats not an obviously accurate description of the sound itself...everything is in clear space and precisely chosen and presented in perfect clarity, but it still feels like a dream somehow...maybe one u are currently having rather then one u are remembering in daylight. idek what else to say other then its cool im on a lil streak of records i havent heard in a long time but were overdue for a revisit :))) curtis has to be one of the goats

did not expect that I would ever give a movie soundtrack a 5 star rating but there it is

I mean…

Nice progression, the penultimate song being instrumental felt like it came at the right time and really gave a chance to digest the rest of the album

I’ve never heard of the movie Superfly but maybe I’ll give it a watch now! I like the funky soul-inspired vibe of this album. It gives heavy 70s vibes and Mayfield’s voice is soothing. Little Child Runnin’ Wild is a fun way to start off the album. Pusherman is a funky jazz bop with witty lyrics and badass percussion. Eddie You Should Know Better brought out the triangle and the soul, it’s a beautiful slow song. Superfly is such a fun song and it makes you want to dance and bump your head. Fave Song: Pusherman Least Fave Song: No Thing on Me (Cocaine Song) Rating: 5/5

Wow oh wow. Silky damn smooth. What a find. Every damn song is an absolute hit. Little Child Runnin' Wild Freddie's Dead Give Me Your Love (Love Song) Eddie You Should Know Better No Thing On Me (Cocaine Song) as absolute favourites, the entire thing is fucking awesome. Will be keeping this for occasional playing for the rest of my life!

Pusherman - better be pushing this album What a fun album. It’s funky, it’s orchestral, it’s got some dark themes about drugs; what more can you ask for. It also stands on its own without the movie which definitely counts for something. Favorite - Freddie’s Dead

Excellent

lot of fun vibes, classic representation of this style of music. Favorite track: Little child runnin' wild other picks: pusher man, Freddie's dead, superfly

Another wonderful record.

Favourite song - Freddies dead

This was stellar. After listening to a string of okay-but-not-my-thing albums, this was a breath of fresh air. Funky, groovy, excellent jazzy instruments - I loved this from start to finish.

Nice mini diversion into Blaxploitation by Curtis. Used to play Pusherman on repeat back in the day. Crisp, clear production throughout. May be my favorite original soundtrack album, but will ponder this one further...

Fire.

I have not had very many soundtracks pop up for me. I could probably count on one hand the number I’ve had. The best are the ones that don’t need to be approached as a soundtrack to be enjoyed. Ones that can stand on their own as its own entity are really great. There aren’t a lot of those. But one you will always see mentioned is the Superfly album. Done by the Gentle Genius, Curtis Mayfield, himself. The film this records title is based on is a classic 70s film, and one that Curtis is featured in himself. This record wasn’t predicted to do any sort of numbers when it released alongside the film, and I think the fact that it outperformed the movie is hilarious, but also very telling. During the 70s, “fly” was used to describe someone confident and fashionable. It acts in the same way as “ill” did in the 90s. And I personally can’t think of a better adjective to describe the sound of the record other than fly. It’s fly as fuck. Maybe the single flyest set of songs I’ve ever heard. I guess I should have expected something this good from the same guy who made Move On Up, but I couldn’t have ever anticipated how amazing this is. This album is so overconfident in how cool it sounds, but it absolutely has the chops to back itself up. I was not aware of the kind of compositions Mayfield was capable of. But the string and horn sections are all top of the line. From an instrumental perspective, this album is flawless. Not one lackluster moment. Mayfield also has a delightful voice. Many would say the lyrical content here is more ideal than the movie. In terms of theme, this almost directly parallels the movie, which is probably a genius move on his part. It gives a much more direct take on drug dealers and poverty, which the movie more so embraces. I think my least favorite song is probably the second of two instrumentals, called Think. And it is not by any means a bad song. Even the shorter tracks still fit so much into such a brief amount of time. This doesn’t even reach the 40 minute mark, but I wish it were an hour. Some of the most suave and badass sounding music I’ve ever heard, and it completely makes up for most of the forgettable garbage I hear on a regular basis. Rating: 9/10

Excellent

Every song written with such empathy and the arrangements are so cinematic and perfect

Great album. And its a soundtrack!

Already loving everything a couple songs in. Def had heard Pusherman before. Percussion on it is incredible. It's probably because I already saw it was a soundtrack, but I can picture this being in an old 70s/80s cop movie ala Starsky & Hutch. Album absolutely flew by for me. That was smooth af I think I'll go listen to more Curtis Mayfield now.

Certified funky fresh. This album fucks.

little child runnin wild seeehr geil mit percussion und so i lieb. jo. sehr sehr geil sehr warm super geil gspielt. pusherman isch jo huuuuuere geil FICK. freddie's dead au seeeehr geil. d strings sind suuuper schön igsetzt. no thing to me isch au sooo gueti luune. ich liebs gad. biah think isch au gad crazy schön, mega david T walker style gitti. und sopraaaansax!! UND DENN ALTOSAX UND AAH ISCH DAS SCHÖN. es stüret gad mit vollgas (aber mega cozy) uf es cleans füfi zue. superfly hani auscho ghört. boah er singt SO COOL. und d blöser sind hammer. perkussion (master henry gibson) isch insane. boah han ich freud.

To mi radi, Kurtise! Jako dobar album. Tako cosy, chill zvuk s malo tog njegovog šmekerstva i malo peglice on top. Izuzetno fino. Sve jedna stvar bolja od druge. Jedan od rijetkih specifičnih vokala koji mi ne postaje iritantan. Dosta je mračan tematski album zapravo, ali nespojivo mi je to sa samom glazbom. Ma joj ej, teško mi je uopće izdvojiit stvari s ovog albuma, ali mislim da su mi Little Child Running Wild i Give Me Your Love favoriti. O maj gad, tek sad sam povezala da je jedna od mojih dražih modernih dance stvari Profite od Kazy Lambista zapravo obrada Eddie You Should Know Better 🤯 eto, dodajem tu u top tri s albuma. Ovaj Kurtis baš dosta razmišlja o drogama, što je oke pošto sam i ja trenutno nagljivirana, pa se vjerojatno zato kužimo. Tko sam ja da ti sudim. I Think mi je odlična. Ma ne znam evo, ovaj album apsolutno razvaljuje. Baš ono, takva raznolikost i bogatstvo zvuka. Ovo mi je u top 3 albuma s liste, bar zasad. Petica kao kuća, ma šta kuća, hotel! 5/5, 10/10.

Krenuo pisat review dok slušam, ali sam malo spejsautan pa sam odlutao Nego, ma čista petica za ovo, odmah u startu. Fino vozi od početka do kraja, jako puno referenci ima na droge i narkomane, imam osjećaj kao da prikazuje obje strane medalje ovdje. Kao super ti je od toga, ali ono, možeš od toga i završiti na ulici ili mrtav kao Fredie. Trebao bih proći kroz ovaj album još jednom pa pratiti tekst uz glazbu Muzikalno je super, iako mi je ovo kao funk, zapravo nije, samo je funky. Think pjesma je više nekako na jazz, ali i dalje je fino. Mislim da fino baš dobro opisuje ovaj album Iako sam pjesmu pusherman čuo stotinu puta, to je jedan on onih hitova koji mi ne smetaju. Nekad na probi se znamo zajebavati s tim pa ju ubacimo u jam Evo nas na Superfly i tu mi prolazi kroz glavu zašto su mi 70e puno draže od 80ih u većini slučajeva. I to pretežno zbog ovih "živih" bubnjeva i perkusija. I nema jebenog kanta snera 😁 Trebao sam počet pisat od prve pjesme, baš sam uživao u ovom albumu. Ali ovo mi je samo još jedan u nizu albuma koji su mi bili fantastični na ovoj listi, a da sam ih već znao. Još čekam da mi dođe nešto nepoznato, da me izuje iz cipela.

Oh yeah, this is good. I found myself grooving in my kitchen as I was making Sunday dinner. I'll admit that Pusherman makes me want to time travel and do all the drugs mentioned in the song - times must've been wild. I need to listen again since I know I missed some poignant lyrics, but what a great listen on the first go round. I'm giving this an enthusiastic 5 stars.

Soulful Funky 70’s music

It's a funky classic, no more needs to be said.

So so so so so so good. The sound and feel of this album is both of its time and timeless. 5 stars.

I can't believe my luck. Another absolutely fantastic album! Loved this album. Heard quite a bit of it before. Love the funky soul stuff.

Great album

Hey, so there are soundtracks on here! Although this album easily stands on its own. The songs are wonderfully crafted, and the lyrics are fervent and moving. Mayfield's concerns are just as relevant as ever. I look forward to listening again.

9/10 Beautiful. The vocals and the big band feel give this album such a pleasant atmosphere even though some of the the themes are dark Favourite Song=Freddies Dead Least Favourite Song=Give Me Your Love(Love Song)

I know I've written against having movie soundtracks on this list several times by now, but hot dang, you just can't stop that funk.

Iconic soul album.

Good album lots of drug references

Incredible and soulful record. Impossible to not boogie to.

Sophisticated and badass — two words rarely used together, but fitting for this amazing album!

Listened a lot when younger

This album is brilliant. Passionate, soulful, and sweet 5/5

A very enthusiastic five stars!! This was such a satisfying, complete-sounding album. Everything about it hit just right. Such detail, thoughtful storytelling, amazing vibes and very skilled singer, arrangement and musicians. I even had the 'hey, I know this... I think' with Freddie's Dead. I am so glad this album was what I started my day with. Made me feel like a person on the hardly-light first morning of October.

Nice

Essential funk.

Funk, soul, rhythm and blues Bläser, sexy and coole Stimme Jede Zelle in deinem Körper wippt im Rhythmus, die Beine halten mit, der ganze Körper ist inzwischen dabei Zu schön um wahr zu sein

Magnificent, sharp, soulful commentary on inner city life

Very good!!!

Curtis Mayfield is amazing.

very groovy very lovely but just not my style

9.5/10

EVERYTHING and more.

just brilliant

Spectacular funk album from the man Mr. Mayfield. This dude embodies cool, calm and collected. He has ghetto swagger combined with high fidelity tastes and standards. All of which is encompassed in the words and music on this here album. I can't even tell you how long I've been a fan of this album. Probably since I was single digits in age, it just always spoke to. He was also ahead of his time in speaking to the masses about the disenfranchised populations of black accross America. Far and wide this album should be hailed. Similar to last weeks Stevie Wonder album, should be understood that Curtis was a funk monster, could out funk anyone in a fight. But, he stays reserved here in crafting soul simple and short melodic backgrounds to his evangelical epitaph.

I love soul funk and could listen to this album anytime. Think - Instrumental is gorgeous and Pusherman is a classic.

A movie soundtrack masterpiece. Has certainly aged better than the movie itself. Curtis Mayfield forever!

Brilliant album - a timeless classic.

My general distaste for soundtracks is displaced by my love for good Chicago soul, and there's little better than Curtis Mayfield and this soundtrack for Super Fly. Short and sweet and oh so funky.

this is the kind of album that makes you cooler for having listened to it and ultimately what else is a white boy looking for in music

Bro blaxploitation music goes crazy hard god DAMN. Let a man HUSTLE on these hard streets, fuckin Nixon behind all this. "But Curtis Mayfield I sell drugs to the community!" OK all that aside I loved this fucking album, every song on this album was amazing, whatever you got going on this album will cure it. Funky as hell and full of colour. Curtis Mayfield is the a GOAT and this album is easily is best work to use as an example of him. 5/5