Today Isaac Hayes passed away, and I am sad. I’m not going to get into his beliefs of Scientology or any other personal beliefs the man might have had that I do not agree with. I am sad because I really enjoyed his work.

I came to know Hayes through the Theme from Shaft. During university I went through quite the Blaxploitation film phase where films like Shaft gave a group of us great enjoyment. Admittedly 20 years after their release, the comic value was what we sought in some ways, they were instrumental in changing black film culture to what we have today. As with every other facet of the United States civil rights struggle for black people, these films played their part.

Heck, I even wrote a comic Shaft screenplay called Shaft on the Rock. We even filmed twenty minutes of it. Where any of the footage is now, I have no idea, but I’m sure they will come back to haunt me at some point.

So I for one will miss a Hot Buttered Soul musician by the name of Isaac Hayes.