Isaac Lee Hayes, Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008)
As a man who influenced the course of black music both as a performer and composer, the sound of Isaac Hayes has so many times been replicated but never surpassed. With a sound so universally urban, Isaac Hayes will always be remembered in my mind as an entertainer with the same eccentricity as James Brown but with depth and dramatism of a blues man. Well...since this blog is about electronic music (kind of) let me remind you that his monologue titled "Ikes Rap II" was not only sampled by Portishead, but also by Tricky at the very peak of the Trip-Hop movement. And if Indie Disco is your thing, then you should have figured out James Murphy takes pride and joy in taking elements from the past and so was the case with Disco Connection...an instrumental so strong LCD pays homage with their own Beat Connection (although they would probably never admit it). If you don't own any of his Records yet, I advice you to go and buy Black Moses, or at least a greatest hits album because in the end there will always be soul music, but only one Isaac Hayes...(so Kanye, stop trying)A classic monologue that inspired a movement two decades later...
