NEW YORK – “SHAFT” is back — with an original motion picture sound track
album on LaFace/Arista Records and two back-to-back new leadoff singles by
Isaac Hayes, his regrooving of “Theme From Shaft,” and R. Kelly’s hit, “Bad
Man.” The cutting edge soundtrack album also boasts brand new tracks from
Donell Jones, Mystical, OutKast, Angie Stone, Carl Thomas, Too Short and
others.
The all-star “SHAFT” soundtrack album will be in-store on June 13th. The
night before, on Monday, June 12th, New York provides the backdrop for the
world premiere of director and co-screenwriter John Singleton’s modern take
on
black cinema’s seminal cop-hero, first introduced in 1971. Isaac Hayes’
original “Theme From Shaft” was a #1 RIAA gold single and won an Oscar for
Best Song In A Motion Picture that year. Hayes’ gold solo soundtrack LP
(#1 pop and R&B) generated two Grammy awards.
Samuel L. Jackson stars in “SHAFT,” a Paramount Pictures presentation of a
Scott Rudin/New Deal production. John Singleton directs the film, which
also
stars Vanessa Williams, Jeffrey Wright, Christian Bale, Dan Hedaya, Busta
Rhymes with Toni Collette and Richard Roundtree. Scott Rudin and John
Singleton are the producers. The film is written by John Singleton & Shane
Salerno and Richard Price based on the original motion picture, “SHAFT,”
from
the Turner Entertainment Co. Library and the novel “Shaft” by Ernest
Tidyman.
The executive producers are Adam Schroeder, Paul Hall and Steve Nicolaides,
and the co-producer is Eric Steel. The music is by David Arnold and Isaac
Hayes. Paramount Pictures is part of the entertainment operations of Viacom
Inc.
In addition to Isaac Hayes and R. Kelly, street promo 12-inch vinyl
singles are also on schedule by Big Gipp (“We Servin'”), and by T.I.P. King
Of
The South featuring Beanie Sigel (“2 Glock 9’s”). Both are set to ship on
May
17th, with CD-pro’s to ship on May 22nd, same day as the commercial release
of
“Theme From Shaft” and “Bad Man.” Their impact date at urban radio is June
5th, at which point two more singles will ship, “Summer Rain” by Carl Thomas
and “Do What I Gotta Do” by Donell Jones.
