Black History Month is an exciting time to carve out special programming. To kick off BHM ’23, The Soul Show’s theme is soundtracks of the Blackploitation film genre. Everyone knows Shaft and Superfly, but we’ll go farther and deeper, even reaching outside of the official boundaries with some Jamaican work of similar ilk. There’s even a soundtrack for a movie that never quite made it to release.

In 1960, Barrett Strong delivered Motown’s first hit. His impact extended beyond that, writing for Marvin Gaye, Gladys Knight and the psychsoul-era Temptations. We’ll do a mini-feature in this episode, and will surely come back later with a larger tribute.

2023 is already shaping up nicely. There are some solid collaborations from Seun Kuti/Black Thought and “Kingfish” Ingram/Big K.R.I.T., plus new work from harpist Brandee Younger and rapper Haviah Mighty. We continue a dive into the “Game Changer” release by Laranah Phipps Ray and La Funkalicious.

Enjoy! Check out the broadcast schedule, starting with WESM Maryland and WZUM Pittsburgh on 2/4 and extending out to WNAA on Wednesday.