"Who's the black private dick that's a sex machine to all the chicks?"
"You don't understand. I ain't scared of you motherfuckers!"
Those were the first words uttered to me by Isaac Hayes and Bernie Mac, respectively. One introduced himself to me on Def Comedy Jam, while the other donned an apron and served knowledge as a cartoon cafeteria chef after a career defining what and how soul music sounds.
Both, however, influenced my life in ways I can't imagine.
This past weekend, however, the two lost their lives: Mac succumbing to a complication from pneumonia, while Hayes was found unconscious next to a still-running treadmill. Both dispensed wisdom as filthy as a drunken sailor's on shore leave. But while the pair made me laugh, both Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes were born entertainers, destined to make people smile with their evolving senses of performance.
This fall, the two will shine together for the final time, co-starring alongside Samuel L. Jackson in the upcoming film, "Soul Men." As the story goes, Jackson and Mac are two estranged soul-singing legends who go twenty years without a word to each other. The pair are forced to rally together at a reunion performance at the Apollo Theater when a fellow band member (John Legend) suddenly dies.
On August 9th, Jackson remembered Bernie Mac, reported in the Shreveport Times, the paper from a city where "Soul Men" was shot. "I feel blessed to have shared years of friendship with Bernie Mac," Jackson said. "I'm honored to have finally co-starred with him in what I consider to be his finest cinematic acting achievement."
The title of the article read "Samuel L. Jackson lauds Bernie Mac." Now, most assuredly, he lauds them both.
Already on the internet, the blog-o-sphere has ruptured wide open about a conspiracy involving the trio, with many suggesting that Jackson watch himself. It's that exact kind of thinking that A) you clicked on to get to this blog by Googling "bernie mac isaac hayes samuel l. jackson conspiracy," and B) does irreparable damage to the legacies of all three of these men. These two tragedies were mere coincidence, and to elaborate any further on the causes shows true ignorance coupled with severe lack of respect.
However, the pair are no strangers to controversy, no matter how inane and childish the claims may be. Take, for instance, Mac's joke at an Barack Obama fundraiser (at $2300 a plate, I might add) that led the presumptive nominee to rebuke the comedian's joke. The joke itself isn't new to the world; in fact, I'd heard a version of the joke before I'd heard of Bernie Mac. But it was apparently controversial enough to force people at the dinner to walk out, briefly shining a negative spotlight on Obama for not having YouTubed Mac's stand-up sooner.
Hayes earned himself a similar, equally perplexing, black mark when he left the cast of "South Park" after Trey Parker and Matt Stone ran an episode poking fun at the soul singer's religion of Scientology. Regardless of your feelings of the religion, Hayes has a constitutionally-protected right to worship as he chooses, and Parker and Stone showed a severe lack of class by dehumanizing Hayes's faith, especially after Hayes established himself as one of the most memorable cartoon characters in history as South Park Elementary's "Chef."
Regardless, these minor squabbles with the increasingly disingenuous P.C. police will not have the slightest place in the history of these two pioneers. More people, I guarantee you, will remember that Isaac Hayes wrote the classics "Soul Man" and "Hold On, I'm Comin" for the soul duo Sam and Dave. More people will recognize Bernie Mac's unrelenting wit combined with his no-nonsense approach to life, specifically on his Peabody-Award winning sitcom "The Bernie Mac Show," where he models his own life experience taking in his sister's three children.
When it comes to seeing the world from a pessimistic eye, Mac explained it best while having microphone trouble on stage during his smash "The Original Kings of Comedy:" "What type a shit is this?"
They complemented each other in style and in performance. Mac was in your face, helping -- nay, forcing -- you to see the world with a new lens, while Hayes's sultry baritone voice soothed any ill, ranging from impotence to general uncertainty. No matter how Mac's fiery commentary of the world and the minor nuances of life prepared you with laughter, you would be prepared enough before you took your partner home, lit the candles and put on Hayes's second album, "Hot Buttered Soul," for some all-night passion.
The loss of these two giants have left all of our souls wondering. Whether it be wondering about the future or whether or not their creative insight and relentless delivery will ever be replicated. It may be duplicated, but never as authentic or as revolutionary. Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes were two of the men I'd always seen myself emulating, whether in style or in fearlessness. But one thing is for sure: the world will never forget them, and the world will never see another pair quite like them.
For a while at least, all of our souls need a little mending.
Play these two videos at the same time. Start with the bottom one first and let them sink in.
"You don't understand. I ain't scared of you motherfuckers!"
Those were the first words uttered to me by Isaac Hayes and Bernie Mac, respectively. One introduced himself to me on Def Comedy Jam, while the other donned an apron and served knowledge as a cartoon cafeteria chef after a career defining what and how soul music sounds.
Both, however, influenced my life in ways I can't imagine.
This past weekend, however, the two lost their lives: Mac succumbing to a complication from pneumonia, while Hayes was found unconscious next to a still-running treadmill. Both dispensed wisdom as filthy as a drunken sailor's on shore leave. But while the pair made me laugh, both Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes were born entertainers, destined to make people smile with their evolving senses of performance.
This fall, the two will shine together for the final time, co-starring alongside Samuel L. Jackson in the upcoming film, "Soul Men." As the story goes, Jackson and Mac are two estranged soul-singing legends who go twenty years without a word to each other. The pair are forced to rally together at a reunion performance at the Apollo Theater when a fellow band member (John Legend) suddenly dies.
On August 9th, Jackson remembered Bernie Mac, reported in the Shreveport Times, the paper from a city where "Soul Men" was shot. "I feel blessed to have shared years of friendship with Bernie Mac," Jackson said. "I'm honored to have finally co-starred with him in what I consider to be his finest cinematic acting achievement."
The title of the article read "Samuel L. Jackson lauds Bernie Mac." Now, most assuredly, he lauds them both.
Already on the internet, the blog-o-sphere has ruptured wide open about a conspiracy involving the trio, with many suggesting that Jackson watch himself. It's that exact kind of thinking that A) you clicked on to get to this blog by Googling "bernie mac isaac hayes samuel l. jackson conspiracy," and B) does irreparable damage to the legacies of all three of these men. These two tragedies were mere coincidence, and to elaborate any further on the causes shows true ignorance coupled with severe lack of respect.
However, the pair are no strangers to controversy, no matter how inane and childish the claims may be. Take, for instance, Mac's joke at an Barack Obama fundraiser (at $2300 a plate, I might add) that led the presumptive nominee to rebuke the comedian's joke. The joke itself isn't new to the world; in fact, I'd heard a version of the joke before I'd heard of Bernie Mac. But it was apparently controversial enough to force people at the dinner to walk out, briefly shining a negative spotlight on Obama for not having YouTubed Mac's stand-up sooner.
Hayes earned himself a similar, equally perplexing, black mark when he left the cast of "South Park" after Trey Parker and Matt Stone ran an episode poking fun at the soul singer's religion of Scientology. Regardless of your feelings of the religion, Hayes has a constitutionally-protected right to worship as he chooses, and Parker and Stone showed a severe lack of class by dehumanizing Hayes's faith, especially after Hayes established himself as one of the most memorable cartoon characters in history as South Park Elementary's "Chef."
Regardless, these minor squabbles with the increasingly disingenuous P.C. police will not have the slightest place in the history of these two pioneers. More people, I guarantee you, will remember that Isaac Hayes wrote the classics "Soul Man" and "Hold On, I'm Comin" for the soul duo Sam and Dave. More people will recognize Bernie Mac's unrelenting wit combined with his no-nonsense approach to life, specifically on his Peabody-Award winning sitcom "The Bernie Mac Show," where he models his own life experience taking in his sister's three children.
When it comes to seeing the world from a pessimistic eye, Mac explained it best while having microphone trouble on stage during his smash "The Original Kings of Comedy:" "What type a shit is this?"
They complemented each other in style and in performance. Mac was in your face, helping -- nay, forcing -- you to see the world with a new lens, while Hayes's sultry baritone voice soothed any ill, ranging from impotence to general uncertainty. No matter how Mac's fiery commentary of the world and the minor nuances of life prepared you with laughter, you would be prepared enough before you took your partner home, lit the candles and put on Hayes's second album, "Hot Buttered Soul," for some all-night passion.
The loss of these two giants have left all of our souls wondering. Whether it be wondering about the future or whether or not their creative insight and relentless delivery will ever be replicated. It may be duplicated, but never as authentic or as revolutionary. Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes were two of the men I'd always seen myself emulating, whether in style or in fearlessness. But one thing is for sure: the world will never forget them, and the world will never see another pair quite like them.
For a while at least, all of our souls need a little mending.
Play these two videos at the same time. Start with the bottom one first and let them sink in.
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