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Curtis Mayfield — Move On Up

Name: Move On Up
Description: Curtis Mayfield left the Impressions to release his debut solo album on his own Curtom label. Curtis addressed the Black Power movement, Vietnam, and street life in Chicago directly — a year before Marvin Gaye's What's Going On. Move On Up was too long for radio and never charted, but it became a cornerstone of funk and hip-hop decades later through relentless sampling.

Curtis · 1970

Label: Curtom · Genre: Soul / Funk Soul · Country: USA · From: Chicago, IL, North America

Curtis Mayfield left the Impressions to release his debut solo album on his own Curtom label. Curtis addressed the Black Power movement, Vietnam, and street life in Chicago directly — a year before Marvin Gaye's What's Going On. Move On Up was too long for radio and never charted, but it became a cornerstone of funk and hip-hop decades later through relentless sampling.

Did you know: Move On Up was not a hit when it was released. It only became widely known in the UK after its use in advertising campaigns in the 1980s. Mayfield never saw the royalties from the sampling boom it inspired.

Listen / buy: Juno · Spotify · YouTube

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