R.I.P. Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes

We lost two big figures in comedy and music this past weekend.  Funny man Bernie Mac died on Saturday and musician and actor Isaac Hayes died on Sunday.  I didn't believe it when I first read about Bernie Mac.  He's definitely one of my favorite comedians of all time and I really had to read the article a few times before it sank in.  That dude was straight up hysterical and one of the more creative comedians of his time.  He was only 50 years old and always seemed very healthy but it turns out he had been living with a disease called sarcoidosis, which is an inflammatory lung disease which made his recent spell with pneumonia much worse.

Isaac Hayes was someone I enjoyed as well from his music to his voice work for the character Chef on South Park.  He has been given a lot of credit in influencing many forms of music such as disco, R&B and Funk but he also had a huge influence on Hip Hop.  On many of his records, he would begin by talking and rhyming, almost as if he was rapping before it even existed.  His soulful tracks have also been sampled many times over the years by some of top artists in Hip Hop.  The theme song to Shaft was his best known track and is still a dope track to this day. 

Both men will star together in a new movie called Soul Men that is scheduled to be released in November.  Samuel Jackson will co-star in the movie about two backup soul singers who travel cross country performing a tribute to their former band leader.  The movie was basically completed before the untimely deaths of Hayes and Mac and is currently in post production.


R.I.P. to the Mac Man and Soul Man.