It's a delicious offering on this final day of Black History Month: the 1997 film Soul Food.
It's a story told from the perspective of an 11-year-old about a family that gets together at matriarch Big Mama's house every Sunday for dinner, while navigating a whole lot of family drama.
The ensemble cast includes Vanessa Williams, Vivica A. Fox, Nia Long, Mekhi Phifer, and Michael Beach.
Incidentally, Beach's character plays in an R&B group in the movie which is fronted by two famous sets of siblings in real life: K-Ci and Jo-Jo Hailey, of Jodeci and K-Ci & JoJo fame, plus Babyface and his older brothers Kevon and Melvin Edmonds of the band After 7.)
Speaking of Babyface, the soundtrack came from the record label he formed with Antonio "L.A." Reid called LaFace Records, which had some of the biggest R&B and hip-hop artists in the 90s— many of whom contribute to the compilation.
Contributors include Boyz II Men, En Vogue, Outkast, Usher with Monica, Dru Hill, Puff Daddy, Xscape, and BLACKstreet, as well as a classic from Earth, Wind & Fire.
The album was a big success, eventually going Double Platinum.
But for today's SoundTRAX selection I'm going with a song written by both Babyface and a favorite artist of mine, Raphael Saadiq, from his days in a band with his brother and his cousin.
From the film Soul Food, it's Tony! Toni! Toné! with "Boys and Girls."
SoundTRAX is a dive into notable music from iconic films and TV shows every Monday-Thursday at 8:10 a.m.
