Curtis Mayfield - Curtis (LP Vinyl)

Curtis Mayfield stepped out from behind the curtain with this 1970 solo debut, leaving the Impressions after more than a decade to say what he needed to say on his own terms. The Chicago soul architect had already written some of the movement's most enduring anthems, but here he reached deeper, layering socially conscious lyrics over his signature falsetto and self-produced grooves that would soon reshape what Black popular music could sound like.