Fatback - Is This the Future? (Official Audio)

[@johnjeff5112]

Nearly 2024 and this tune's still banging..deep lyrics ❤

[@MsDandelioness]

Who is here during the pandemic of 2020? This song sure is relevant.

[@paulw3765]

Frightening to think this is around 40 years old, so glad I was around and enjoying this type of great music back then..

[@henryihejirikah8208]

Fatback saw the future...great song.

[@paulw3765]

@@henryihejirikah8208 They certainly did…

[@raygu1818]

I wish it was 1984 all over again

[@paulw3765]

@@raygu1818 80’s best decade for music by far…

[@raygu1818]

@@paulw3765 For sure

[@jameshhenderson8243]

This song was prophetic. They don't make thought-provoking music anymore.

[@atomicdred]

Still the Future in 2024! 🌍

[@philhongkins5520]

Greg Wilson made this big bak in the day . Amazing how relevant this choon is today 2023 🙄🙄 . 🇬🇧

[@jskills2561]

"Hey brother can you spare a dime i don't wanna end up doing time." Wicked tune, DAMN!!!

[@Gerry-x6b]

The female singer at the end absolutely sings her but off what a powerful voice she has.💥💥💥💥🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵🥵i felt that shit!

[@Soulisa3]

Evelyn Thomas 💥💥💥

[@ericwashington4470]

These Brothers were right on point when the recorded this!!!!!! Wonderful cut with a lot of relevance !!!!

[@0dayswithoutincident934]

Wow, this song actually predicted the future exactly.

[@greeneggz_n_ham]

It wasn't predicting, it was remembering. Most of what we see happening now has happened before. We've had sky-high prices before, we've had energy crises before, we've had climate crises before, rampant racism, inequality, police brutality, state sanctioned violence against citizens, state sanctioned violence against non-citizens, state sanctioned corruption. All of that... we've had here before. This is nothing new in America.

[@0dayswithoutincident934]

@@greeneggz_n_ham So essentially, history repeated itself.

[@WocklessGamingforAnimeMoms]

@@greeneggz_n_ham Kinda got worse progressively with less improvement.

[@nova3752]

Sure it did, you soft doughy manchild

[@onlytruth777]

That Era of Music was on a different synergy level , in connection with ppl & reading society ... Greatest Era Of Artistic Music there EVER HAS BEEN & EVER WILL BE , PERIOD 🏆... 🎤 ...

[@francisibok474]

It's September, 2022 and I'm blasting this brilliant joint. The keyboards and effects are outta this world. I love the sax solo. Been playing it all week long. The Fatback Band was one of my favourite funk groups of the 70s and 80s.

[@johngarrett9418]

This song was ahead of its time! Fatback Band did that with this one.

[@lourivera9794]

Funk at its best. Sax solo is incredible. Always remembered this funky song.

[@tomvarner7943]

Ed Jackson on the alto sax!!

[@Underhills]

Alto sex.@@tomvarner7943

[@SPAZZOID100]

The synths are the attraction for me.

[@steveturpin576]

A true future predicting masterpiece that came true

[@larrybennett2521]

WHO OUT THERE STILL BUMPIN DIS 1 WIT ME!? 📀😎

[@meonly8071]

Shit comment from an asshole

[@kevinjones1898]

Me bro

[@SilverbackSS04]

Bumped this at a MC rally this past summer in Colorado and I had several people white and black asking me who was I playing. Shocked me a bit, I'm like y'all never heard of Fatback?

[@Simplesally]

@@SilverbackSS04 😂

[@jimmyjazz1186]

Me

[@yamdigger]

This song is even more relevant now than when it was released in the 80's. Today, even peanut butter and candy-bars are a luxury. Steak and caviar? What's that?

[@williamlavagna1096]

And once Gates buys up all the farmland you can kiss real meat goodbye. It will be all made in a lab.

[@harristonrichardson9979]

Thank you, Mr. Hopkins, what or WHO can afford steak and caviar these days if you not rich? And you know what I, ve FINALLY learned Mr. Hopkins in the last 30yrs hate to admit, but RICH people don't stay rich SPENDING RICH, they go to THRIFT stores, Goodwill stores, Flea markets Etc just like middle class or poor people, they just don't drive the Mercedes, they drive the beat-up one with the cracked rearview mirror, ripped up seats, Dents in the side, smoking like a CHARCOAL grill from the exhaust, but they go in there buying what they need and it WORKS for them, and they go home and check the STOCK sheets see how the stock is doing and make a decision, do I BUY, or SELL LOLOL.

[@waligibson240]

I couldn't agree more! This song is 30 years ahead of it's time!

[@eamoncullen9851]

Caviar is YUK anyway LOL

[@yamdigger]

@@eamoncullen9851 Indians don’t care for steak, either

[@anthonyleighton4754]

Must be getting old but the past seems better than future ....... One of the best future funk boogie funk tracks of the 80s - a classic blast against raegenomics .......

[@lorettarambo2245]

Predicted what we see in the present.

[@crystalmartin8540]

From Tempelhof to the future...trust and believe all is possible! I didn't hear Fatback music until I went to Germany...It "grew" me up!

[@BABYWOLF--1966]

1984 2024🎉🎉🎉

[@crystalmartin8540]

Party life in Berlin, Germany before the wall came down...build your future lovingly!

[@richardhorry]

Still a big favourite track of mine in 2023. Loved it then, and still love it now. We have always be **** on by the establishment, fact, whoever is in power. But don't worry, just look after your own, folks, as best you can, it's the only way, and btw, keep it Funky.👍😉

[@abduramin2593]

THE FATBACK BAND BE JAMMMMMMING THEY ASSSES OFFF !!! THIS IS REAL MUSIC THAT NEVER EVER GETS OLD!!!

[@s1050]

Great lyrics still relevant probably even more today. That groove is banging

[@tacommanche]

Fatback is UNSUNG! They stepped out with lots of unconventional funk..like this..and killed it!

[@spartacus5417]

Still grooving with this masterpiece after all these years!!

[@bp6329]

masterpiece? Hahahahahaha!

[@shinrarango]

took my dad to see the fatback in london for his bday yesterday, he was going completly bonkers. this song was a highlight!

[@Stealth-flash]

Great, love this song.

[@johnmilbourn8876]

You think i played this song 30 years before it still sounds brand new and true

[@dexteredwards2048]

Awesome!!!! My dad put me on this while we we were stationed in Guam. ✌🏽

[@jordieplayerone]

Cool they're still doing shows

[@larrybenny800]

WOW I KNOW THAT WAS COOL YOU'RE AN AWESOME PERSON MAKING DAD'S B-DAY LIKE THAT ❤️💯

[@harristonrichardson9859]

This song PREDICTED this TIME WE IN NOW ,,37 Yrs ago ,and it,s still funky as can be, KEEP FUNK ALIVE IN 2020 .

[@godfreycameron5568]

One of the most iconic tunes ever.

[@DJPeteCollins]

Wow in my top 50 all time tracks, so timeless, bringng back great memories of early 80's Soul Jazz Funk / Soul Radio stations in London like Horizon, Solar & JFM So sad that the world has not had much progress in the 37 years since this classic was first released

[@TerrenceRamsey-lj5kl]

My sister used to have the 45 rpm single (edit) of Is This The Future?-from the Spring album: 14 Karat!

[@simonbromfield5419]

Here we are a timeless song as relevant today as it was in 84 - Lyrical genius by one of soul music’s greatest.

[@demetrisqwashington8814]

Awesome 👌 Classic. Even more relevant... 2023 !!! ❤

[@raygu1818]

Loved this when it first hit in the summer of 1984. The synth is sick af 🤘

[@ezekielthemack]

Correction, this was released in the spring of 1983.

[@TerrenceARamsey-dw6os]

When Garry Thomas wrote "Is This The Future?", he was prophecising the cultural events in the world: Honestly, it hits so hard today 40 years later, more than it did in Spring 1983! On the Spring album: 14 Karat!!

[@harristonrichardson4754]

He was a visionary on this, this is the TIMES he was talking about, who eats steaks and caviar now , much less afford it, and you ALMOST cant afford peanut butter and a candy bar is just as expensive these days,

[@francishodge320]

This brilliant 80s Soul funk track came out in 1983 red released in 1985 by the legendary Soul funk band the Fatback band is this the future I bought this track in 1985 on 12inch Vinyl I paid back then as a import cost me nearly £5 I paid it because I loved the track Even in 2024

[@egmjag]

This is rap not cRap. Sadly, this was the last year that rap like this would sound this good. I miss the days when music would challenge you intellectually in every way. The arrangement; the loud synthesizer making an announcement at the beginning; polyrhythms; the cadence; tempo; the singers...perfection. They use proper English and enunciate well enough to understand the theme of this song. It got substantial airplay in the L.A. area in late Spring/early summer of 1983 but you couldn't listen to the very few radio stations that played it if you lived far from metropolitan L.A. The signal would fade and you couldn't hear any radio station in the L.A. area after the evening. So it was a treat and real joy to be able to listen to funk whenever I could!

[@pauloliver6692]

I have an illness with no cure.Been having chemo.This song sums up my musical taste last 50 years.I want this to be the last song I hear before I finally close my eyes.God bless everyone who feels this music too.

[@TerenceAllenRamsey-n6s]

Matthew 24:7 says "pestilences", diseases that have no cure!

[@crystalmartin8540]

God has a plan, all power & glory!

[@patriciathomas5190]

Such a well crafted track..with a wicked Sax solo..great groooove!!

[@John-yw5oe]

Yer

[@markdavies9401]

People felt like this early eighties how they feeling now........

[@reinaldogreen2079]

Still have this on 45 from the mid 80's. That deep voice is a guy that used to be dj in my home town of Buffalo New York. Also have "Up against the Wall," by Fatback.🤗

[@hommerecorder7003]

die tiefe stimme könnte mit ein boss voice transformer gemacht sein.

[@johnmilbourn8876]

@@hommerecorder7003 hi

[@rjjcms1]

The way he delivers those lines fits just perfectly. Could be a voiceover in a futuristic film or TV show from that era.

[@eamoncullen9851]

I still have the LP

[@sheldontaylor2002]

Thats not Frankie Crocker, it’s NYC jock Jerry Bledsoe from WWRL

[@bodiluldall6786]

Still so relevant And still so groovy

[@sheevamatimbas4300]

This song applies more so now than ever.......' Only a fool would wanna endorse this kind of future ' .

[@KarenLJones-pk4ij]

Yes it does!!!!

[@johnmilbourn8876]

Ya

[@davidbridge3118]

even now more

[@kevinjones1898]

100

[@rjjcms1]

Yes,many of us have,at some point,spent time trying to battle our way out of some of those situations mentioned in the age of post-2008 banking crash austerity while those bankers laughed all the way to the,er,bank. The bastards.

[@mrgeephonk4289]

the messages are still relevant

[@samueljohnson3401]

Yall have said it all!! But this has me thinking so deep! Contemplating about the past. I remember I recorded this on a cassette off of the radio way, way back in the day from WJIZ in Albany, GA. Man, where has all the time gone!. Makes me happy and sad at the same time.

[@Mr-Keyes]

Fatback, an underrated band. Some say they were too black for black radio. They understood what was coming.They went from a full live band for years to DMX drum machine and synthesizers. It was a sign of the future. I bought this on CD in my early 20s and didn't really take the lyrics too seriously but now in my early 50's I understand why they were saying this in 1983..... because it's happening now.

[@fcevolutionteam4]

Just downloaded the whole album the other day with a few other from them. Keep the funk moving on through out the years.

[@mkphotofusion3676]

Hi, u got super taste, where do u download this?

[@pmclarke-eugene4120]

I'm gonna do the same 😊

[@fcevolutionteam4]

@@mkphotofusion3676 I just buy em off of iTunes or I eBay the cd’s or LP/ Records. I’d rather own the music and have it in my iPod than, radio/ or relying on streaming services.

[@mrmaxxx94]

This song fits the times we are in perfectly,scary

[@igormarinkovic1531]

Dont trip that time was back then too

[@TerrenceRamsey-lj5kl]

Every word written by Garry Thomas is more evident and powerful than its original release in Spring of 1983-I recall being in High School (9th grade) when it was playing on BMX-Chicago; scaring the Hell out of me!!

[@Tony-b8n]

Welcome to the future

[@arminkaradimas3962]

Auch eine der besten Funk- Bands der 70-80er Jahre, die Tanzfläche war immer voll!!

[@ronaldthomas74]

Back in 1984 , it was so cool !¡!!!! 😂 ...

[@jjdubs13]

Wow! For some reason this song just popped into my head. I thought it might be hard to find but nope, here it is right at the top!

[@derrickholmesx]

I was looking for it too and it was easy to find

[@wagnersouza6609]

Fat back the best, far beyond time

[@KarenLJones-pk4ij]

Yes!!!!! That's what it now!!!! Visionaries!!!!❤

[@DutchFunkenstein]

Funk and rap combined which served as a great inspiration for the later Hip Hop scene!

[@will6996]

I was stationed in Germany when this album came out, although it was not played in the clubs that I knew of I played it many times in my room. Those were some good times then and I wanted to go back but never got around to it. I really miss my German friends they were good to me.

[@hommerecorder7003]

a classic of elektro-funk

[@johnmilbourn8876]

Good afternoon everyone

[@MusicLoverPearson]

This is not an elektro-funk jam it's a plain R&B Jam. Also this band recorded the very first Hip Hop jam on record called King Tim III (Personality Jock) it was Released on March 25, 1979 a few months before "Rapper's Delight" (which is widely regarded as the first commercially released hip hop song), this song is often cited

[@davidhilliard1838]

This song is pure COOL! He blows the hell out of that sax

[@3912James]

41 years and this son̈g remains relevant.

[@3912James]

"All my money's nearly spent...don't have enough to pay the rent...YOU CAN CANCEL THE FUTURE!!!" Dang Skippy!!!!

[@Mjjjuarez]

The best stuff out there is this! Keep it funky

[@tyronehammock8741]

just for my my friends

[@mikenaylor8305]

May 2nd, 2020 locked down in COVID-19 quarantine. No help no money no more job. Yeah, like the man said...you can cancel the future

[@bodiluldall6786]

Absolutely agree. And now after Covid...

[@javieredward777]

@@bodiluldall6786 with the Biden Administration in Office even though he’s not President. I am not a Trump supporter. I am a Independent. It’s just the facts. People actually voted for Governor Newsom in California. SMH

[@larrybenny800]

Man A DAY AFTER I LOST MY DAD TO COVID 😭 POPA WAE 81❤️💯😭

[@differentlystill1846]

🧠

[@abduramin2593]

THERE MUSIC IS BADASS EXCELLENCE TIMELESS FOREVER!!!

[@geraldmayfield1373]

This is the greatest funk band ever thank you.

[@M0D60]

Great Album 💿 Cover Art 🖼️

[@moon40xx]

Its all about the small depression in the early eighties , but we didn,t learn .

[@kincamell]

Heavy.

[@BITTYBOY121]

Great song from 1983...some 39 years later here in 2022 (the future) How true it was !

[@francishodge5189]

I remember this brilliant 80s soul funk classic track by the Fatback band came out in 1983 Then it got released back in 1985 I originally bought this track on 12in single Even in 2023 its still a classic Soul funk dance floor burner

[@slippy5303]

This music is coming back. I'm 16 and am fucking digging this !!

[@chuyhighman6927]

CooooL !!! 👍

[@popcycles]

2023 here we come!

[@jimmyjazz1186]

This song made me where I am today

[@leebutts806]

This song is so relevant. I am (fortunate) to hear this song today for the first time. (Unfortunately) I haven’t heard this song in all these years. Thanks for the post.

[@ericwashington4470]

Kudos's to that sax player, man can he blow, it gives me goose bumps every time I hear it!!!!

[@westhammark]

Classic soul tune from the early eighties......❤

[@w.a.mproductionsinc9340]

Rest in Peace Gerry Bledsoe! The man with the amazing voice

[@Dutch-K9-Unit]

Still have this album on vinyl a master piece !!!!

[@andrewkearns8265]

One of the best funk bands

[@Dog-999i]

Great song! And still relevant to this day! Speaking of modern, rappers take notice, literally every single song on this album has a great drum break on it, but ironically very few have sampled from this album.

[@thatskull]

fatback band has so many good breaks!

[@charlestraxler7469]

Spanishdog17 from 1981 to 2019 and the future is here !!!

[@RogerSartet007]

Not sampled in the original sense of the term , maybe, but don't think it went unnoticed. Check the bassline of Yvette Michelle's Every Night and Every Day. Now as far as the drums go: They're mostly drum machines on this album and thus far more easy to recreate than acoustically played drums. Linn drum machines are still around, so why sample these kind of drumbreaks, if you can recreate them on the original instruments (without getting into trouble for publishing infringement)? Best regards

[@johnmilbourn8876]

My hart goes out to you everyone across the globe DJ Johnny Brooks thanks

[@igormarinkovic1531]

DJ Pooh did

[@johnmilbourn8876]

This tune will always be with us if greedy people carry on in globe sad

[@speckgens]

..the female singer at the end of the song is out of this world.

[@darnellnewton6028]

THEY SAY THATS EVELYN THOMAS ON THE CLOSE OUT OF THIS SONG

[@feteboo]

Jewell from death row records got her style from the lady singing at the end of this song

[@davidbridge3118]

this is so true a fantastic track from a fantastic lp as was those days so right and well-spoken

[@tonychuter4830]

growing up in a place called moss side Manchester this song reminds me of summer days...

[@meonly8071]

Gunchester

[@rjjcms1]

Where Manchester City's old Maine Road ground used to be. Visited it a couple of times.

[@andrewarfonjones8055]

Another very accurate prediction of what’s going on ,however I do like the music very much ❤

[@buttyscott1]

I use to jam to this as a young man preparing for work

[@johnmilbourn8876]

The message is in the music

[@StargateSG1Fan]

Song made to honor the 1983 William Canady Black Man of the Year Award winner Wayne ‘Convertible Man’ Sutton.

[@sophianhideche7273]

Ultra rara fatback un des meilleurs créateurs de funk ❤❤magnifique même en 2024

[@dixielatino]

Timeless classic , straight out of Brooklyn the Fatback Band .

[@dcnyatl]

Nah hollis queens woodhull projects!

[@hommerecorder7003]

one of the best electro-funk albums ever.

[@johnmilbourn8876]

It is I fully believe

[@studiobencivengamarcusbenc5272]

I loved it then and now the sheer brilliance makes me cry 🤗🤗🤗

[@denisebarakahlawrence6412]

@@studiobencivengamarcusbenc5272 indeed. they just don't make 'em like they used to. I don't care what anyone says.

[@inbedwithbz]

that intro is so smooth. gonna loop that, cook that and serve it hot.

[@SPAZZOID100]

Entire LP is great.

[@Blackgodamen26]

I remember these great monumental songs like it was just yesterday 👀 they don't know about this joint. Great era 💙

[@Debpboxers]

Memories ❤❤❤

[@lemaelmcdaniels235]

Beat:DJ Pooh -Bad news travels fast. 1997 Atlantic Records

[@alvaspringer8716]

Always loved this song. Jerry Bledsoe did his thing.." You can CANCEL the future! ", and money positively NUKED that sax solo!!!

[@CelticMudkip]

Why the fuck does no one talk about this song more??? this is amazing

[@tommiewestmoreland426]

RipperRoo This song has a very strong message, listen to the words.

[@josephbrown4324]

Alway's 💕'd this Album, and still do from'1983. FATBACK" B.A.F. CLASSIC 2"the Maxx even 38 yrs. Later I have it the whole album on my 📲 phone. Bang'n still I have too say the "BADDEST album of the 80's I was 20yrs. Old when this came out couldn't tell me Shit!!!. FATBACK band the greatest ever.