There's Something About Dolemite is the official podcast for the new Netflix film "Dolemite Is My Name". Throughout the season, host Brandon Jenkins explores how the blaxploitation era and comedian Rudy Ray Moore's "Dolemite" have had a lasting impact on black culture. There's Something About Dolemite officially drops on October 22.
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Brandon: In 1975, comedian Rudy Ray Moore shocked the world with his cold classic film Dolemite. It was a true B movie shot on a super-low budget about an accidently funny rhyming pimp. Critics panned it at the time. And Rudy Ray Moore struggled to reach full star status while he was alive. But looking back, there’s just something about Dolemite’s impact that can’t be denied. The underdog film came out at the height of the blacksploitation movement and has had a ripple effect on hip hop and comedy in ways that are still being seen today. Just ask Snoop Dog and Eddie Murphy.
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Brandon: I’m Brandon Jenkins and I’m the host of There’s Something About Dolemite, Netflix’s official podcast for the upcoming film Dolemite Is My Name. The movie follows Rudy Ray Moore played by Eddie Murphy as he goes from being a struggling comedian to a self-made movie star.
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Brandon: The first time I got put on a blacksploitation, it was through my dad. There was black power, Kung Fu fighting pimps. I mean, what more could you need? Yeah, this all might be old-school now. But you don’t have today’s stars without the talent of that era. You don’t have Megan Thee Stallion without Pam Grier. You wouldn’t have Kendrick Lamar without Anaysa Case. [phonetic 00:02:04] And we might not have Eddie Murphy without a Rudy Ray Moore. All these ties made me want to go back to the seventies. And why the icons of that time in black film, music, and culture still resonates so deeply decades later. On this podcast you’ll hear from costume designer extraordinaire, Ruth E. Carter about what it’s like to style a pimp.
Ruth: You’d have a pimp. His name might be, you know, ‘Cotton Candy.’ And he would dress in pink and white and have a lace pocket square and white shoes. You know? And so, he defined his image by his name.
Brandon: Black Dynamite filmmaker and actor Michael Jai White joins us to talk about bringing blacksploitation to a new generation.
Michael: Black Dynamite, it’s an homage to that era. I loved that genre. It really spoke of a time that was so electric.
Brandon: You also hear bites from the stars in Netflix’s Dolemite Is My Name as they talk about what it was like to make the film. So, come along with us as we go back to the funkiest time in black culture to discuss the legacies of blacksploitation, Rudy Ray Moore, and Dolemite. There’s Something About Dolemite drops on October 22nd on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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