The biggest collection of the baddest African-American movies of all-time have a new subscription-video-on-demand streaming home as Brown Sugar launched this week.
Brown Sugar is now available for mobile phones and tablets in the Google Play Store and iTunes App Store and for computers at www.BrownSugar.com. There is a free initial trial period for subscribers with a retail price of $3.99/month thereafter.
Brown Sugar features an extensive library of iconic black movies, all un-edited and commercial-free as they were originally seen in theaters. The Mack, Foxy Brown, Shaft, Super Fly, Dolemite, Cotton Comes to Harlem, Uptown Saturday Night, Cooley High, Three The Hard Way, Coffy, Black Caesar, Five on the Black Hand Side, Cleopatra Jones, Mandingo, Willie Dynamite, Which Way is Up?, Car Wash, The Original Gangstas – Brown Sugar has them all. Brown Sugar’s one-of-a-kind library consists of titles licensed from all the top Hollywood studios.
Brown Sugar is a black explosion of hot chicks, cool cats and cult classics: Fred “The Hammer” Williamson, Pam Grier, Jim Brown, Richard Roundtree, Jim Kelly, Godfrey Cambridge, Max Julien, Richard Pryor, Rudy Ray Moore, Billy Dee Williams, James Earl Jones, Isaac Hayes, Tamara Dobson, Yaphet Kotto, Keenan Ivory Wayans, Bernie Casey, Leon Isaac Kennedy, Thalmus Rasulala and many others are all streaming now on Brown Sugar.
Williamson and Grier, the King and Queen of the genre, are official ambassadors for Brown Sugar, as is contemporary rap artist and producer Rick Ross, a huge fan of the movies.
“Brown Sugar is just like Netflix, only blacker,” said the iconic Grier, who can be seen in Foxy Brown, Coffy, Black Mama/White Mama, Original Gangstas, Drum and more. “These movies are entertaining and fun, but they were also empowering to the black community as they depicted African Americans as strong leading characters and heroes for the first time.”
“You wonder why we call it Brown Sugar? Because it’s bad ass – like me,” commented Williamson, whose Brown Sugar movies include Black Caesar, Three The Hard Way, Hammer, Hell Up in Harlem, Bucktown and many others. “Brown Sugar is the coolest streaming movie service on the planet.”
Rick Ross commented, “You can see the influence of these movies in every aspect of rap and hip-hop; in the music, the lyrics, the fashion and overall style – the Blaxploitation genre is where it all began.”
Brown Sugar curates its films for fans, including themes like: War in Harlem – Cotton Comes to Harlem,The Black Godfather, Across 110th Street, Foxy Mamas, Foxy Brown, Coffy, Cleopatra Jones, Friday Foster, Sheba Baby, Righteous Revenge, Dolemite, Black Caesar, Hell Up in Harlem, Hammer
Stickin’ it to The Man, The Mack, Black Gunn, Three The Hard Way Good Cop, Black Cop, Action Jackson, They Call Me Mr. Tibbs, #BlackLove, Bad, Black & Beautiful, Brothers, Black Sister’s Revenge, Shake Down, Take Down, Blue Collar, Amazing Grace, Cool Breeze, Jive Ass Turkeys, I’m Gonna Git You Sucka, Car Wash, Uptown Saturday Night, Black Horror, Blacula, Sugar Hill, Blackenstein, They Got Game, The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings, Greased Lightning and Joe Bullet.
In the early 1970s, movies began to be made starring African Americans in lead roles. Many of these films were action-fueled crime dramas, along with some comedies and even some camp, all infused with funk and soul music.
Audience appeal of the genre eventually broadened across racial and ethnic lines as stars like Pam Grier and Fred Williamson became household names and songs from the movies such as the “Theme from Shaft” and “Super Fly” cracked America’s Top 40. The movies not only had an enormous influence on filmmaking, which continues to this day, but on all other art forms – especially hip-hop – as well as American culture overall.
Brown Sugar is owned by Bounce TV, the fastest-growing African-American network on television.
