“Papa Was a Rolling Stone” (1972) and such films as Shaft (1971) and Superfly (1972) were part of a moment when African-American pop culture artists tried to square the positivity of Motown, Stax and James Brown with the realities of the communities that spawned them.

Want your life to feel a little more like Luke Cage’s minus the whole people shooting at you in Harlem thing? A little grittier? More urban?

This Week's Soundtrack remembers soul cinema and vintage funk, and finds its echo farther out than expected.