Isaac Hayes was the first African-American to win the Academy Award for Best Song. In fact, he was also the first African-American to win an Oscar for a non-acting category.
Isaac Hayes auditioned for the title role. Producers cast Richard Roundtree, but were so impressed with Hayes that they asked him to write the now legendary score to the film.
One of only three films MGM released in 1971 that made a profit, and it helped save the studio from bankruptcy.
Moses Gunn's character, Bumpy Jonas, is based on Bumpy Johnson, an African-American mobster from the 1930s to 1960s, who has been portrayed (using his real name) in both film and television by Clarence Williams III in "American Gangster" (2007), Laurence Fishburne in "Hoodlum" (1997), and Forest Whitaker in "Godfather of Harlem" (2019).
Gordon Parks: [Essence Magazine] Shaft is seen reading a copy of Essence Magazine in his girlfriend's apartment. Parks is a co-founder of Essence. The magazine is spotted when Shaft is engaging in a conversation with a blind newsstand vendor during the opening sequence.