The Payback is the 37th studio album by American musician James Brown. The album was released in January 1974 by Polydor Records. It was originally scheduled to become the soundtrack for the blaxploitation film Hell Up in Harlem, but was rejected by the film's producers, who dismissed it as "the same old James Brown stuff." The Payback is considered a high point in Brown's recording career, and is now regarded by critics as a landmark funk album, as well as one of Brown's best albums. Its revenge-themed title track, a #1 R&B hit, is one of his most famous songs and an especially prolific source of samples for record producers.