Not all soundtracks are created equally. It’s a difficult feat to accomplish, balancing the heft of visual art with the transportive power of music. There are soundtracks that have stood the test of time, like the of-the-era-infused foundations of Saturday Night Fever and Purple Rain. And then there are soundtracks that have cropped up recently, breathing life into films before they even hit theaters, like the works of Jordan Peele and his company, Monkeypaw Productions.
Peele understands firsthand that assembling an affective soundtrack is crucial to the filmmaking experience. His production company first grabbed attention for its use of music in December 2018, when the trailer for the Jordan Peele-written and directed 2019 film Us debuted. The Oakland duo Luniz’ 1995 single, “I Got 5 on It,” was reborn as a “Tethered Mix,” thematically tied to the concept of the film.
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In this version, the vocals of Michael Marshall, who spent decades languishing as an unheralded feature, reverberate around the deconstructed layers of the song, which was initially assembled by producer Tone Capone. Dragged to a menacing pace, then intensified by orchestral zingers, “I Got 5 on It” ultimately became a terrifying, atmospheric version of itself, one that greatly lifted the profile of the original song.
The impact that Monkeypaw Productions has had on the soundtrack landscape is still expanding with the recent release of HIM, a film ostensibly about a promising young football player (Cameron Cade, portrayed by Tyriq Withers) invited to train at the isolated compound of an aging star quarterback (Isaiah White, portrayed by Marlon Wayans). Helmed by British composer and artist Bobby Krlic aka The Haxan Cloak, the score and soundtrack of HIM intensely builds out the world crafted by director Justin Tipping. “Justin and I are the same age,” Krlic says. “We grew up on a lot of the same music and movies, art and fashion. From the minute that I started talking to him, there was a lot that didn’t even need to be said.”
Krlic called upon some of the most ambitious hip-hop artists to flesh out the soundtrack, including established underground acts like Denzel Curry and Guapdad 4000.
Both Curry and Guap have contributed to soundtracks before, and they’ve been through the gamut of possible experiences. “I’m not trying to be embarrassed on another movie soundtrack where they approved the weakest version of verses that I did,” Guapdad says. “I done been through that shit before. I’m not fucking with that. I wanted another Sonic movie moment. I got the title song and the big single for the first Sonic movie. And that’s something I’ve been hella proud of forever. My family watched that. It still plays on credits. Like I wanted that again.”
