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Not just anyone could capture the effortless style and creativity of Curtis Mayfield's iconic 1972 Superfly soundtrack, but if there's anyone for the job, it's Future Hendrix. The Atlanta rapper has been tapped to head the music on Director X's remake of the Blaxploitation classic, which replaces the luxurious funk of the original with Future's flashy trap anthems. Rather than delving into the rapper's dark, hedonistic side, the soundtrack finds Future leaning into the bright, twinkling bounce of his work with Zaytoven, who spoke to HNHH about his role in creating the sound of the new film. According to Zay, he was tempted to use the original soundtrack as a jumping-off point, before he realized that he had all the tools right in front of him.
"I went back and heard the Curtis Mayfield soundtrack I almost wanted to mimic [it], just 'cause Curtis Mayfield did such an amazing job on the music. So I started making music that sounded like that," he said. However, Future and Zaytoven were chosen to represent the sound of the stylish film for a reason, and it wasn't their ability to replicate the funk of Mayfield's original OST. "Then I got with [Director X], and he said, 'this sound real good, but I want you, I want the Zaytoven sound -- this is Atlanta, this is a brand new thing. I want it to sound like what Zaytoven sounds like. So let me go back to doing the real funky Zaytoven trap music, 'cause that's what's going to make this film 2018."
Zaytoven is one of many collaborators tapped for the soundtrack, which also includes guest appearances from a range of Atlanta figures like Young Thug, Gunna, 21 Savage, and Yung Bans, and even reaches back to Future's Dungeon Family roots with the inclusion of Sleepy Brown. That's not even mentioning PARTYNEXTDOOR and Lil Wayne, who will also lend their voices to two respective songs, as well as Miguel, H.E.R., and Khalid, who will flesh out the melodic side of the project.
While the soundtrack is a new frontier for Future and Zaytoven, they've already achieved a thrilling cinematic effect through their work on 2015's beloved mixtape Beast Mode, which inspired the music on the OST.
"When I thought about the movie Superfly, and they was saying that Future was going to be the main guy doing the soundtrack on it, I was thinking about Beast Mode," Zaytoven explained. "I was thinking, 'we done made the soundtrack to Superfly already, that's Beast More-type of music.' When they came to me about it, I felt like they had that in mind also. The Zaytoven and the Future collaboration is the type of music that fits this type of movie, especially since they're doing it in Atlanta. We did that music before we even knew we were doing Superfly."
Future will not only be defining the sonics of the film, but also working as a producer alongside Joel Silver. With Director X's extensive background in music videos, including classic clips for artists like Aaliyah, Destiny's Child, Mystikal, Usher, Sean Paul, Rihanna, and Drake, the presence of music should in many ways shape the way the film moves. X's goal is to create a modern take on a classic piece of cinema, and tapping one of the most influential songwriters and performers of the last decade will ensure that essence comes through.
"When I went back and watched the original, I was struck by how relevant the themes are," Director X said in a statement to Deadline. "The pursuit of the American Dream is eternal -- everyone’s always on the hustle, because you’ve got to be… and Superfly is about pulling off the ultimate hustle to get out of the game. Our goal is to make it modern -- to make a movie where the style, the art direction, the camera movements are all part of what makes the movie Superfly. With this film, my goal is to honor the lineage of an iconic title that the community has loved for decades."
The Superfly soundtrack arrives June 8th. The film hits Theatres June 18th.