The Jeymes Samuel produced, The Harder They Fall, Soundtrack is finally here. Together with Netflix and the Jay-Z owned Roc Nation, Samuels brought together a slew of stars from the old and news school to make a Stella Soundtrack with “its own signature”.
Samuels, who is the brother of Seal,does a solo on No Turning Around, the second to last song on the album.
Cowboy life has played a unique role in connecting cultures through fashion and music across the world from the US, to Jamaica, to Africa.
Film Producer Jay Z explain his involvement in the the ‘black cowboy western’ film, “I just want to see us represented, in a-lot of times we didn’t see ourselves represented, as if we didn’t exist, it’s almost odd that people think we are playing roles, we are not playing roles…all the actors really existed in that time…Tulsa wasn’t a one off, there were so many other towns people didn’t know about.”
He admits in an interview at the BFI London Film Festival that he too has dubplates of Jamaican Country Music, and in justifying the use of Jamaican music for inspiration he explained, “The idea of adding those landscapes to these images is just so super interesting”.
He continued, “When Westerns were super popular and the only thing on TV, it was influencing the world. So you had people in Jamaica dressed up as cowboys because that was the only thing on TV, so there is actual dub-plates that exist over western music that was done over, and we have a few of those.”
Although none of the scenes in the movie were shot in Jamaica, the culture is felt throughout the Soundtrack with Fatoumuma, Koffee, Barrington Levy and even Jay Z finding lingua and lyrics for riddims that stir the Jamaican vibe.
Jay however stays true to the essence of hip hop form as he sneaks a double entendre diss on “King Kong Riddim, “Tiger Cubs In the club/helicopters above/Yeah them Flex weak,I speak Patois/Jamaican connections Dominican with the bricks” on “King Kong Riddim.”
The soundtrack produced by Samuels also features the talents of contemporary singers and rappers such as Ms. Lauryn Hill, Kid Cudi, Jadakiss, CeeLo Green, Seal, Conway the Machine.
Koffee’s unique placement on the soundtrack adds to her eclectic career of musical accolades. Before this ,her breakout single “Toast” made the playlist of Obama, Kylie Jenner and Rihanna.
One of the biggest moments howeever on the soundtrack is the return of Ms. Lauryn Hill. She appeared on the critically acclaimed track “Nobody” on Nas’s King’s Disease 2 album earlier this year. Her feature on The Harder They Fall with Fatoumata Diawara entitled “Black Woman” is her fifth release in the last decade.
The Harder They Fall movie will be available to watch on Netflix on November 3 and in select theatres on October 22, it premiered worldwide at the 65th BFI London Film Festival.
The Harder They Fall Soundtrack is now available on all music streaming platforms.
