In the upcoming weeks, Detroit, the new film from award-winning director, Kathryn Bigelow, about the 1967 12th Street riot will hit theaters. This week, the Roots have joined together with fellow Soulquarian Bilal for a brand new track that comes right off the soundtrack that is titled, “It Ain’t Fair.”
With the new song, “It Ain’t Fair,” the Roots have crafted a nice homage to motown sound. The track slowly builds as it starts off with an acapella vocal until sliding into a soulful cry. The track bursts until through with powerful lyrics like; “Tonight another friend passed on the young side,” he raps. “It’s bad ’cause a good friend’s hard to come by/ Justice is never color blind, never gun shy/ The one crime, you may never see the sun shine.” Lyrics like these creates a strong narrative into the brutal insight of our past. The Roots sound mixed in with the old sound of motown makes a beautiful start to a fulfilling soundtrack that features a variety of 60s soul, doo-wop and classic Motown.
Questlove, the drummer for the Roots told Rolling Stone magazine that the song; “is the slow burning fire inside all of our souls.” He goes to say that; “Watching the movie [Detroit] clearly shows that life in 1967 isn’t that much different in 2017 or 1897 for that matter. We wanted to hit many a bird with one stone: Humanize the pain, confusion and sadness. But also express the overdue anger. Not only to the powers that be but also to those on the sideline that can afford to turn the other way because it doesn’t effect them at the moment.”
Detroit OST Tracklist:
01. The Dramatics – “If You Haven’t Got Love”
02. Martha Reeves & The Vandellas – “Jimmy Mack”
03. Jerry Williams – “Baby Bunny (Sugar Honey)”
04. Marvin Gaye and Tammi Tyrell – “Your Precious Love”
05. Brenda Holloway – “Till Johnny Comes”
06. James Newton Howard – “Larry’s Rescue”
07. The Roots – “It Ain’t Fair” (feat. Bilal)
08. The Devotions – “Devil’s Gotten Into My Baby”
09. Lee Rogers – “The Cream of the Crop”
10. The Dramatics – “All Because of You”
11. James Newton Howard – “Larry’s Alone”
12. Algee Smith – “Grow”
13. The Elgins – “Heaven Must Have Sent You”
14. John Coltrane – “I Want to Talk About You”
The film, Detroit, follows the 1967 12th Street riot, a police raid that occurs in Detroit in 1967 which resulted in a multi-day riot. Though the movie tracks the riot from the beginning, the story is centered specifically on the events that happened in The Algiers Motel during July 25, 1967. The incident involved the death of three black men and the beatings of nine other people including seven black men and two white woman. Three officers were charged in the incident but were all found to be not guilty.
Detroit is directed by Bigelow and is her first feature film since her 2012 academy award winning film, Zero Dark Thirty. It reunites her with screenwriter Mark Boal, who wrote both Zero Dark Thirty and The Hurt Locker, both films directed by Bigelow herself. Detroit stars John Boyega, Algee Smith, Jacob Latimore, Jason Mitchell, Hannah Murray, Kaitlyn Dever and Will Poelter.
The film’s soundtrack is out tomorrow via Motown Records and the film will hit theaters on August 4th.
Listen to the new track below.
Photo Credit: Owen Ela
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