PREMIERE: Listen to The 'W8' Movie Soundtrack featuring Jesse Boykins III and Laureen HD

Today we are premiering the soundtrack to the upcoming movie thriller W8, starring Michael K. Williams (The Wire, Boardwalk Empire, etc.). The film was a selection at Cannes last year, and they’re releasing it to the public this February. It follows a drug dealer’s psychological struggle in a lot of depth – the weight he carries, both literally and figuratively. The soundtrack is a direct reflection of the main character, and aims to expose different parts of his personality. The music director for the film is “Eugene,” who produced all the tracks including the Jesse Boykins III and Laureen HD features. Check out above and here what Eugene had to say about the soundtrack below:

“The soundtrack is a direct reflection of the main character. I wanted to use music to tell the full story of who he is. To dimensionalize the “drug kingpin” beyond what’s typically seen. To show him as not just a monster selling poison in the hood, but also as someone that has a conscious. Someone that is thoughtful, and has the capacity to love despite the evil he commits day in and day out.

To create the soundtrack I started by with identifying with the main characters. Reminiscing about people I know and experiences I’ve had to connect with them in a real way. Then I started looking at my own life for relevant situations and feelings to identify with their struggles and motivations. It wasn’t that hard for me to relate to the characters or the storyline. In terms of composing, I would just watch the film and connect certain moments to my life experience. Then I would get an idea and jump on the keyboard to hash it out. I usually compose the music first then write the lyrics after.

I was inspired by the real life and real people. The inner-conflict you see in the characters is actually very common. Those not familiar with the streets may view a drug dealer as an all-out monster. I’ve found that like all human beings, dope dealers are as deep and complex as anyone else. They have a full range of emotions and capacity for good and bad. They’re no less human than anyone else.

The main character is very introspective so i wanted the music to reflect that. I also wanted there to be some sort of contrast in what you see in the film and in what you hear. The film is very brick. On the street. Ground level. I kept a lot of that in the subject matter of the songs. But I went a little deeper. I exposed more than one would in the streets. Debunking the code of not giving up too much. I wasn’t afraid to be vulnerable. Whereas in the film, you hardly see vulnerability. Musically, I wanted to be way more daring than you would expect as well. In line with the concept of exposing something deeper. Just like a drug dealer is multidimensional I wanted the music choices to be multidimensional with many influences apparent.

Regarding the features: The funny thing about Jesse is that after I wrote the song, he was the only dude I wanted on it. Real talk. He has a realness and soulfulness to his art that you can’t help but feel. And on that particular song “Fallen Dreams” it had to be soulful and real. Because I pulled from a personal experience of losing a friend by the gun and out of respect for him, every part of that song had to be from the heart. And Jesse just got it. I told him the story, what the song was about, he sung the vocals and it was fire. Real simple. Real professional. I couldn’t be happier. Laureen was a trip. She is actually a friend of mine from Italy. She hadn’t recorded in years. We have similar taste in music and I just invited her over to my studio one night to mess around. I put on the track and after recording her vocals, I was like “damn, this is hot!”. My manager agreed so we kept her on it.”

W8 – Soundtrack (Tracklist)
1. Fallen Dreams (feat. Jesse Boykins III)
2. Waste of Time
3. Only You
4. Sky High
5. Full of Fire (feat. Laureen HD)
6. Glass Life
7. Simple Rhyme