Warning: This story contains spoilers for “Coming 2 America.”
Of all the must-see musical moments in the highly anticipated “Coming 2 America” sequel, which hits Amazon Prime Video on Friday, perhaps the most memorable belongs to the man himself: Eddie Murphy.
Or make Randy Watson.
True: The Curly Crooner Jheri, one of several characters Murphy played in addition to Prince Akeem in 1988’s “Coming to America,” returns to his encore 33 years after saying “The Greatest Love of All “.
And this time, accompanied again by his secondary band, Sexual Chocolate, he sings “We Are Family” with a lyrical touch: “We are family / I have Sexual Chocolate with me”.
“That was Eddie Murphy’s idea from start to finish,” said Randy Spendlove, president of Worldwide Music and Publishing at Paramount, the film’s producer. “This is 100% Eddie Murphy, his brilliance … with all the original members of Sexual Chocolate in the background.”
It’s just one of the ways “Coming 2 America” lives up to the musical legacy of the original.
“The original had a lot of music and the original soundtrack was a huge hit, so they were great shoes to fill,” Spendlove said. “The great news is that our director, Craig Brewer, along with Eddie, had such a tremendous musical vision. Much of it was planned in advance and some of the big moments came together when filming in Atlanta. These amazing cameos came out at the last minute, which really turned out to be something special. “
One of the heaviest scenes includes En Vogue and Salt-N-Pepa, turning their 1993 hit “Whatta Man” into “Whatta King”.
“Getting to America” was such an iconic film for us and such an important milestone in African American culture, “said Cindy Herron of En Vogue. “So when we got the call to participate in the film and get together to remake ‘Whatta Man’ with Salt-N-Pepa, we were right on the moon.”
Filming the scene on the most secret set of Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta “was like entering Zamunda,” said Herron, of the fictional African nation where most of the film takes place. “The detail of the scenery, the detail they gave to the costumes: everything was so exquisite. And then you had all this talent. “
Of course, this star talent included Salt-N-Pepa, who did the “Whatta” reunion. “Jump-N-Pepa wear it! These girls are queens, ”said Herron. “All together, we felt like,‘ Oh my God, the power of the girl right now! “”
As if that were not enough, in the same scene there is also a musical cameo by the legendary Gladys Knight, which turns “Midnight Train to Georgia” into “Midnight Train From Zamunda”.
“It was conceived in a kind of conference room,” Spendlove said. “When it really happened, people just laughed so hard. You can imagine everyone rolling on the floor. It was really just one of those magical days on set. ”
Meanwhile, R&B star Teyana Taylor, who plays Bopoto in the film, puts her own sexy twist on Prince’s “Gett Off”. “Once again, the power of ‘Come to America’ [means] you can go after a Prince song, ”Spendlove said.
And with a nostalgic gesture to royal servant Oha (Paul Bates) who sang “She’s Your Queen to Be” in the original, the character once again pulls out his fake fake in “Gett Off.”
“Everything was done with a sincere intention to honor the film,” Spendlove said.
This included the update to the lead song “Coming to America”. Nile Rodgers, who produced the original of the system, makes a new rendition of the melody. He said, “What if we see if we can get John Legend to sing with Burna Boy and get a global idea of it,” Spendlove said. “Nile Rodgers helped get that.”
The Nigerian Burna Boy is one of the many African artists represented in the film, on the soundtrack and on a complementary album entitled “Zamunda’s Rhythms: Music Inspired by ‘Coming 2 America'”.
“It was part of the DNA of this film and it made sense,” said Sipho Dlamini, CEO of Universal Music South Africa and Sub-Saharan South Africa, who worked on the inclusion of African talent. “This time, there is an opportunity to bring artists from the continent who have amazing sounds, rhythms and tones that celebrate the cultural diversity that is Africa.”