The first offerings from a merchandise line to accompany Queen & Slim: The Soundtrack (Motown Records) have been unveiled. The line includes a crewneck, short and longsleeve t-shirts, a cutout t-shirt, a photo t-shirt and a tote bag. A digital soundtrack will be delivered via email upon purchase of any item. Additional products will be released in the coming weeks. The soundtrack is available for download / streaming at all DSPs while the CD configuration can be purchased at Amazon and other retailers. Get Queen & Slim: The Soundtrack and merchandise HERE.
The Melody Ehsani flagship store in Los Angeles hosted an intimate Q&A with director Melina Matsoukas, hosted by Melody Ehsani and special guests. The ME. Shop will be selling limited edition Queen & Slim merchandise while supplies last.
Starring Oscar® nominee Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out), Queen & Slim is a powerful, consciousness-raising love story that confronts the staggering human toll of racism and the life-shattering price of violence. The film, from GRAMMY®-winning director Melina Matsoukas and Emmy®-winning writer Lena Waithe, is in theaters now.
The music in the film serves as an additional voice and showcases the range of talent across Black artists with a compelling blend of genres. The 16-song soundtrack, which was nominated for a Hollywood Music In Media AwardTM, features new tracks by Ms. Lauryn Hill, Lil Baby, Vince Staples featuring 6lack X Mereba, Tiana Major 9 & EARTHGANG, Coast Contra featuring BJ The Chicago Kid and Syd, plus classic songs by Roy Ayers, Bilal, Mike Jones and others. Blood Orange composed the film’s score and is featured on the soundtrack.
Motown Records President Ethiopia Habtemariam, Waithe and Matsoukas served as executive soundtrack producers. AP said, “Together they’re like the perfect aux-cord DJs. They hit play, and they don’t miss…” The Atlantic noted, “The Best Part of Queen & Slim Is the Soundtrack…Music is woven throughout with an impressive ear for black American artists’ complex relationships to the country they inhabit, and to other black people.” Refinery 29 praised it as “a high-octane ride with a tender heart – just like the movie it’s made for.” Variety hailed the album as “a bound-to-be-legendary hip-hop soundtrack.”
Essence called the first single, “Collide,” by Tiana Major9 & EARTHGANG, “the perfect introduction to an album that includes incredible names.” Produced by Benny Cassette (Kanye West, John Legend), the track was the #1 Most Added song at Urban AC Radio, topped Spotify’s The Newness playlist and has amassed over three million combined global streams. Watch Tiana Major9 & EARTHGANG performing “Collide” at the Soul Train ’19 Awards HERE.
NYLON predicted that “Ride or Die” from Megan Thee Stallion x VickeeLo “will be bumping in the club for months.” Pitchfork praised Vince Staples’ “Yo Love” feat. 6lack & Mereba as “a charming swerve from Staples that’s only further proof of the rapper’s chameleonic talents.” Rolling Stone said, “‘Guarding the Gates’…is an immersive and sprawling ballad…[Ms. Lauryn] Hill delivers a mesmerizing vocal performance.”
While on a forgettable first date together in Ohio, a black man (Kaluuya) and a black woman (Jodie Turner-Smith), are pulled over for a minor traffic infraction. The situation escalates, with sudden and tragic results, when the man kills the police officer in self-defense. Terrified and in fear for their lives, the man, a retail employee, and the woman, a criminal defense lawyer, are forced to go on the run. But the incident is captured on video and goes viral, and the couple unwittingly become a symbol of trauma, terror, grief and pain for people across the country.
As they drive, these two unlikely fugitives will discover themselves and each other in the most dire and desperate of circumstances and will forge a deep and powerful love that will reveal their shared humanity and shape the rest of their lives.
Waithe wrote the screenplay for Queen & Slim from a story by herself and bestselling author James Frey (A Million Little Pieces, Katerina). The film is produced by Frey, Waithe, Matsoukas, Michelle Knudsen, Andrew Coles, Brad Weston and Pamela Abdy. The executive producers are Pamela Hirsch, Kaluuya, Aaron L. Gilbert and Jason Cloth. Universal Pictures and Makeready present Queen & Slim in association with 3BlackDot and Bron Creative, a Makeready/De La Revolución Films/Hillman Grad/3BlackDot production.
