*If you’re a “Godfather of Harlem” fan you already know season three is underway via MGM+. The series is a 1960s period piece whose focus is the civil rights movement and the criminal underworld.
The central character is Bumpy Johnson (Forest Whitaker) who it seems is constantly dealing with five Italian families, while he’s simultaneously losing control of Central Harlem.
Viewers of the heralded show also know how much music plays an integral role in the series. Music director Swizz Beatz returned for his third season as executive producer of the soundtrack.
As LoveBScott.com notes in its exclusive interview with Swizz Beatz, he has the rare undertaking of composing modern tunes for a series that takes place entirely in the past, creating a soundtrack that joins the past with the present, aligning history with an emotional undercurrent that resonates in the new millennium.
The soundtrack of the series features some of today’s top artists; Skip Marley, French Montana, Cruel Youth, Jidenna, Sean Cross, Samm Henshaw, 21 Savage, Rick Ross , DMX, Dave East, A$AP Ferg , Jadakiss, Busta Rhymes, John Legend and more. They have all contributed original songs that have amassed tens of millions of streams and counting.
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The site got with Swizz to discuss his involvement with the hit series.
Love B. Scott: Swizz you are such a busy man. With tons of projects going on at the same time, what made you want to return for Season 3 to curate the music?
Swizz: Oh man, I’m totally committed to Godfather of Harlem as a series, as a movement as an educational piece and as a personal ask from Forest Whitaker himself. It’s an amazing project, an amazing team and an amazing story, I’m all in.
Love B. Scott: I was doing my research, but I couldn’t find the answer – How did you first get involved with the show?
Swizz: Yeah, I got a call from Forest, wait actually Pharrell [Williams]. Pharrell called me and said man Mimi Valdes [Filmmaker, CEO for I am OTHER, her company with Pharrell] told me there’s this show and Forest is trying to get in contact with you. It’s about Bumpy Johnson and Harlem, your family is from Harlem, you are from the Bronx, it makes sense, is it okay to give him your number? I said of course it’s okay to give him my number. I got the phone call from Forest and now we are in Season 3.
Love B. Scott: So, I have a two-part question: How many original songs did you make for Season 3, and what’s your process in making the songs? Do you watch the episodes beforehand?
Swizz: For Season 3 we made ten songs. I don’t like to watch the full episodes before, I like to watch them when everyone else watches them. So, what I like to do is get the synopsis of what’s happening, see snippets and see how things are going to film and certain energies. So, when you see Bumpy, I’m making music for what he might be thinking, I turn the music into a character as well. When you hear “Get Money Hustle Repeat” from Jadakiss, Bumpy is thinking that in his mind because he lost everything in Season 2 at the end with fire that burnt up all his work. That was the energy with that, and the theme of Season 3 is get money hustle and repeat. How is he going to get on his feet. Another example is when’s Bumpy meeting and interacting with Jose Battle [Yul Vázquez.] I had to bring in some Latin flavor in there. Having the freedom to maneuver as much as possible has been the cool part.
Very, very interesting. There’s MORE. To get it, click over to LoveBScott.com.
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