If you’ve been following Will Smith’s career, you would’ve noticed that he only does big things. He continues making major moves with his Netflix partnership. Both parties have come together to create a 6-part documentary titled “Amend: The Fight For America”. The series looks deep into America’s 14th amendment of their constitution.
According to the amendment, everyone born or naturalized in the United States of America is an American citizen. However, several past and present events have proven otherwise. Being that the black and Latino population have been maltreated by the police and social system as a whole. The amendment says all citizens are to be treated equally, but that is not the case. According to Smith – “Music is one of the most prominent forms of expression and artists often use it to make a statement against the injustices that affect Black and brown communities. The soundtrack for Amend: The Fight for America is no different”.
The hip hop and Hollywood legend says he wants the sound to reflect the current times, that’s why he’s enlisting new-school artistes for the soundtrack. For the soundtrack as a whole, he has reached out to Kevin Writer for supervision. Writer and Smith have put together 62 licensed songs from old and new artistes. These include the likes of Pharrell Williams, Nina Simone, and his son Jaden Smith.
In a statement, Writer said – “Growing up as an African American and just having a truly African American experience, that Amendment to the constitution was part of Reconstruction, and it was the lynchpin for the Civil Rights Movement, and so many other things, groups, LGBTQ immigrants,” “These things are close to my heart, so having the opportunity to contribute to something like this was just an opportunity of a lifetime, in my opinion, and then seeing how passionate Will was about it just inspired me.”
For the lead single, both Smith and Writer say they would like to create a sound with artistes that have been victims of the struggle, which colored people of America are facing. For this reason, they enlisted the services of Grammy award nominee, D Smoke. This will come as no surprise for those who are familiar with Smoke’s music, as his lyrics are packed with socially conscious flows.
D Smoke said – “When you look at what the documentary is about, the interesting thing is, my favorite part is that in the documentary, the 14th Amendment promises so much, but then it’s what’s used in court to defend people when that promise isn’t made,” It’s really about the battle to hold cities, states, our country accountable to what it promised, and hence the song ‘We Are The Promise’.” The documentary is expected to be released later in the year along with the soundtrack.
