Warning: This story contains spoilers from “Coming 2 America”.
Of all the musical moments to be visited in the long-awaited sequel “Coming 2 America”, which arrives on Friday on Amazon Prime Video, perhaps the most memorable belongs to the man himself: Eddie Murphy.
Or make Randy Watson.
That’s right: the wavy crooner with Jheri – one of several characters that Murphy played in addition to Prince Akeem in “Coming to America” in 1988 – returns for his encore at the age of 33 after revolting “The greatest love of all “
And this time – accompanied once again by his backup band, Sexual Chocolate – he sings “We Are Family” with a lyrical twist: “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 production company. “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” honors the original’s musical heritage.
“The original had a lot of music, and the original soundtrack was a huge success, so they were great shoes to fill,” Spendlove said. “The great news is that our director, Craig Brewer, along with Eddie, had such an extraordinary musical vision. Much of this was planned ahead of time, and some of the wonderful moments came together during filming in Atlanta. These amazing cameos came out at the last minute, which turned out to be something special. ”
An intense cameo scene includes En Vogue and Salt-N-Pepa, turning their 1993 hit “Whatta Man” into “Whatta King”.
“Coming 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 I got the call to participate in the film and come together and remake ‘Whatta Man’ with Salt-N-Pepa, it was over the month.”
Filming the scene from the top-secret sets at Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta “was like stepping into Zamunda,” Herron said of the fictional African nation where most of the film takes place. “The details in the scenery, the details they gave to the costumes – everything was so refined. And then you had all this talent. ”
Of course, that star-studded talent included Salt-N-Pepa, who did the “Whatta” reunion. “Jump-N-Pepa bring it! Those girls are queens, “Herron said. “All together, we just felt, ‘Oh, my God, the girl’s strength right now!’ ””
As if that wasn’t enough, in the same scene there is a musical cameo by the legendary Gladys Knight, who turns “Midnight Train to Georgia” into “Midnight Train From Zamunda”.
“It was designed in a kind of conference room,” Spendlove said. “When it really happened, people 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 spin on Prince’s “Gett Off”. “Once again, the power of ‘Coming to America’ [means] you can go after a Prince song, ”Spendlove said.
And in a nostalgic sign to the royal servant Oha (Paul Bates) singing “She’s Your Queen to Be” in the original, the character takes out his stinging falsetto again on “Gett Off”.
“Everything was done with the sincere intention of honoring the film,” Spendlove said.
This included updating the song “Coming to America”. Nile Rodgers, who produced the original system, returns to make a new interpretation of the song. “He said, ‘What if we can see if we can get John Legend to play with Burna Boy and make it a global idea,'” Spendlove said. “Nile Rodgers helped unite.”
Burna Boy from Nigeria is one of many African artists represented in the film, on the soundtrack and on an accompanying album entitled “Rhythms of Zamunda: 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, which worked to include African talent. “This time, there is a chance to bring in artists from the continent who have amazing sounds, rhythms and tones that celebrate the diversity of African culture.”