Black Adam

Starring Dwayne Johnson, Black Adam is Warner Bros.’ latest foray into the DC Universe. While employing a fairly standard epic music treatment for a superhero film, the choice of licensed music does play into the plot.

Black Adam details a warrior given powers by ancient gods some five thousand years ago. Incidentally, at 0:18 we hear a Romanian folklore song by LUPII lui Calancea si Surorile Osoianu, “Purtata fetelor de la Căpâlna”, which features a rising minor chord arpeggio in its vocal melody. However, this is actually used as a sample for the song “Murder To Excellence” by Kanye West and Jay Z, from their 2011 collaborative album Watch the Throne. There’s an intertextual logic to this choice, as the film features a Black superhero with ancient powers; it makes sense then to use a Black anthem that in turn samples an ancient source.

Up to about 0:40, the song is used to fill space within Johnson’s narration—note that his voice figures prominently as the most recognizable aspect of the trailer thus far. At 0:41 there’s an audiovisual congruence, albeit somewhat heavy handed, as the lyrics “there’s a way goin’ on” enter just as Adam encounters a shower of bullets. Later at 0:58, it occurs again as Kanye references “a pain in my city” as we’re shown a bleak cityscape.

The song returns at 1:15 with a newly energized rhythmic backing, signalling the third part of the trailer. Reharmonization helps sustain interest in the repeated vocal sample. Interestingly, the trailer ends not with a line by Johnson nor with the vocal sample that has dominated the trailer thus far, but with a line by Jay Z: “All black everything; you know my fresh code”. It sends a clear message; the trailer as a whole is bombastic and celebratory, highlighting (even humorously) the extent of Black Adams’ powers. It’s unapologetic in its bombast—very much on brand for a Dwayne Johnson film. There’s also an undercurrent of seriousness, as “Murder to Excellence” helps illustrate and as befits Johnson’s career aspirations.

Black Adam is due in theatres October 21st.

— Curtis Perry