The Hate U Give

The Hate U Give is a 2018 drama film co-produced and directed by George Tillman Jr., based on the 2017 young adult novel of the same name by Angie Thomas, and stars Amandla Stenberg, Regina Hall, Russell Hornsby, KJ Apa, Common, and Anthony Mackie. It is a part of the shared fictional universe Simonverse, on which the novel is based on, it is featured in the Garden Heights series. The film, as well as the album, featured several R&B and hip hop tracks, from popular artists Tupac Shakur, Kendrick Lamar, Pusha T, Logic, Jadakiss, Travis Scott, Billie Eilish, 21 Savage, Offset, YoungBoy Never Broke Again, Keith Young and the lead actress Stenberg herself. It also had two original songs: the title track, performed by Bobby Sessions, who worked as an executive producer of the soundtrack, and "We Won't Move" by Arlissa. Sessions' contribution to the soundtrack came from his personal experience, following the death of his cousin in a shootout in 2012, and the film follows the same theme, he wanted the music and score "to motivate the audience to speak up against injustice". The title track served as the lead single for the album, released on the film's limited release date, October 5, 2018, while the album titled The Hate U Give (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) was published and released by Def Jam Recordings, a week later. The original score is composed by Dustin O'Halloran, which was also released under the title The Hate U Give (Original Motion Picture Score), by Milan Records on the film's release date. Both the score and soundtrack was positively received by critics and audiences. Original score George Tillman Jr. felt that music was critical to the film saying "We're doing a movie about police brutality and about identity. Our performances were honest and authentic. so I needed the score to feel natural and realistic, not too Hollywood". Tillman Jr. recruited Dustin O'Halloran to score for the film, after hearing the score for Lion (2016), which received an Academy Award nomination. Though living outside United States, O'Halloran felt that incidents in the United States is being talked all over the world. He believes in free speech and the right to protest, saying "he wants to be on the right side of history". He called the score as delicate and "to breathe life into the characters and the bigger picture of the subject in a way that was honest and graceful, yet not feel manipulative in any way".