Composer Terence Blanchard had been a longtime collaborator of director Spike Lee, scoring Lee's films from Jungle Fever (1991) to Inside Man (2006).[1] Lee did not give specific direction to Blanchard on the tone he wanted for BlacKkKlansman. He simply told Blanchard, "R&B band", to which Blanchard replied, "Electric guitar" as a nod to Jimi Hendrix.[2][3][4]
When I saw some of the first cut, there was something about seeing those Afros, those leather coats and those bellbottom jeans that took me back to that period. I’m a product of the ’70s, so the first thing that I thought of was Jimi Hendrix, playing the National Anthem. I kept saying that in my mind, that has to be one of the most patriotic things on the planet. Here was an African-American guy, playing this theme, which to me had the effect of screaming, “I’m an American, too. I belong here, and I should be afforded all of the rights that everybody else has."
To give the soundtrack its unique tone, Blanchard integrated the jazzy sound of his band, The E-Collective, with that of a traditional 65-piece orchestra. For example, for the main theme's signature electric guitar riff, Blanchard aimed to create a melancholic sound with an underlying strength, so he backed the guitar with low-pitched orchestral horns. The E-Collective recorded in New Orleans while the orchestra recorded at the Sony Pictures Soundstage in Los Angeles.[5]
The ending of the film, which shows footage from the Unite the Right rally of 2017, reused Blanchard's main theme from Inside Man, a deliberate choice by director Spike Lee over what Blanchard had already composed for the film's closing music.[6]
As Lee needed a song for the film's ending credits, he reached out to his friend Troy Carter, a Spotify executive and advisor of Prince's estate. After Carter attended a private screening of BlacKkKlansman, he offered Lee Prince's unreleased cover of "Mary Don't You Weep", which had been recorded on cassette in the mid-80s.[7]
Release
The album was released digitally on August 10, 2018.[8][9] It was released on vinyl on February 15, 2019 via Waxwork Records.[10]
