In the new Netflix movie Project Power, a pill gives anyone who takes it five minutes of "power," but they don't know what their power will be and they don't know if the pill will just immediately cause their body to explode instead. It's sort of like Limitless meets Animorphs. Plus a cop thriller. Plus a military guy looking for his daughter. Plus a teenage aspiring rapper.
And it's that last musical aspect that is one of the most enjoyable parts of the film. Dominique Fishback (Night Comes On, The Deuce) plays Robin, a high schooler who deals "power" (the name of the magical, terrifying pill) in order to help pay her mother's (Andrene Ward-Hammond) medical bills. Robin is also a talented freestyle rapper. She ends up showing off her skills to Art (Jamie Foxx), an ex-Army major who has a close tie to the development of power and is searching for his kidnapped daughter (Kyanna Simpson).
Robin's freestyles were written by the rapper Chika (aka Jane Chika Oranika). The 23-year-old also has a small part as a classmate of Robin's and performs two songs on the movie's soundtrack. Fishback is a spoken word poet, which helped her work on the music with Chika.
"When she came to film the classroom scene with us, we had a few hours in a hotel room where they ordered us food and she was sitting at her computer and I was learning some of the other raps. I said, This is the type of person that Robin is. I really want to bring New Orleans into her speech. I’m from Brooklyn and any chance I get, I say it. So I know Robin is gonna be [saying] something about NOLA," Fishback told Refinery29 in early August. "I wanted Chika to mention Katrina and how it connects with Robin. And so she came up with this dope line where she says: 'I've been on a journey of a warrior, the Odyssey, you gotta see the remnants of the hurricane inside of me.'"
In addition to the songs penned by Chika, the soundtrack includes tracks from rappers like Nipsey Hussle and 2 Chainz, as well as some classic jazz.
Nipsey Hussle, "Grinding All My Life"
Robin freestyles over the Nipsey Hussle song "Grinding All My Life" at the beginning of the movie when we find out she deals power. While she makes her lyrics specifically about power pills, the original lyrics fit the scene, too: "All my life, been grindin' all my life/ Sacrificed, hustled, paid the price/Want a slice, got to roll the dice."
2 Chainz, feat. Lil Wayne, "Gotta Lotta"
This song plays as Robin and the police officer Frank (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) ride off on a motorcycle after it's revealed they're working together. Again, the lyrics are fittingly about drugs: "I said we gotta lotta dope, we gotta lotta coke/We got weed, that's a lotta smoke." Plus, Lil Wayne is from New Orleans where the movie is set.
"Fireman Stage" from Mega Man
A song from the Mega Man video game is referenced in the scene where another power dealer Newt (Machine Gun Kelly) literally turns into a fire man and chases Art through his apartment building while spreading flames. You can also briefly see what looks like the Mega Man game on a TV in the background.
Curtis Mayfield, "The Makings of You"
Robin puts on a CD of this 1970 song as she heads out for school and says goodbye to her mom. It plays as she rides through New Orleans on her motorcycle.
Brick Fleagle, "A Slight Case of the Shakes"
A few old jazz songs are included on the Project Power soundtrack. The first is "A Slight Case of the Shakes" by jazz guitarist Brick Fleagle.
Mick Jenkins, "Drowning feat. BADBADNOTGOOD"
This haunting song plays during the tense scene when Robin and Art go into a supermarket to find the secret power operation in the back. It prominently features the lyrics "I can't breathe" in a reference to the killing of Eric Garner.
GoldLink, "Maniac"
GoldLink's "Maniac" plays when Frank follows a van with some bad guys after attaching a phone to their vehicle, so he could track them. A song with lyrics that repeat "Better watch your back, I'm a maniac" fit a scene about stalking.
Sonny Rollins, "Strode Rode"
The second classic jazz song on the soundtrack is "Strode Rode" by Sonny Rollins, the iconic jazz saxophonist.
Stan Getz and Cal Tjader, "Ginza Samba"
Lastly in the jazz category, we have "Ginza Samba" by Stan Getz and Cal Tjader. Getz was a popular jazz saxophonist, and Tjader was a musician of Latin jazz.
Chika, "High Rises"
"High Rises" by rapper Chika is featured at the end of Project Power as Robin says goodbye to Art and reunites with her mom. The lyrics speak specifically to the character of Robin and the things that happen to her in the movie: "Little black girl from the South/ Little black girl run her mouth
Little black girl don't know where to go/
/'Cause she like to clown and the teachers stay kickin' her out/Insecure, but she won't say it out loud/All she wanna do is make her mama proud."
Chika and Dominique Fishback, "My Power"
The end credits feature a song written by Chika and Peder Losnegård and performed by Chika and Fishback. The chorus goes, "My worth is my power, power." You see, not everyone needs superpowers; just self-confidence in their rapping.
The song isn't currently online, but we will update this story when it becomes available.