Hip-Hop and Spider-Man have easily been two of the most influential forces in my life, and I am sure many others can say the same (it must be something about hyphens). With the recent release of Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse, the combination of these two forces have been stronger than ever.
Miles Morales is a character who also happens to be Spider-Man, despite how used to Peter Parker you might be. However, he also is easily forgotten or even unfamiliar to many due to his exclusive appearance in comics until 2018.
He is easily one of the most relatable characters to ever wear the webbed suit though, especially when his life in the movie is paired with the booming 2018 hip-hop soundtrack heard in the movie. He is just a kid who wears a pair of saucy, ?Bred? style Jordan 1?s while dealing with the limitations of a strict Dad, who places large amounts of pressure and expectation.
At the same time, he is also a high school kid just trying to have fun, live free, and attempt being a cool kid. If you listen to any rap lyrics that contain dreams of grandeur while grinding for the come up, then suddenly the similarities between hip-hop artists and Miles become clear as day.
The crazy thing about this movie is its ability to combine past and future in order to create the epitome of nostalgia. Studies show that the primary demographic of rap fans are 18?34 years old. This means that when the original Sam Raimi films released in 2002, these people were between 2?18 years old, giving them the chance to grow up with Spider-Man.
Given the massive popularity of rap music in the year 2019, there is a high probability that these same kids like it, at least a little. By filling the one hour and fifty-six-minute journey of Miles Morales with hip-hop songs, an extremely strong sense of nostalgia, one of the most intense emotions possible, is achieved.
In the first few minutes of the film, we see Miles casually practicing his craft of graffiti while bumping the song ?Sunflower? by Post Malone and Swae Lee at max volume. I don?t think it is possible for a higher mark of pure vocal heaven and aesthetic to be achieved.
Let me not forget the mass amounts of chills that were sent down my spine when Miles finally put on his suit and jumped off a tall building for the first time, while ?What?s Up Danger? by Blackway and Black Caviar, is blasted in the background. This scene alone is seriously a good enough reason to see the movie in itself.
Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse isn?t the first movie this year to do this, however. The Black Panther soundtrack successfully accomplished this earlier in 2018, thanks to the masterful lead direction of one of rap?s greatest: Kendrick Lamar. This album had even bigger names in the industry such as The Weeknd and Travis Scott, eventually leading it the status of a platinum record.
This trend of surprisingly specific and in-depth hip-hop soundtracks to go along with superhero movies was certainly an unexpected but welcome marriage in 2018. It promotes the artists even further, assists the plot of the movie, and evokes strong emotions to the audience. I can only hope more genres of film take notes and realize just how essential a soundtrack is to the impact on an audience/critics.
Just look at these consistent Rotten Tomatoes score for all the evidence you need. 97% on both? Can?t just be a coincidence.
Originally published at meteormm.com on January 27, 2019.
