Here comes Barrington Levy
1980s song featured in Netflix film starring Idris Elba
Published:Tuesday | June 29, 2021 | 12:09 AMShereita Grizzle/Staff Reporter
Grammy-nominated reggae artiste, Barrington Levy, is today overwhelmed at the fresh buzz being created around his 1980s track, Here I Come. The song was recently featured in the official teaser for Netflix’s latest film, The Harder They Fall, which stars Hollywood A-listers Regina King and Idris Elba, among others.
The film, which is set to be released, this fall is already generating quite the buzz on social media, as not only does it boast a star-studded cast, but the movie was directed by British filmmaker Jeymes Samuel, and produced by Shawn ‘Jay-Z’ Carter and James Lassiter, co-founder of Will Smith’s Overbrook Entertainment.
In an interview with The Gleaner, Levy said it was truly an honour being part of the movie. The entertainer, who is fresh off a massive collaboration with internationally renowned producer DJ Khaled, shared that having gone through his fair share of struggles in the industry, he is overjoyed he still gets to benefit from his life’s work.
“It’s an honour and I really appreciate and give God thanks for this opportunity. In this business, I went through a lot. You get carried down and want to give up and this all just shows me that God is not sleeping,” he said. “This just goes to show that you can never say never because you just never know what will happen. When you do something from the heart, this is what happens. This song was recorded back in 1983 so it’s over 30 years old, so you see how much years after and the song is still getting attention.”
Levy said that when he made his decision to pursue music, he did it out of sheer passion and not financial gain. He said love for his craft kept him grounded and shared that everything else fell into place once he pursued his passion to the fullest. “When I came into the music business I came into it for the love of it not thinking about financial gains or anything like that. I came into it for the passion of this thing. I went into the studio and voice that song ( Here I Come) from the heart with love and love has paid off,” he said.
SCENE CRAFTED TO SUIT TRACK
Handel Tucker, Levy’s manager, told The Gleaner that the producers for the film reached out and showed interest in the song. But that interest, he shared, went beyond just the desire to sample the track. He said the scene featured in the movie’s trailer was crafted specifically to suit the Barrington Levy classic. “They reached out to us and that scene that the song is in, the song was specifically done over for that scene. So is not like, ‘Oh well they found this song and they wanted to use it’. The scene and everything were written with the song in mind. They chose the song specifically for that scene and so we actually went back and voiced it again,” he said. “We went back in and did the vocals again and it’s quite remarkable how it matched the original track. Barrington Levy is a master of his craft. It’s amazing that 30 years later, he still sounds the same. When I saw the scene for the first time, I was really impressed and just overwhelmed,” he added.
Tucker said the song’s inclusion in a film with such world-class talent will no doubt introduce Levy to a new generation of fans, something he said will do wonders for the culture. “At the time when we were approached, I didn’t know the main players and had no idea that it was this calibre of actors and actresses. This is just going to bring new life to the song and the artiste and we are grateful,” he said. “A new generation will be introduced to the culture and the heart of reggae through an artiste like Barrington Levy.”