It makes perfect sense that music matters to film director RZA.

The Wu Tang Clan mastermind came to film directing from music, and the sounds of “Haiti via New Orleans” course through his recent oeuvre, CUT THROAT CITY, the “ambitious, messy, sprawling and bullet-riddled crime epic” (Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times) that topped the Netflix charts hours after its debut on Netflix, finishing in January’s top ten. 

Watch Run here.

The film producers re-released the pivotal song from the film: recording artist Freedom’s urgent, plaintive ballad RUN, along with a world premiere music video of the song, May 26, 2021. The song previously had only a lyric video and a “friends and family,” audio release, garnering over 100,000 spins on Spotify. A portion of the audio and video release proceeds will benefit the non-profit https://www.savehaititoday.com/ which provides music, sports, and education programs for youth in Haiti.

RUN anchors a pivotal scene towards the climax of the film. RZA says, “[Music Supervisor] Adrian L. Miller understood New Orleans music, manages for Anderson .Paak, and has a taste for the 2005 vibe I was trying to find for this movie. RUN really fits what our characters are going through. It actually encapsulates the natural instinct that happens when our characters go down the wrong road….what do you do when you make a bad move like that…? You have to RUN.”

“RUN is a song about going through difficult times and persevering until you reach your dreams,” adds Freedom. “It’s a reminder to keep striving towards creating something epic, find the dream within, and keep fighting for it until it comes true. I wrote the song when I had just found out my brother had cancer and was fighting to keep hope in our spirits.”

Freedom continues, “RUN mixes the vibrations of Haiti to New Orleans because not many can understand how both places are so close yet so far away. We are a Kryeole/Creole people living in Haiti—separated from those Creole people in New Orleans but we have had many floods and tribulations in this lifetime. Enough, in fact, to share how to strive and survive though it. It (Cut Throat City) teaches that miracles happen and if you keep going, you can get further than you thought. I think RUN comes at that perfect point in the movie to give you that hope.”

Music industry multi-hyphenate Adrian L. Miller is an RIAA Gold and Platinum-certified music entertainment executive, manager, music supervisor, and executive producer whose client roster spans Oscar to Grammy award nominated and winning artists: Anderson .Paak, Poo Bear, Mereba, Alice Smith, NxWorries, and The Free Nationals. Miller recently teamed up with Delicious Vinyl record label owner Michael Ross and Leslie Cooney to reboot the label, now called Delicious Vinyl Island, whose focus is the Caribbean’s “Future Roots” sound, and the eclectic Soul & Jazz outfit called A Tiny Universe with Om'Mas Keith. Miller is currently consulting for the second season of the Hulu series: Wu-Tang: An American Saga.  He also received a coveted Cannes Lion award for his work on Spike Jonze’s 2018 Apple Music Home Pod commercial.

Christopher “Freedom” Laroche is a Haitian artist that creates popular motivational music inspiring peace and unity worldwide. His voice represents hope and truth. With hit songs such as “Sove Peyi Mwen”(meaning save my country) being a classic anthem and the most recent “Dream A World” going viral and being featured on global platforms such as CNN and BET, Freedom has given a voice to the people and created a movement for positive change. 

Listen Now

RUN 

Written by Christopher Laroche & Adrian L. Miller • Produced by Freedom & Fausto Vincent • Performed by Freedom

Courtesy of Freedom Recordz / A Tiny Universe

About Cut Throat City

CUT THROAT CITY finds four boyhood friends who return to NOLA’s Lower Ninth Ward in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. As FEMA fails to provide aid to their wracked community, they reluctantly turn to a local gangster for help. When that job goes horribly awry, they must outrun and outsmart—a system rife with corruption and filled with both malevolent and colorful characters. Directed by RZA and written by P.G. Cuschieri, CUT THROAT CITY features a powerhouse cast, including Shameik Moore, Demetrius Shipp Jr., and Kat Graham, along with Wesley Snipes, Terrence Howard, Eiza Gonzalez, and Ethan Hawke. Denzel Whitaker, Keean Johnson, Isaiah Washington, Joel David Moore, and Sam Daly also play supporting roles. CUT THROAT CITY was produced by RZA, William Clevinger, p.g.a.; Elliott Michael Smith p.g.a. & Sean Lydiard, p.g.a. of Rumble Riot Pictures;, Michael Mendelsohn of Patriot Pictures; and Kyle Tekiela.