Director of “The Best Man Holiday” Tells UB Exclusively How The Soundtrack Came Together

No matter who you talk to, the buzz and excitement for “The Best Man Holiday” is at an all-time high! The sequel to the original film is set to hit theaters on November 15th. Like the first film, the soundtrack also has people talking, so we at UrbanBridgez.com talked to the films director Malcolm D. Lee to get some insight on how the soundtrack was put together. The soundtrack in-stores now features an amazing roster of talent, including Charlie Wilson, Monica, Ne-Yo, Marsha Ambrosius, Anthony Hamilton and more.

We asked Malcom what role he played in the putting the soundtrack together and he told us, “One of the things that I was doing, back in 2005, was listening to Christmas music and where I thought it could fit into the movie. I love music. I think music and songs are an integral part in filmmaking. I was playing a lot of Stevie Wonder’s Christmas music and Nat King Cole and Marvin Gaye, so a lot of those songs were written into the movie. Then, we did updates of many of them. I was very integral in the soundtrack and making sure that the sound that was created was going to be integral to the movie. I don’t like soundtracks that are just inspired by. Not only was the soundtrack inspired by the movie, it was also the very much the fabric of the movie.”

We at UB also had to find out how the artists were chosen to be apart of such an amazing soundtrack and Malcom told us, “You work with the label. They say, “We got this person, we go that person.” It’s kind of like casting. This is your roster. I say, I think Fantasia will do a great job on that song. I think Jordin Sparks will do a great job on that song. And then, you know, someone like Ne-Yo, who came out of the blue…the song that he sings is a Marvin Gaye song, “I Want to Be Home for Christmas.” I was like, Nobody’s going to be able to replace that. But Ne-Yo came in, we met. I showed him the scene where it fit. I showed him how important it was for the movie, what spot it was, and how the emotion was going to play. He said, “Listen, I’m not going to sound like Marvin. But I’m going to do it in a way that is me and will be faithful.” And he killed it! First time out! I was like, Wow! That doesn’t always happen. Also, Marsha Ambrosius and Anthony Hamilton’s cover of Stevie Wonder’s “As,” which they sing on camera, had to be in the movie where it was because it was very integral to the first film. I always felt like it was one of the greatest loves songs ever made and it would be great to do as a ballad and as a duet. Marsha and Anthony were a great choice for that. It’s funny. When I’m watching the movie with audiences, they love seeing Anthony. Then, they recognize the song. And if that’s not enough, then they see Marsha and it’s like, “OMG!” It’s really a beautiful combination. We struck gold with that, I think.”

Stream the full soundtrack now and make sure to pick it up on iTunes and at retial!