Episode notes
The Album: Dreamgirls soundtrack (2006)
Former LA Times Editor and Out Magazine’s Director of Culture and Entertainment Tre’vell Anderson, joined us to talk Jennifer Hudson and the Dreamgirls OST.
Dreamgirls won two Academy Awards – one for Best Sound Mixing, the other, Best Supporting Actress for Jennifer Hudson’s star-making portrayal of Effie White.
The single disc-version of the soundtrack spent two weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200 and was nominated for the 2008 Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album. One of the songs, “Love You I Do” won the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture or Television. The soundtrack, a certified banger, and Tre’vell’s personal heat rock, was certified platinum.
A fan of Jennifer Hudson’s since American Idol Season 3 (his favorite), the film and soundtrack resonated with him because of the all too familiar narrative of the most talented person in the room having to contend with implicit bias preventing them from living their best life.
We talked about the glory of Jennifer’s journey from losing American Idol to winning at the Oscars, the difference between singers and sangers, Detroit vs. Chicago as a backdrop for the film, and what it sounds like when a Cadillac commercial get’s “Pat Booned” (an Oliver Wang original saying).
Why did the film propel Jennifer Hudson to the stardom possibly meant for Beyonce (AT THAT TIME). Who knew Eddie Murphy had this sort of vocal range? Who’s version of “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” was better: the original J.H. or the new J.H.?
Tre’vell helped us answer those questions and more!
More on Tre’vell Anderson
- Tre’vell’s bio on the LA Times
- Tre’vell Anderson Spills the Tea on Sex and Gender(Tusk Magazine)
- Twitter | Instagram
More on the Dreamgirls OST
Show Tracklisting (all songs from the Dreamgirls OST unless indicated otherwise):
- Move
- Jennifer Holliday: And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going
- Cadillac Car
- Eddie Murphy: Party All The Time
- I Meant You No Harm/Jimmy’s Rap
- Move
- Fake Your Way to the Top
- Patience
- One Night Only (Disco)
- And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going
- Jennifer Holliday: And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going
- Family
- Steppin’ to the Bad Side
Here is the Spotify playlist of as many songs as we can find on there.
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In this episode...
Guests
- Tre'vell Anderson
About the show
Hosted by Oliver Wang and Morgan Rhodes, every episode of Heat Rocks invites a special guest to talk about a heat rock – a hot album, a scorching record. These are in-depth conversations about the albums that shape our lives.
Our guests include musicians, writers, and scholars and though we don’t exclusively focus on any one genre, expect to hear about albums from the worlds of soul, hip-hop, funk, jazz, Latin, and more.
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