No, this isn’t about the Underground music scene, this post is about music from the critically acclaimed show on WGN. I fell in love with this series when it premiered last year. I was initially drawn to the show when I saw that Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Aldis Hodge and Christopher Meloni were part of the main cast, but that first episode sucked me in and kept me coming back for two months.
For those of you who don’t know the first season centered around the ‘Macon 7’, a group of slaves who were able to escape their Georgia plantation and ran north towards freedom. I’m not going to spoil the season and reveal too much, but I will say that it’s worth a watch if you can watch historical shows like this. This show evokes so many emotions. Anger while watching the slaves being beaten and sold and hearing about their rapes, along with fear and joy while watching their freedom journey. It’s so well written and the cast is perfect, you feel for Jurnee’s character as she debates internally whether she needs to run. She lives in the big house and to some of the field slaves it seems like she has a cushy life, but a behind the scenes look allows us to see that even though she’s sleeping in big house she’s still a slave and is treated as such.
I think another thing this series does well is having the perfect soundtrack. From hearing the drum cadence of Kanye’s “New Slaves” in the first few episodes as they’re running to hearing the opening of Beyonce’s “Freedom” on the first episode of season two, the musical director has a knack for playing the perfect song and the right time. I wanted to share a few of the songs that have been featured on the show with y’all today and encourage you to add the show to your list of shows to watch. I think the first season is on Hulu, and if it’s not I know it’s streaming on WGN’s site. I can’t encourage you enough to watch it.