Last night, a new track dropped to promote the Sonic the Hedgehog movie and it is surprisingly good and loaded with talent. Wiz Khalifa, Ty Dolla $ign, Lil Yachty and Sueco the Child teamed up for "Speed Me Up" for the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog movie soundtrack. It is the first release off the soundtrack and that makes it the de facto theme song of the Sonic movie. The high energy pop rap song is shockingly catchy and has some references that are sure to excite even the most casual of Sonic fans.
The Sonic movie is set to hit theaters in February, on Valentine's Day no less, and predictions say it will be a big box office hit. Sega's mascot movie stars Ben Schwartz of Parks and Recreation as the titular hedgehog and Jim Carrey as his nemesis Dr. Robotnik. The film is being produced by Paramont Pictures and directed by Jeff Fowler.
The track seems to be from the perspective of Sonic due to the fact that nearly all the lyrics are about going fast and, well, that is what Sonic is known for. In his first verse, Wiz sings "Rings of gold and awards sit on my nightstand," as a reference to the gold rings in the games. Later in that verse he makes a wordplay that is also a reference to one of the series' most iconic characters with the line "Bleed my knuckles, attack me for my finance."
In the second verse, Lil Yachty raps "Stayin' in my lane, best friend named Tails" as a direct reference to everyone's favorite fox who is indeed Sonic's best friend. The following line rhymes Tails with whales via "balance runnin' on whales, I can never fail." This is an allusion to the first level of classic Sonic game Sonic Adventure, which is famous for featuring a giant Orca.
The accompanying music video shows the rappers gaming before they get sucked into the Genesis game to help Sonic take down Robotnik. It also features some clips from the movie that have been shown in the trailers as well as a great scene of Jim Carrey jamming out to the track. The choice of artist may be surprising to some due to how many Sonic fans are children, but of course the language in the song is family-friendly and fits with the PG rating of the movie.
Sonic the Hedgehog will release in theaters on February 14th.