Di Genius takes his music to the ‘Spider-Verse’

Jamaicans have a lot to smile about as few of the islands' entertainers have made the soundtrack of the newest Spider-Man film animated film, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

Among them is producer and recording artiste Stephen 'Di Genius' McGregor, who worked as producer and a writer on the track Take It To The Top, which is performed by Arya Starr and Becky G. Speaking with THE STAR, the Grammy-winning producer shared that though he knew the track would be a part of the movie, he was still surprised when he heard it while watching the film.

"I knew it was going to be in it, but I just never knew where. In the middle of the movie, I just heard my voice play, and I was like 'Oh shoot, that me!'," he said.

"It is definitely a great accomplishment. I have always wanted to do things for film. I have had tunes in films before but nothing on the magnitude. Nothing as big as Spider-Man. The placement of the song is really good too because it is in a good place and it is played for a very long time, so it is very exciting," McGregor continued.

McGregor has had music featured in the hit HBO series Insecure as well as the movie Sprinter. He said Take It To The Top was conceptualised during the pandemic.

"I made the beat at home I remember, and it was during lockdown time and LA was one of the first places to be under lockdown. So I couldn't go to the studio or anything and I was just making tracks at home, and fast forward we had a writing session with Republic [Records] 'cause I think they are the ones that did all the soundtrack stuff, and it came from that writing camp with me and other writers. Then Becky G got on it with Ayra Starr," he explained.

McGregor is just one of the Jamaicans on the soundtrack that was executively produced by Metro Boomin. Others include Shenseea, Jamaican-American rapper Beam, and Toian. McGregor expressed delight at seeing the music being utilised, and credits this to the work the artistes have been putting in overseas.

"The people who are in the movie from Jamaica are people who are really up here doing a lot of big work. These people are working hard up here, and it just so happens that we are all featured. The movie has some cool Jamaican stuff in it too. So, when people watch it, they will see that," he said.

Currently, McGregor has a number of projects in the pipeline, including work with Jada Kingdom, as well as collaborative work with his brother Chino.

"I just want to make some cool exciting stuff. I get bored easily. I just focus on making music that will add life to the space. There are a lot of cool projects coming both for the local and international scene, so I am just putting in the work to make everything come together."