THE PHOTOGRAPH Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Back Lot Music has released the original motion picture soundtrack to Universal Pictures' THE PHOTOGRAPH today. The soundtrack to the film features an original score by multi-GRAMMY® winning recording artist Robert Glasper, as well as two new songs by recent GRAMMY® nominee Lucky Daye and GRAMMY® winning artist H.E.R. The romantic drama, starring Issa Rae and LaKeith Stanfield, arrives in theaters nationwide on Valentine's Day.

The warm, rich and sophisticated jazz music that suffuses almost every frame of THE PHOTOGRAPH was exactly what writer-director Stella Meghie had envisioned to accompany the film's visual aesthetic. She couldn't think of any better choice to capture that vision than Grammy® Award-winner Robert Glasper. "I met Robert at one of his shows two years before we worked on this film and I told him that I wanted him to score the film," Meghie says. "He completely exceeded my expectations in the way he pulled the music into the story in such an emotional way."

Glasper had similar sentiments in working with Meghie: "It was an honor to be a part of this amazing film. Working with Stella was great. She allowed me to completely be who I am musically without compromising her vision. It was the ultimate win, win!"

The film's producer Will Packer agreed that the way Glasper weaved the story together with the music was brilliant. "One of Robert's gifts is his ability to evoke emotion," Packer says. "He makes you feel something when you combine his music with picture. His rich, soulful music not only tells you how to feel, but it informs you how to view some of the decisions that the characters make. He just gets the way that mood, music and cinema all interweave together and the fact that each one is very important."

Packer continues: "The film takes place in two different time periods, two different cities and with very different energies and vibes, so the music had to be our great connector. It had to be the thing that pulls it all together and to interweave the story, just like the narrative. The songs became part of the narrative and helped to augment it. With a movie like this, one where you want to really feel something, music is essential."

About the Film

On Valentine's Day, Issa Rae (HBO's Insecure, Little) and LaKeith Stanfield (FX's Atlanta, Sorry to Bother You) connect in a romance where a woman must learn from the secrets in her mother's past if she is to move forward and allow herself to love and be loved.

When famed photographer Christina Eames unexpectedly dies, she leaves her estranged daughter Mae Morton (Rae) hurt, angry and full of questions. When a photograph tucked away in a safe-deposit box is found, Mae finds herself on a journey delving into her mother's early life and ignites a powerful, unexpected romance with a rising-star journalist, Michael Block (Stanfield).

From writer-director Stella Meghie (The Weekend, Jean of the Joneses) from her original screenplay comes a sweeping love story about forgiveness and finding the courage to seek the truth, no matter where it may lead you.

The Photograph is produced by Will Packer, blockbuster producer of Girls Trip, the Ride Along franchise, and ten movies that have opened No. 1 at the U.S. box office, including Night School, No Good Deed and Think Like a Man, and by James Lopez, president of Will Packer Productions. The film is executive produced by Meghie, Erika Hampson (co-producer Late Night, Life Itself) and Rae.

The film also stars Chanté Adams (Roxanne Roxanne) as Mae's young mother Christina, Y'lan Noel (HBO's Insecure) as Christina's secret love, and Rob Morgan (Mudbound) as Isaac Jefferson, a New Orleans fisherman with a mysterious connection to Mae's mother.

About Robert Glasper

Robert Glasper (born April 6, 1978, in Houston, Texas) is an American pianist, record producer and film composer. He is Multi-Grammy Award winner with six Nominations in total and recently added an Emmy Award to his list of accolades. Glasper is a Loma Vista Recording Artist, and has participated and collaborated across all musical genres, and has been a major influencer of the current direction of Jazz.  His 2012 crossover album Black Radio won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Album at the 55th Grammy Awards, followed by his 2014 album "Black Radio 2"  which won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Performance at the 56th Grammy Awards.  Glasper also performed on "These Walls" off Kendrick Lamar's album "To Pimp A Butterfly", which won Best Rap/Sung Collaboration at the 57th Grammy Awards.   In Film, Glasper has won a Grammy for his work on the Film "Miles Ahead" starting Don Cheadle and Emmy Award for his collaboration with Common and Karriem Riggins on the original song "Letter To The Free" for Ava Duvernay's documentary film "13th" (Netflix).  As a collaborator, he has toured and recorded with an outstanding resume of artists including Erykah Badu, Kendrick Lamar, Common, Anderson.Paak, Jill Scott, Yasiin Bey (Formerly Mos Def), J Dilla, Maxwell and the legendary Herbie Hancock, whom is on his most recent Loma Vista release along with YBN Cordae, Baby Rose, and many more.  Glasper is currently in production for his next Loma Vista release. 

About H.E.R.

Accumulating 10 Grammy nominations in just two years, H.E.R. has proven herself as a R&B force to be reckoned with.  In 2019, the singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist won two Grammy Awards for Best R&B Album (H.E.R.) and Best R&B Performance ("Best Part" featuring Daniel Caesar). This year, her five Grammy nominations included Album of the Year (I Used To Know Her), Record of the Year and Song of the Year ("Hard Place"), Best R&B Performance and Best R&B Song ("Could've Been" ft. Bryson Tiller). Following up on her jaw-dropping performance of "Hard Place," she returned to the Grammy stage for the second year in a row to perform "Sometimes," a brand-new song that became the most Shazamed performance of the night.

H.E.R. won two 2018 Soul Train Music Awards for Album/Mixtape of the Year for H.E.R. and Best Collaboration Performance for "Best Part." In 2019, she won a NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Female Artist and is currently nominated for four NAACP Image awards this year, including Outstanding Album (I Used To Know Her), Outstanding Female Artist, Outstanding Song – Contemporary ("Hard Place") and Outstanding Music Video ("Hard Place").

H.E.R. has accrued over two billion combined streams - and counting - of the breakthrough projects H.E.R. (RIAA-certified Platinum), I Used To Know Her, more recent songs "Slide" featuring YG (plus the remix featuring Chris Brown, Pop Smoke and A Boogie Wit da Hoodie), "Sometimes" and "Comfortable" (featured on The Photograph soundtrack).   She will release her official album later this year on MBK Entertainment/RCA Records.

About Lucky Daye

Early on in life, Lucky Daye discovered his love of music and natural gift for singing and songwriting in the musical melting pot that is New Orleans, where he was born. The devastation of Hurricane Katrina displaced his family and they ended up moving to the small town of Tyler, TX. Ultimately Lucky knew he wanted to pursue music, so he moved to Atlanta for a brief stint and eventually ventured to Los Angeles to pursue his dream. After meeting producer D'Mile and working with him on what would become his debut album Painted, Lucky fully realized his voice and potential. His undeniable talent as a vocalist took shape and landed at him at his label home, Keep Cool, in partnership with RCA Records. In late 2018, he released the explosive hit "Roll Some Mo", which was utilized in the marketing campaign for THE PHOTOGRAPH. Lucky went on to release his debut album Painted in May 2019, which received critical nods from Rolling Stone, Complex, NPR, Essence, Hypebeast, Noisey, Billboard, The FADER and has been streamed over 120 million times worldwide. Most recently he earned his first ever GRAMMY nominations with four in total across all R&B categories with "Roll Some Mo" receiving nods in R&B Song and R&B Performance, "Real Games" in Traditional R&B Performance and Painted nominated in R&B Album. He was also nominated for Best New Artist at the Soul Train Awards and is currently up for Best New Artist at the 51st Annual NAACP Image Awards later this month.