It isn’t even out yet, but the upcoming “Fast and Furious” spinoff “Hobbs & Shaw” is already looking like one of 2019’s most gloriously self-aware titles—over-the-top action, cheeky one-liners and all. Just when it seems the Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham spectacle, as much of a sure bet as anything to come out this summer, couldn’t blow the top off the meta factor any further, another of the film’s stars is contributing to the movie beyond just acting in it.
Idris Elba— the other charismatic A-lister not to be lost in the movie’s shuffle of charismatic A-listers— is being billed as the movie’s big bad, but it turns out he’s also lending his musical talents to the soundtrack, via the song that can be heard below. The title, “Even If I Die,” a collaboration with Cypress Hill, is nothing if not appropriate for the movie it was created for.
This isn’t too jarring a career development for Elba, who has said he wants to be as multi-faceted an artist as Donald Glover is, and even DJ’d his own set at Coachella earlier this summer. Still, It’s impossible not to grin when imagining the possibility of Elba’s cyber-enhanced Terminator-esque terrorist making hell for Johnson and Statham in “Hobbs & Shaw”…to the tune of his own song. In a franchise where barriers continue to break down between the personalities of actors and their on-screen characters, that could just set a new bar for what is expected to be one of the most incredulous and exaggerated entries in a series known for its incredulity and exaggeration.
READ MORE: Dwayne Johnson Says Hobbs Will Not Show Up In Upcoming ‘Fast 9’
“Hobbs & Shaw” releases August 2—sooner than you can say, “I live my life a quarter-mile at a time.” In the meantime, we’ll be jamming out to Elba.