Why Raphael Saadiq Avoided Creating ‘Children’s Music’ for ‘Marvel’s Moon Girl & Devil Dinosaur’

Raphael Saadiq has effortlessly soundtracked the lives of countless Gen Xers, Millennials and Zoomers, collaborating with R&B soul bands like Tony! Toni! Tone! or Lucy Pearl, as a solo artist and collaborator with the likes of D’Angelo and Mary J. Blige, or at the same time as a songwriter with Beyoncé or producer Solange. Now, by writing music for the favored Disney+ animated series, he opens his influence to the youngest music lovers.

“It’s always great to be rediscovered by many people,” the singer, producer and instrumentalist tells ESSENCE. “My profession was like that. It burns slowly slightly than quickly, which I actually like.

tells the story of 13-year-old supergenius Lunella, who unintentionally opens a portal and brings a 10-ton T-Rex from the Jurassic era to the current day. With the assistance of her friends, she becomes a superhero who secretly saves the day together with her favorite dinosaur while living on New York’s Lower East Side.

“I always loved animation as a kid – most kids love it,” Saadiq said of his love of the source material. “When I saw it, I said, ‘Let’s try it.'”

Saadiq, who wrote the music for the series and is an executive producer, says drawing inspiration for the sound of this superhero story didn’t occur to him when he thought back to the New York City of his youth.

“I like that it represents certain places in New York that I knew,” Saadiq says. “Steve Loter, the producer who introduced me to the show, was a graffiti artist as a toddler. That’s why we all the time talked about how New York was painted in so many colours before gentrification happened and every little thing began turning gray.

In an try and capture this sense and speak to the culture of a young black girl growing up in Brooklyn at the middle of history, Saadiq desired to capture the electrifying sense of the town’s cultural melting pot. The soundtrack includes Jamaican influences, hip-hop, funk, R&B, salsa and more – sounds that will naturally soundtrack a 13-year-old’s life growing up within the famous neighborhood.

However, already on the stage of making the soundtrack for Lunella’s adventures, Saadiq stated that he deliberately didn’t wish to create “music for children” – despite the recent popularity of kids’s song culture.

“I also give back to the home, not only to the children. “Music is not just for children,” he says. “This gives children the chance to listen to music created for the sake of making music. Growing up, my parents didn’t play me much kids music. I grew up listening to Al Green.”

“But even when you were watching Bugs Bunny, you were listening to full orchestras,” he explains. “You don’t know it as a child, but you listen to the symphony all the time. The scoring was completely different than it is today.”

“So I just give back to the communities and families what I have received. I think [the new generation] deserves a chance to hear all the colors and the different instruments, the woodwinds and the flutes, and all the sounds that God has given them, because there are so many different sounds here that heal people.”

In addition to helping heal children through his partnership with Disney, Saadiq can also be helping to heal the community’s relationship with country music through his other recent endeavor, Beyoncé’s breakthrough country album. Saadiq wrote the lyrics for lead singles “16 Carriages” and “Texas Hold ‘Em,” helping usher in an exciting latest era for Black artists within the country.

“I love working with people who really know what they want to do and how I can help them,” he said of the songwriting process. “It’s always good to work with someone who is trying to achieve new things because they are great at everything they do. Beyoncé has a work ethic that is out of this world. I’m the same way. I like working, I love all kinds of music; Country, Jazz, R&B, Classical, everything. So my method is simply, “let’s go.” That’s really it. I’m always ready to work.”

When it involves his own chameleon-like ability to change genres and create across industries, Saadiq says the key isn’t any secret. It all comes all the way down to honing your talent and continuing to work.

“I say it’s about being good. Everyone wants to be hot all the time, but it’s really about being consistent, being good and giving people something to do.”