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In the landscape of modern cinema, where blockbuster spectacles often outshine substance, Sinners has emerged as a rare cultural juggernaut—one that’s not just admired for its provocative narrative but also for its musical heartbeat. Blending the dark mystique of vampire folklore with the raw racial reckoning of America’s history, the film resonates far beyond the screen. But ask any fan what makes Sinners unforgettable, and the answer often circles back to its music—more precisely, the gritty soul of Delta Blues that infuses every frame with ancestral depth.
At the center of this sonic experience is the show-stopping track “I Lied to You,” performed with magnetic sorrow by actor-musician Miles Caton, who stars as the conflicted character Sammie “Preacher Boy” Moore. The song isn’t just a soundtrack highlight; it’s the film’s emotional anchor. And behind this haunting piece is none other than Raphael Saadiq, a multi-Grammy-winning artist whose fingerprints are on some of the most influential music of the last four decades.
While Saadiq is widely known for his genius in the realms of R&B and neo-soul—having co-founded the iconic group Tony! Toni! Toné! and collaborated with legends like Beyoncé and Solange—his venture into the raw terrain of Delta Blues in Sinners is a testimony to his boundless creative reach. In an interview with Billboard published May 2, Saadiq peeled back the layers of his creative process and explained why this project felt not only artistically fulfilling but deeply personal.
For Saadiq, the story of Sammie Moore felt like looking into a mirror reflecting his own past. Raised within the sacred traditions of the Baptist church, he grew up surrounded by spiritual hymns and gospel choirs. Yet his natural gravitation toward rhythm and blues was often met with harsh judgment. “It was right up my alley because that’s exactly how I grew up,” Saadiq shared. “Playing R&B music, I was told that I was playing the devil’s music, too, so it made sense to me.”
That very tension—between the sacred and the secular, between holiness and humanity—is the heartbeat of the song “I Lied to You.” Saadiq tapped into his own childhood memories of devotionals and spiritual chants from Union Baptist Church to guide the sonic choices for the track. Even the subtle humming in the background, which lends the song its spiritual texture, is drawn from those early church services. “We call it devotion-type singing,” he said. “It’s the kind of sound that hits you in the chest, even if you don’t understand why.”
That grounding in gospel not only served as inspiration but functioned as a bridge between past and present, between Saadiq’s roots and the fictional world of Sinners. This was more than just composing a film song—it was reconnecting with a part of himself that had been waiting to be heard again.
One of the most powerful elements of “I Lied to You” is the voice that carries it: Miles Caton, a rising talent whose portrayal of Sammie Moore has drawn widespread acclaim. But even Saadiq wasn’t prepared for how transformative Caton’s performance would be. “That voice is crazy,” Saadiq remarked. “I never heard his voice, so I just wrote the song how I would sing the blues… but when I finally heard him sing it, it blew me away.”
So impressed was Saadiq with Caton’s delivery that he made the conscious decision to stay behind the scenes. Although there were plans to release Saadiq’s demo of the track as a companion piece, he declined. “They wanted me to put my demo out as well, but I felt like the movie is so amazing that when people go to DSPs, they should only hear Miles. I love his voice,” he explained.
This act of stepping aside was not one of humility alone—it was a declaration of artistic integrity. Saadiq understood that the story of Sammie wasn’t about him; it was about a young man finding his voice, both literally and metaphorically. And in that space, Miles Caton shone.
The phrase “I Lied to You” wasn’t simply fabricated in the writer’s room. It came from real life—Saadiq’s own emotional struggles. He recounted a time from his younger years when he was caught in a complicated romantic situation. Struggling to admit the truth, he joked to his girlfriend, “You know what would make a good blues song? They say the truth hurts, so I lied to you.”
That line, once a quip to avoid discomfort, lingered in his mind and slowly matured into the emotional nucleus of a future song. “I’ve always had blues ideas,” he said. “I would just sit around and make blues hooks because blues hooks are the best hooks ever.”
In the context of the movie, that line took on a layered meaning. Saadiq originally believed that Sammie’s character was lying to his father. In truth, the opposite was happening—Sammie was trying to tell the truth but struggling to be believed. That misunderstanding ultimately enriched the lyrics, giving the song a dimension of painful irony that resonated with both the character and the audience.
The song was brought to life during a creative collaboration with Ludwig Göransson, the Oscar-winning composer behind Black Panther and other acclaimed projects. The two artists, both masters of their craft, found synergy in the studio as they wove together blues, gospel, and cinematic storytelling into a single, resonant composition.
Saadiq first experienced the final version of “I Lied to You” in its full theatrical context at the Sinners premiere in Oakland, California, on April 16. The emotional weight of the moment—watching his creation magnify the story on an IMAX screen—left a lasting impression. Just two days later, on April 18, the film launched globally and began breaking box office records, eventually earning over $185 million according to The Numbers.
While the success of Sinners is certainly rooted in its compelling storyline and powerful performances (with Michael B. Jordan in a leading role), it’s the film’s use of music—specifically its homage to the Delta Blues—that distinguishes it. In a time where mainstream soundtracks are often packed with commercial pop hits, Sinners took a bold, artful turn toward heritage. The decision to feature music with such rich cultural DNA was a creative risk—but it paid off in every way.
The Delta Blues, often regarded as one of the earliest forms of American musical expression, emerged from the hardship and hope of African-American communities in the Deep South. It’s music that tells the truth—even when it hurts—and in “I Lied to You,” that spirit is alive and bleeding. Saadiq didn’t just write a song for a movie; he added a chapter to the ongoing story of the blues.
The song now exists not only as a cinematic highlight but as a standalone piece of music that taps into universal feelings of guilt, confession, and redemption. Its brilliance lies in its simplicity—one haunting phrase, repeated like a mantra: “I Lied to You.” But wrapped in the soulful gravitas of Caton’s vocals and the ancestral echoes of Saadiq’s church upbringing, it becomes a catharsis.
For Saadiq, Sinners offered a rare opportunity to fuse personal history with artistic vision. It reconnected him to the spiritual elements of his youth, while allowing him to explore a genre he had always loved from a distance. “I’ve always had blues ideas, but I never thought I had the voice for blues,” he admitted. Perhaps that’s why hearing Miles Caton bring the song to life was so profound—because in that voice, Saadiq saw a younger version of himself, speaking truths he once couldn’t.
Raphael Saadiq’s journey in crafting “I Lied to You” for Sinners is a testament to the power of music rooted in truth, pain, and legacy. It shows that the deepest songs often come not from ambition, but from memory. And that when we dare to embrace our contradictions—our sacred and secular selves—we create something timeless.
Sinners may be a work of fiction, but its music is real. And thanks to artists like Saadiq and Caton, that music will echo far beyond the theater, reminding us that the blues—like the truth—always finds a way to be heard.
