The genius and originality of Sinners has turned the film into a cultural phenomenon. As much fanfare as there is about the vampire lore and racial reckoning in the plot, there is even more discourse delving into the pulse of the movie: music, more specifically, the Delta Blues and its global influence.

The cinematic gumbo’s big number is “I Lied to You,” performed by actor-musician Miles Caton, who portrays Sammie “Preacher Boy” Moore. The record was penned by Raphael Saadiq during a studio session with Oscar-winning film composer Ludwig Göransson, whose credits include scoring director Ryan Coogler's Black Panther flicks. Saadiq boasts a career spanning nearly four decades, three Grammy wins, and never-ending adulation for his immense contributions, which include widely celebrated collaborations with Beyoncé on COWBOY CARTER and Solange’s 2016 album A Seat at the Table.

“I Lied to You” is a return to Raphael Saadiq’s blues roots

The multi-hyphenate is known for his R&B prowess, but his talents run just as deep as the stories told in Sinners, some of which resonate with him. In the Billboard interview published Friday (May 2), the Tony! Toni! Toné! co-founder revealed that he and Sammie share a similar origin. Speaking about the separation between the fictional character’s affinity for secular sounds and his church upbringing, he said, “It was right up my alley because that’s exactly how I grew up. Playing R&B music, I was told that I was playing the devil’s music, too, so it made sense to me.” Furthermore, he shared, “This process really brought me back to my Baptist church roots. Even the humming that I’m doing on the track — I got that from Union Baptist Church. We call it devotion-type singing.”

Like the world, he was also blown away by Miles Caton’s performance

“That voice is crazy. I never heard his voice, so I just wrote the song how I would sing the blues… 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,” Sadiiq told the publication.

He continued, “I’ve always had blues ideas, but I never thought I had the voice for blues. I would just sit around and make blues hooks because blues hooks are the best hooks ever. When I was younger and struggling to tell my girlfriend the truth about something, I said, ‘You know what would make a good blues song? They say the truth hurts, so I lied to you.’ I’ve always had that… For [‘I Lied to You’], I thought Sammie’s character was lying to his dad, but he wasn’t really doing that. He was telling him the truth. But [at the time], I thought he was lying, so that’s why I landed on those lines.”

The celebrated musical architect witnessed the song come to life for the first time at the Sinners Oakland, California, premiere on April 16. The film opened in various screen formats like IMAX in theaters globally on April 18. To date, the Michael B. Jordan-led feat has made more than $185 million, according to The Numbers.