Ryan Coogler, DJ Dahi & Director Peter Nicks Join Forces to Reimagine ‘Anthem’ for Hulu Documentary

With Black Music Month underway, Hulu is beginning to roll out some of its upcoming documentaries catered to the festivities, notably Anthem. 

Directed by Peter Nicks, Anthem will follow composer Kris Bowers (Bridgerton and King Richards) and Grammy-winning producer DJ Dahi’s trek across the nation to rediscover the roots of traditional American Music. During their quest, they find talent from a bevy of genres, such as jazz and soul, to help recreate the national anthem and reflect the modern times in the United States. Joining Nicks, Bowers and Dahi will be Black Panther’s Ryan Coogler and his multimedia company Proximity Media on the production front. Sean Havey, Chris L. Jenkins will also serve as producers. 

“Anthem started with the road trip that [Kris Bowers and I] took when we when we went around and started to just feel [and] understand what American music traditionally kind of comes from,” Dahi tells Billboard. “Soul music, country, jazz, native music, blues, and gospel are the foundational music that’s being a part of our being and a part of the different creative processes that people have expressed themselves through. The road trip really helped us see the world.”

Dahi has previously worked with Travis Scott, Kendrick Lamar and Drake. Last year, Dahi had production credits on Lamar’s Grammy-winning album Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers. His prints were on five records: “Father Time,” “Rich Spirit,” “Count Me Out,” “Mirror” and the Billboard Hot 100 top-five single “Die Hard.” 

To correspond with the announcement of Anthem, Dahi constructed an exclusive playlist that was instrumental to the documentary and the road trip he and Bowers conducted during their search. Listen below.

Anthem arrives on Hulu June 28.