The New “Minions” Soundtrack Is a Funk Celebration Featuring Tame Impala, St. Vincent, Caroline Polachek, and More

Pharrell's biggest song to date was penned for the charming anti-hero animation Despicable Me 2 soundtrack. It's not perplexing that one of the world's most in-demand producers created one of the catchiest songs of the 2010s, but it was a little unexpected that his inspiration spawned from a supervillain-turned-dad Felonious Gru—voiced by Steve Carell—and his adorable, bumbling yellow Minions (who also happen to be Eminem stans). That song resulted in Pharrell winning two GRAMMYs and becoming a household name. Now it seems, following 2015's Minions and 2017's Despicable Me 3, the franchise is pulling out all the stops for the soundtrack of the forthcoming film Minions: The Rise of Gru.

The film, set in the '70s, documents how Gru meets the beloved overall-donning Minions and becomes a famed supervillain. The funk-inspired soundtrack notably features a new song with Diana Ross in collaboration with Tame Impala called "Turn Up the Sunshine," which is out on May 20. The rest of the album features covers of classic '70s hits courtesy of Brittany Howard (with Earth, Wind & Fire's Verdine White), St. Vincent, Brockhampton, Kali Uchis, Caroline Polachek, Thundercat, Phoebe Bridgers, Weyes Blood, Bleachers, Gary Clark Jr., H.E.R., Tierra Whack, Jackson Wang, and RZA.

And if you thought there wasn't a mastermind producer behind this star-studded grouping, you thought wrong. After seeing this soundtrack's artist list it might not be much of a surprise to learn that Jack Antonoff is the executive producer on the project—love him or hate him, he's the reason we're getting Polachek's take on Nancy Sinatra's "Bang Bang" and Brockhampton reimagining Kool & the Gang's "Hollywood Swinging." Whereas the surprisingly cool soundtrack from 2021's Cruella gave younger generations the inspiration to look into punk classics and deep cuts, Minions: The Rise of Gru Original Motion Picture Soundtrack offers the latest rising artists the opportunity to revisit funk classics for all ages to enjoy.

Check out Antonoff's excited tweets about the project and a clip of him in the studio below.