‘BlacKkKlansman’ Features an Unreleased Prince Song on the Soundtrack, Spike Lee Reveals

“BlacKkKlansman” has been earning praise and making headlines since its world premiere at Cannes, where Spike Lee‘s latest was awarded the prestigious Grand Prix. Now, on the eve of the film’s theatrical release, there’s more news still: “BlacKkKlansman” uses the unreleased Prince song “Mary Don’t You Weep” during its end credits.

“I knew that I needed an end-credits song,” Lee told Rolling Stone. “I’ve become very close with Troy Carter, one of the executives at Spotify [and a Prince estate advisor]. So I invited Troy to a private screening. And after, he said, ‘Spike, I got the song.’ And that was ‘Mary Don’t You Weep,’ which had been recorded on cassette in the mid-80s.”

“Prince wanted me to have that song, I don’t care what nobody says,” he added. “My brother Prince wanted me to have that song. For this film. There’s no other explanation to me. This cassette is in the back of the vaults. In Paisley Park. And all of a sudden, out of nowhere, it’s discovered? Nah-ah. That ain’t an accident [laughs].”

Lee threw the second annual “Prince’s Born Day Purple People Party” in early June, alluding to the possibility of making a film about the dearly departed icon: “I’d love to, but it’s not for me to say. It’d have to come from the estate or the publishing house or the label — I’d love to, but I can’t just say ‘I’m doing it.’”

“BlacKkKlansman,” meanwhile, opens in limited release on Friday, Aug. 10.