‘They Call Me Magic (Main Title Theme)’ is the Flying Lotus’ theme for a series based almost entirely around Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson, an African American basketball player who was one of the more indelible and noteworthy American players of the 1990s. The icon was also known for his candid interviews, and the series will look at his rise in the world of American sports.
The 38-year-old artist Flying Lotus is a producer and rapper, making him one of the more diverse and malleable artists of his generation. Flying Lotus’s 2019 album, Flamagra, was something of a breakthrough for the songwriter.
Earlier in 2022, it was announced that Flying Lotus would double as both director and composer for a new sci-fi horror film Ash, making it his first score to accompany a full-length film since Kuso, released in 2017. He wrote the score for the Netflix anime series, Yasuke. The artist’s latest theme is one that embodies the basketball player.
The composer wrote the theme to the series in an effort to pay tribute to one of the most renowned basketball players of all time. Johnson was also one of the first celebrities to disclose their HIV diagnosis to the public, which brought the illness into the public spotlight. He is credited with dispelling myths about the illness, which was shrouded in derogatory comments in some quarters of America and Britain.
“Some people told me, Earvin, it’s not what you think it is,” he recalled. “I didn’t know what they were talking about. Until I saw it. In Boston.” Johnson was shocked by the treatment of victims of AIDS and HIV.
“They only had two people in a 30-bed hospice. All these people out here on the streets trying to get beds. Trying to get care. They were sending them through so much. I quit. That day, I quit.”
Johnson used his celebrity to highlight the spread of HIV, stating that it was not limited to those who considered themselves part of the LGBT community. Indeed, Johnson’s work helped spearhead the Magic Johnson Foundation in the early 1990s, in the hope of raising awareness about the illness.
