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Derryck “Big Tank” Thornton has never allowed himself to be boxed into just one area of expertise. After meeting Damon Wayans through a friend, Big Tank broke through in the television industry serving as a music composer on ABC’s My Wife & Kids in 2005. He’s since notched composer credits in You Got Served, The Boondocks, and many more. Thornton’s wide-ranging musical expertise combined with an understanding of Hollywood’s inner-workings allowed the Azusa Pacific University alumni to graduate to the role of music supervisor, where he’s taken on added responsibilities for shows like STAR, Showtime favorite The Chi, Swagger, Greenleaf ( |
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Family story and 50 Cent’s Power Book II: Ghost prequel. Thornton went from DJing suffocating frat parties in college to brokering deals inside executive boardrooms. The Pittsburgh native held a pair of A&R stints at Geffen Records (2008-2011) and EP Entertainment/Universal (2015-2018), which saw him assist in cultivating the lucrative careers of Slim Thug, Keyshia Cole, and Alessia Cara. With a stable career in pharmaceutical sales allowing him creative freedom, a push from his mentor Timbaland propelled Thornton into realizing his production dreams. “Big Tank” originally landed on the mainstream radar at the turn-of-the-century when producing the wiry “One Minute Man” for Missy Elliott and Ludacris. He’s continued to decorate his star-studded production discography with a myriad of placements from Ne-Yo, who he gave his stage name to, Fabolous, Rihanna, Queen Latifah, and Christina Aquilera. The entertainment chameleon’s decades of industry experience leave Thornton unphased when presented with just about any task. |
Get To Know Derryk “Big Tank” Thornton, the music supervisor of Power Book II and The Chi.
In Power Book II, music supervisor Derryk “ Big Tank” Thornton found one of the most rewarding and challenging projects of his career — a prominent series calling for big music, in a diversity of styles.
Created by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Power Book II: Ghost premiered a few days after the Power finale, focusing on Tariq navigating his new life, shadowing and indirectly taking up the legacy of his father and pounding pressure to save his mother.
A prolific music supervisor, Derryk “ Big Tank” Thornton found the appeal of Power Book II to be obvious, painting the vision of the show through music, and what an eclectic music selection it has been for season 1.
Having worked on the early seasons of The Chi as the music supervisor with interesting music choices, he had to even dig deeper for Power Book II, carrying on the torch of great music selections. When he signed onto Power Book II, Thornton’s first step was to put together a massive playlist, comprising hours of music.
For a music supervisor, many of the selections from a show stems from a collaborative effort with the director team. The initial stages involved temping songs to define the scope of the show musically, then replacing them later.
Looking back on Season 1, the music supervisor has a few favorite moments, where he feels his musical choices aligned perfectly with both the aesthetic and the narrative intent of a scene. “In 101, one of my favorite placements is the Jacob Bank’s Song, “Monster”. The track was played as Tasha is in jail, and as Cane is shooting and killing the guy he got into an argument with at the previous night’s party.
There’s just such perfect emergence of music to picture there, as the song supported the scene so well.
For Thornton, he enjoys the entire musical journey, end to end from music temping to spotting and finally seeing it all come to life when watching the scenes.
“Music plays an integral part in painting a picture and driving the emotional engine of a scene. I’m glad to be able to do just that on these iconic shows”.
