"A Dream" | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Single by Common featuring will.i.am | ||||||||||||||||||||
from the album Freedom Writers (soundtrack) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Released | 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||
Format | CD | |||||||||||||||||||
Genre | Hip hop | |||||||||||||||||||
Label | Hollywood Records | |||||||||||||||||||
Writer(s) | Lonnie Lynn William Adams Martin Luther King, Jr. |
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Producer(s) | will.i.am | |||||||||||||||||||
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"A Dream" is a single by rapper Common from the soundtrack to Freedom Writers. It is produced by will.i.am, who also sings the song's chorus. The song heavily samples Martin Luther King Jr.'s historical "I Have a Dream" speech, which relates to the song's lyrics about racism. The single release of "A Dream" includes two will.i.am tracks, "Colors" and "Bus Ride."
The video for the single contains scenes from the Freedom Writers movie (many of which feature Hilary Swank, its lead actress), mixed with partially animated sequences featuring will.i.am singing on a podium and Common rapping in hallways and rooms in front of stylized images of both the Holocaust and the Civil Rights Movement. Television footage of the "I Have a Dream" speech is displayed on monitors throughout the video. The imagery is intended to reinforce the song's messages of perseverance in the face of discrimination, and hopes for a more racially tolerant world.