‘The Boys’: Jessie T. Usher’s A-Train Spits Rhymes in ‘Faster’ (VIDEO)
The Boys may be taking forever to give us Season 3, but the Prime Video publicity team is killing it with the content to help pass the time. First it was “Seven on 7” clips from the (mercifully faux) Vought News Network, and now, it’s new music video for “Faster,” a song from flashy, fleet-footed superhero A-Train (Jessie T. Usher) that was originally available for download on Amazon Music. (Or the Voughtify streaming service in the Boys universe, obvi.)
“In A-Train’s mind, he could do anything,” laughs Usher of his character’s oversized ego. “And him being who he is… this is something that he definitely would’ve tried. And he would convince Vought to put some money into it, so it only made sense.”
Recorded over a year ago “in the middle of the pandemic,” Usher notes, the song features music by Christopher Lennertz and lyrics by Christopher Lennertz, Isaac Lucas, Colton Fisher, Rebecca Sonnenshine, as well as Usher himself. It was produced by The Math Club and Christopher Lennertz, with Munachi Osegbu directing the video. The actor was initially pitched the idea with most of this team already attached, so he was able to jump into the process and “add a little flavor” to the track. “I just wanted to make it more personal, more my own.”
What they wound up with is a tune loaded with fire vocals by Aimée Proal that works both as an anthem to A-Train’s Compound V-enhanced need for speed, as well as a legit bop. Which is a good thing, because “Faster” has turned out to be a bigger deal than he imagined. “I was thinking it would be like, a little joke thing that we did on the side for a 30-second clip or whatever,” Usher admits. Now, “it could actually be played on a streaming service and could get some traction. But I don’t think that’s the intent.”
So does that mean a music career isn’t in the wings for A-Train in Season 3?
“You will see something is waiting for him, but it’s not that.” As for any other deets on Season 3, Usher is as tight-lipped as his castmates who have shared their excitement about the upcoming episodes without spilling any details.
“I think this season has the same level of anticipation for me as the first season did,” he offers. “But the difference between this season and the first season was I knew we were making a really great show [then] and couldn’t wait for people to see it, because it felt like once somebody got their eyes on it, they’re going to be able to feel what we felt when we were filming.”
“Knowing the way the series has grown and how the fans have received it so well and how much love we’re getting back,” he continues, “I feel like this one is for the fans, you know what I mean? We’ve been wrapping this baby up for a long time and the writing process was elongated because we got pushed back COVID, so the scripts were perfect and the execution is incredible. When this finally comes out, it’s going to be a [huge relief] for us because we’ve been holding in the best-kept secret… personally, it’s my favorite.”
The Boys, Seasons 1 and 2, Now Streaming, Amazon Prime Video