Soul: Who Plays The Subway Singer

The new Pixar film Soul celebrates the vitality of music, and a scene in which our heroes encounter a busker played by Cody ChesnuTT epitomizes this feeling. With plenty of existential musings on life, Soul packs a punch for audiences seeking another thought-provoking, emotional story from the acclaimed animation studio. And in this first Pixar film featuring a Black protagonist, the filmmakers enlisted contributions from Black musicians in no small number.

The story of Soul follows Joe Gardner, a struggling jazz musician whose soul becomes disconnected from its body in a near-death experience, and 22, a stubborn unborn soul who detests the notion of living life on Earth. As Joe struggles to get back to the mortal plane and seize his once-in-a-lifetime career opportunity, 22 learns about all the invigorating experiences life on Earth has to offer. As their journey reaches its end, Joe learns there’s more to life than one’s supposed purpose, and 22 gains the self-confidence to live out her life on Earth, inspired by experiencing Joe’s passion for music and the remainder of the human experience.

In a scene that encapsulates 22’s growth, she and Joe — she piloting his body, he a cat’s — wait for the subway when 22 hears a busker singing his heart out to anyone that will listen. Entranced by the performance, she begins to realize the vibrant experiences life has to offer, as a step on her journey to deciding to live a life she’s spent an eternity avoiding. In recognition for the performance, she bestows the busker a high honor: her partly-eaten bagel (itself another sensory experience which had captured her vigorous interest earlier).

The man behind the busker’s performance is actually Atlanta R&B/neo-soul musician Cody ChesnuTT. Pixar tapped ChesnuTT to write a song for the film, performed during that subway scene, entitled “Parting Ways.” But long before 2020, ChesnuTT has been cutting his teeth in the recording industry, signing with the fabled Death Row and Hollywood Records during a long career working in the Los Angeles music scene and recording 4 studio albums.

While creating the studio’s first Black story featuring their first Black protagonist, the filmmakers worked to enlist the perspectives of several Black musicians. Bandleader for The Late Show‘s Stay Human Jon Batiste wrote original jazz compositions for the film while also serving as a musical consultant alongside legendary jazz musician Herbie Hancock and rapper Daveed Diggs (Clipping, Hamilton). Questlove (The Roots) served as a consultant while also voicing the character Curly.

Cody ChesnuTT was one of several Black artists whose perspectives and musical contributions helped shape Pixar’s celebration of jazz. Given the positive reviews the film has received, clearly their efforts to provide authenticity and heart to Soul were recognized in a big way – and ChesnuTT’s track is definitely bagel-worthy.

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