Sonic the Hedgehog Movie Gets Official Theme Song

The upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog movie just got an official theme song and a music video weeks before the film’s release. It’s got references to golden rings and Knuckles mixed with references to the classic Sonic the Hedgehog video games from the Sega Genesis era. The song is called “Speed Me Up,” and we’ve got Wiz Khalifa, Ty Dolla $ign, Lil Yachty, and Sueco the Child to thank for it, each of those artists animated in a 16-bit style for music video.

“Speed Me Up” was released late Thursday night and can be heard and seen in the video below. It opens with Wiz Khalifa picking up a Sega Genesis controlling and popping in a Sonic the Hedgehog game before dashing through Green Hills before entering the game himself.

After Wiz Khalifa joins Sonic, the other artists follow suit until everyone’s playing. The song’s actually catchy, and the music video is a smart blend of real-life performances, video game callbacks, and scenes from the movie featuring characters like Jim Carrey’s Dr. Robotnik.

You can watch the video above on repeat to hold yourself over until the Sonic the Hedgehog movie releases in February if you like it, but you can also stream it, according to the official Sonic the Hedgehog movie Twitter account.

This isn’t the first time the Sonic the Hedgehog movie has incorporated this music genre into its promotions, but this one will probably go better than last time. Those who remember seeing the original Sonic the Hedgehog movie trailer when it first released will recall the preview was set to the tune of “Gangsta’s Paradise.” Any questions people had about that song choice were largely overshadowed by concerns about Sonic’s appearance with his smaller eyes and creepily humanlike teeth. This design was what ultimately caused the movie to be delayed out of November 2019 and into 2020, but the film seems to have found a better footing since then both in the character’s design and in the promotions.

The movie is currently tracking towards a strong opening weekend in February, though we won’t know until its release just how convinced Sonic the Hedgehog fans are on the film. Sega previously promised more Sonic the Hedgehog news throughout the rest of the year, so perhaps we’ll see some more movie tie-ins even after its release.

Sonic the Hedgehog releases in theaters on February 14th.