Skepta pays tribute to Amy Winehouse on new single ‘Can’t Play Myself’
The track features a sample of Winehouse's 'Tears Dry On Their Own', approved by the Amy Winehouse foundation.
By Nick Reilly
Skepta has paid an emotional homage to Amy Winehouse on ‘Can’t Play Myself (A Tribute To Amy)’, the latest track from the Tottenham rapper.
The house music track arrives via Island Records and Más Tiempo, the label that Skepta established with his fellow Boy Better Know star Jammer earlier this year.
While had teased the song over the summer, the recorded version arrives today (October 13) and is centred around a sample of Winehouse’s ‘Tears Dry On Their Own’, which was approved by the Amy Winehouse Foundation.
The latest tribute to Winehouse comes after close friends celebrated what would have been the late singer’s 40th birthday last month with a party at The Hawley Arms, a pub in Camden Town that was frequented by the singer.
Winehouse’s band will also toast the singer’s memory with a one-off London show at the end of the year.
The band is formed of the same musicians who formed the core of Winehouse’s live performances from the very start of her career until her untimely death from alcohol poisoning in 2011. They include her musical director and bassist Dale Davis, who has also been recruited as music consultant on the upcoming Winehouse biopic Back to Black.
Meanwhile, the upcoming Winehouse biopic, titled Back To Black, began filming in January and is being directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson, who was a close friend of Winehouse. Marisa Abela (Industry) will appear in the lead role.
Jack O’Connell has also been cast as Amy Winehouse‘s ex-husband Blake Fielder-Civil, with whom she shared a fractious relationship.
The project has been authorised by the late star’s estate including her father, leading some to question whether the biopic will fully explore the issues that plagued Winehouse’s personal life.
Per a description (via Focus Features): “Back To Black will focus on Amy’s extraordinary genius, creativity and honesty that infused everything she did. A journey that took her from the craziness and colour of 90’s Camden High Street to global adoration – and back again, Back to Black crashes through the looking glass of celebrity to watch this journey from behind the mirror, to see what Amy saw, to feel what she felt.”