A comedy mockumentary about Randy Watson, the tumbleweed inducing bootleg Lionel Ritchie who, with his band Sexual Chocolate, underwhelms the audience in 86 seconds of Coming To America. In our film, with the help of music hall legends Nile Rodgers, Shaggy, and Kelis, next gen stars Davido and Stefflon Don, and a couple of invented characters (a tribute act and a superfan) we reinvented Randy as the greatest singer who ever lived. With semi-scripted, semi-improvised testimonies, they talk about his music, his charisma, who was allowed to touch his hair and discuss what caused his mysterious disappearance before his triumphant return nearly 30 years later in Coming 2 America. Was he really abducted by aliens?

Coming To America was not just a blockbuster but a seminal moment in Black culture. The first Eddie Murphy release following his coronation as Hollywood’s first ever Black #1 box office star – a landmark moment for African-Americans – it featured many trailblazing firsts for a studio movie: an all-Black cast playing recognisable characters from everyday African-American life, protagonists who were both Black and successful, and famously it was also Hollywood’s first ever traditional romantic comedy with Black leads. The film and its characters became treasured pieces of Black cultural heritage. We chose one of these much-loved characters, Randy Watson, on screen in the first movie for just 86 seconds, to build our mockumentary around, tapping into the nostalgia that would surround the sequel, Coming 2 America, to make content with the same comedic verve and celebration of Black culture as the movies themselves.