“I’ll Fight” is a song by Jennifer Hudson that was written by Diane Warren and was originally featured in the CNN documentary RBG and also received an Oscar nomination! Diane Warren – who is a Grammy, Emmy, and Golden Globe winner, and has been nominated for nine Academy Awards – teamed up with 15 of the most talented kids you have ever seen, the Compton Kidz Club to shoot a cover of this hit song which was released on Jan. 9. HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY sat down with Diane and the Compton Kidz Club for a one-of-a-kind performance and touching tribute to Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 85. “I wanted to write a song that captured Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s essence because she’s a fighter,” Diane explained. “She might speak softly, but her voice is very loud and it is heard. I’m a fighter too and her voice speaks to me because she speaks for us.”
Diane Warren first heard about the Compton Kidz Club — who have a new reality show premiering on YouTube in the spring — when they performed a version of her song “Stand Up For Something” and she “really loved it.” So Diane contacted Fred Martin, who began the girls group as an after school program director who wanted to teach kids how to perform. “I love working with Fred because most people I work with take forever to get s**t done, but with Fred, two days later, he gets things done,” she gushed. “This is one of the greatest songwriters of our time, ever. So it’s been a huge honor,” Fred says of Diane, who has written, and continues to write hit songs for Christina Aguilera, Beyoncé, Jessica Simpson, Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Cher, and many more. Diane has also worked with Whitney Houston and says of her time working with the legendary vocalist, “One of the best voices of our time. It’s so sad that that voice is no longer with us.”
The only way to describe the pop phenomenon Compton Kidz Club is as an urban Mickey Mouse Club meets High School Musical. Members of the current group include Tunay Raymond, Tiana Paul, Octavia Anthony, Ruby Garcia, Ariana Garcia, London Lee, Keke Haythe, Jayna Brown, Vivi Owens, Nitara Adams, Bobbie White, and Makerri White, who range in age from 12-17. Over the past couple years Compton Kidz Club has attracted major attention of many Hollywood A-Listers. The girls have opened for musical legends at the Hollywood Bowl multiple times, including Beck (2018), the 2017 summer series Muppets Take Over The Bowl, and even Diana Ross. The girls shared their up close and personal story when Diana surprised them backstage before they opened for the legendary singer at the Hollywood Bowl last year.
They were recently featured on Chelsea Handler’s original Netflix show Chelsea, opened up for Stella McCartney’s 2018 spring fashion show, and performed at Baron Davis’ 2017 celebrity basketball game. This past Christmas Day, Compton Kidz Club was fortunate enough to perform on Fox 11 Good Day LA. Already in 2019, the girls performed on the eve of the Golden Globes for The Art of Elysium with many Golden Globe nominees in attendance, and they will be performing with Common at the second annual Social Justice event with Angela Davis. They just got word about being commissioned to produce a song/video for the 100 celebration of the ILO, and United Nations. Compton Kidz Club is on a mission to empower, educate, and enlighten. Each and every Compton Kidz Club member has had their own experience of a personal breakthrough, and their stories are ones of faith, ambition, and a will to move forward. Smart, sassy, and extremely talented, you too will be smitten once you see and hear these truly talented girls.