The original soundtrack to
Marvel's Luke Cage Season 2 is dropping on Friday, June 22, Marvel announced. Its release will coincide with the premiere of the Netflix original series' sophomore season.
Marvel’s Luke Cage Season 2 Original Soundtrack Album features original score by returning composers Ali Shaheed Muhammad (A Tribe Called Quest) and Adrian Younge (Ghostface Killah, JAY-Z, Bilal, Souls of Mischief). Expanding upon the sound of the first season, the new album includes a rhythm section and orchestra along with what the composers call "symphonic reggae" -
"blending the soul of reggae music with an orchestra."
Showrunner and executive producer Cheo Hodari Coker offered the following description when talking about the soundtrack to
Marvel's Luke Cage Season 2:
“If Season 1 was about the hip-hop and the Wu-Tangification of the Marvel Universe, Season 2 is about the ROOTS of hip-hop: reggae and the blues. How both smashed up against each other to create the sonic backdrop of what we now know as hip-hop. The rhythmic stew of funk, rhythm and blues, soul, melded with the Jamaican ‘DJ’ tradition. Harlem’s Paradise, which is tied to the family legacy of both Mariah Dillard Stokes and John ‘Bushmaster’ McGiver, is where the musical sensibilities of both clash. One of the secrets of the show is whoever looks down at the club from Cottonmouth’s ‘perch’ controls the music of the club and has reign over Harlem.
“The music selection and the sequencing is a labor of love, and is one of the most important things I do as showrunner of this show. I love the fact that all of musical sensibilities meld with our storytelling and dramatic desires as a writer’s room, cast, and production crew. I get to be both John Wells and Quincy Jones.”
In addition to the score, the album also includes licensed tracks plus the song
“King’s Paradise,” performed in an episode by Rakim. R&B singer Joi is also featured in an episode performing
"Love You Forever Right Now." Blues guitarist Christone "Kingfish" Ingram also performs covers of the songs
"I Put a Spell on You," and
"The Thrill is Gone."
After clearing his name, Luke Cage has become a celebrity on the streets of Harlem with a reputation as bulletproof as his skin. But being so visible has only increased his need to protect the community and find the limits of who he can and can’t save. With the rise of a formidable new foe, Luke is forced to confront the fine line that separates a hero from a villain.
Marvel’s Luke Cage Season 2 Original Soundtrack Album will be available for
download and at
streaming services on June 22, the same day the new season debuts on Netflix.