One of the most interesting little tidbits about Netflix’s upcoming Luke Cage series is that every episode is named after a song by Gang Starr, a very influential rap duo that influenced East Coast hip-hop in the late ‘80s/early ‘90s. For showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker, having an authentic soundtrack for the series, one that was inspired by Harlem, was one of the most important facets of the series.
In a mini-documentary series from Netflix, the music behind Luke Cage is explored a little more in-depth. The video, which can be seen above, features interviews with Method Man of Wu-Tang Clan, A$AP Ferg (of A$AP Mob) and members of the music supervision department, including Adrian Younge of A Tribe Called Quest. The music supervisors go into detail about the songs they picked and creating original music for the series, whereas Method Man and A$AP Ferg talk about the importance of having a superhero reflect their culture.
One of the most interesting revelations in the video is Coker talking about how, aside from the cultural significance, the rhythm of hip-hop fits the show. According to Coker, the speed and flow of hip-hop best symbolized the way a fight with Cage would occur in the show.
"One of the things that I was explaining was the speed of hip-hop," Coker says. "It happens at the speed of thought, so if you really ran into Luke and then all of a sudden ‘boom,’ there’s going to be a beat. That’s all it takes."
This is the first part of the series, called "Street Level Hero," with more scheduled to be released leading up to Luke Cage’s premiere on Sept. 30.
