As far as movie soundtracks go, The Great Gatsby’s is right up there – its tracklist was packed with certified bangers from Beyoncè, Lana Del Rey,
Florence + the Machine, Will.I.Am *deep breath* Fergie,
Gotye, Kanye West,
Jay Z,
Alicia Keys,
The XX, Sia.
Florence + the Machine, Will.I.Am *deep breath* Fergie,
Gotye, Kanye West,
Jay Z,
Alicia Keys,
The XX, Sia.
And because Baz Luhrmann is Baz Luhrmann, the OST for his latest musical extravaganza / Netflix‘s newest original series ‘The Get Down’ (you can stream eps 1 – 6 now) – a breakneck bio of sex, drugs, gang violence and music in ’70s The Bronx – is of equal footing.
It would’ve been easy enough for Baz & co. to slap together a soundtrack packed with the biting hip-hop / disco hits of the decade, from the likes of Donna Summers, The Trammp and Garland Jeffreys, but instead we get a 13-track album (24 on the ~deluxe~) that’s the best from any show in recent memory.
Everyone is on this thing: Nas – also exec producer on the show – Miguel, Raury, Christina Aguilera, Zayn Malik, Leon Bridges, Grandmaster Flash, Malay, Nile Rodgers, Janelle Monáe and more.
So how did Nas come to lead the entire soundtrack when he originally only signed on as a producer? Some fancy footwork by Baz, he told PEDESTRIAN.TV when we visited the show’s set in Queens.
“I think Baz always had in the back of his mind that he wanted me to do music and it just began to develop more and more, and I felt like it was just natural – the music ideas flowed easily.”
Also peppered throughout the OST are cameos by some of the talented cast, including Jaden Smith, who plays sexually fluid graffiti artist Dizzee and opens the soundtrack rapping: “This ain’t Disneyland, this is the Bronx. Either you be strong or you be gone,” he throws down.
Exclusive rights to The Get Down soundtrack was part of a pretty big deal Apple Music inked with Netflix – along with Vols 1 & 2 of the ‘Stranger Things’ soundtrack – but it’s just now been released on Spotify, which is good news for those of us without a subscription.
Take a geez at the full, and very impressive, official tracklist:
Highlights:
– “Losing Your Mind”, a collab between Jaden and the ever-amazing Raury – to a fat sample of ‘Vitamin C’ by Can, produced to perfection by Frank Ocean fave Malay.
– “Cadillac”, Miguel’s sexy AF toe-tapper that you’ll have ringing in your ears all day.
– “You Can’t Hide/You Can’t Hide From Yourself (Touch Of Class GMF Remix)”, in which Zayn lends his pipes to Grandmaster Flash’s remix of a disco classic.
– “Black Man In A White World (Ghetto Gettysburg Address)”, a collab b/w Nas and Brit artist Michael Kiwanuka, with powerful lyrics relating to race relations in 1977.
CHOONES.
Stream all 12 eps of Part One of ‘The Get Down’ on Netflix now; netflix.com.au. Part Two is coming in 2017.
Photo: Netflix.
