One of the really cool things about Marvel's new superhero team-up series The Defenders is that although four very different heroes are joining forces to fight a scary new big bad, the show never loses the distinct flavors of each of the standalone series that came before it. So when the show transitions from a scene in which Daredevil grapples with returning to vigilantism to Jessica Jones hunting down clues for her latest case, it really does feel like you're switching from the gritty seriousness of Daredevil to the streetwise candor of Jessica Jones. The clearest indication of this is when we go up to Harlem and hear the music in Luke Cage's scenes. The first episode of The Defenders features a song played in Cole's apartment many viewers will probably want to find and download.
In the same way that Luke Cage was heavily influenced by hip-hop music and featured on-screen performances from artists like Faith Evans, Method Man, and Jidenna, Cage's solo scenes at the beginning of The Defenders are no different. Shortly after Cage returns to Harlem from his stint in jail, he sets off on a mission to save a rebellious kid named Cole from a mysterious new job that has resulted in the deaths of a number of Harlem kids.
When Cage walks into Cole's apartment, the song he's blasting from his room becomes the score to the scene. The hard-hitting rap track is called "Know What I Know" by California rapper Lou U. You can check it out on Spotify below.
Although we don't get as many jams as we did in Luke Cage (it's pretty hard for any show to compete with that killer soundtrack), Cage's solo scenes in Harlem before he teams up with his fellow Defenders are just as filled with catchy new music as his standalone series was.
