After securing a number of guest stars to perform live in the fictional Harlem’s Paradise nightclub in the first season of Luke Cage, creator Cheo Hodari Coker has revealed to Billboard that he has lined up an impressive array of R&B artists for the second season of the Marvel show.
In addition to the returning Faith Evans, we can expect to see guest appearances from Joi & D-Nice, Gary Clark Jr., Esperanza Spalding, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Ghostface Killah, Stephen Marley, Jadakiss, KRS-One and Rakim.
The latter will also perform an original composition, with Coker stating: “Not only do we have [Rakim] on Luke Cage, we have him performing a song about Luke Cage. It’s manna from heaven.”
SEE ALSO: Marvel’s Luke Cage season 2 gets a poster and trailer
Coker went on to explain that he found it difficult to secure musical guests for the first season, but had his choice of acts for season two: “The show wasn’t a home run in terms of the music community [on season one]. There were a lot of questions. No other Marvel show had featured [live] music. When you say, ‘We’re going to shoot you like no one else has shot you on a show,’ and you can show long tracking shots of Raphael Saadiq or you can show the intercut footage of Sharon Jones, they were like, ‘We have to do the show.'”
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.
Luke Cage season 2 is set to arrive on Netflix on June 22nd and features a cast that includes Mike Colter (Luke Cage), Simone Missick (Misty Knight), Rosario Dawson (Claire Temple), Alfre Woodard (Mariah Dillard), Theo Rossi (Shades), Finn Jones (Iron Fist), Thomas Q. Jones (Comanche), Gabrielle Dennis (Tilda Johnson), Mustafa Shakir (John McIver/Bushmaster), Reg E. Cathey (James Lucas) and Anabella Sciorra (Rosalie Carbone).
