EXCLUSIVE! ‘Cross’ Series: Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Adrian Younge To Release Score To Hit Series!
November 22, 2024
Soundtracks, Scores and More Staff
Lakeshore Records is CROSS—Prime Video Original Series Soundtrack available digitally today, November 22, featuring music by Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Adrian Younge. The darkly hued beat-driven score provides a vividly ominous backdrop to the crime thriller series based upon the characters from James Patterson’s best-selling Alex Cross book series. From Paramount Television Studios and Skydance Television, CROSS, starring Aldis Hodge, is streaming now on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide. We are thrilled to share the track, “He Thinks He’s An Artist” from the soundtrack:
Notes Younge: “The Alex Cross score was an amazing experience for us as we were allowed to be true artisans, creating the sonic landscape for the show. I mean…how many times do composers get a chance to create funky, cinematic and soulful music for thrillers featuring black leads? We are grateful for the experience and hope the fans enjoy the show.”
Adds Shaheed Muhammad: “Scoring Alex Cross was as thrilling a journey as the series itself. Ben encouraged Adrian and me to explore boundless creative freedom, and we dug ourselves in the music with the same passion as when digging through record crates—each note layered to reflect the depth of the story. We hope crime thriller enthusiasts feel every twist and turn as vividly as we did.”
Since its release, Cross: Season 1 has become the No. 1 hit series on Prime Video with over 25 million viewers streaming the show!
Alex Cross is a detective and forensic psychologist, uniquely capable of digging into the psyches of killers and their victims, in order to identify—and ultimately capture—the murderers. Hodge stars in the series and also serves as a producer. CROSSs also stars Isaiah Mustafa, Juanita Jennings, Alona Tal, Samantha Walkes, Caleb Elijah, Melody Hurd, Jennifer Wigmore, Eloise Mumford, and Ryan Eggold.
Ben Watkins serves as showrunner and executive produces the series via his Blue Monday Productions banner. Sam Ernst, Jim Dunn, and Craig Siebels also executive produce, with James Patterson, Bill Robinson, and Patrick Santa executive producing for James Patterson Entertainment. David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, and Bill Bost are executive producing for Skydance Television.
Listen Now: [Purchase/ Stream]
Track List
01. Searching The Premises
02. Chasing Tavio
03. Cross Notices Something
04. Your Face Needs To Be Fuller
05. He Thinks He’s An Artist
06. Died In His Arms
07. Life’s Fitful Fever
08. Black Tie Event
09. Looking For Jannie
10. Who Did This?
11. Flowers And Snow
12. Being Followed
13. He Met A Murderer
14. None Of The Names Matched
15. DNA Matches
16. The Next Step
17. The Biggest Gator
18. Birthday Cake
19. Drugged
20. We’ll Get It Right This Time
21. Rescue
22. Basement
23. I Wanted It To Be You
24. Driving To Cabin
25. Up In Flames
26. You’re A Hero
27. A Different Spin
ABOUT ALI SHAHEED MUIHAMMAD
DJ/Producer and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Ali Shaheed Muhammad is a hip-hop icon. As one-third of legendary hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest, his influence and impact on the musical landscape is still felt today. The soft-spoken and contemplative Brooklyn native began a life of music at an early age, spending years DJing parties in his Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood before co-founding Tribe in 1985. The group’s socially conscious lyrics and unique production style is as innovative today as it was two decades ago.
Muhammad carried that classic sound into the production unit The Ummah with Jay Dilla and Q-Tip, and continued working with artists including Faith Evans, Mos Def, and D’Angelo. In 1999, he co-founded the GRAMMY-nominated all-star trio Lucy Pearl with Dawn Robinson, formerly of En Vogue, and Raphael Saadiq, of Tony! Toni! Toné! After Lucy Pearl, Muhammad focused his attention on his production company and developing new talent.
In 2004, he released the very personal and adventurous solo debut LP Shaheedulah and Stereotypes, featuring some of his new proteges. Working on material for a follow-up, Muhammad set up a studio with Martin “Doc” McKinney of Esthero and Weeknd fame, and continued writing and collaborating with other artists as well.
In 2013, Muhammad received an invitation from Adrian Younge to work on fellow Golden Era legends Souls of Mischief’s There Is Only Now, where he narrated the album, playing as well as providing background music to accompany the narration. Excited to support the album, Muhammad got to work on a ten-track remix album that carefully re-imagined the original. Looking for a different mix and sound, Muhammad shares, “I wanted to make it as emotional and moving as the original compositions. So even though it’s a remix, it has the feeling of an original work, bringing something else to the sound.”
In 2017, Muhamad and Adrian Younge formed the band, The Midnight Hour. In addition to musical releases and touring, they’ve teamed to score a myriad of television and film projects: Marvel’s Luke Cage (Netflix), Raising Kanan (Starz), The Equalizer (CBS), Reasonable Doubt (Hulu), Run This Town (2019), Washington Black (2023), Boogie (2021), and Bitchin’, The Sound and Fury of Rick James (2021).
In 2019, Younge, Muhammad, Andrew Lojero and Adam Block created Jazz Is Dead (JID), a multimedia company specializing in the production of live concerts, studio albums, television and film. JID concerts have earned an ever-growing fanbase through national and international tours. Under the label, Younge and Muhammad have produced albums with their musical heroes including luminaires such as Roy Ayers, Lonnie Liston Smith, Gary Bartz, Jean Carne, João Donato and Marcos Valle.
ABOUT ADRIAN YOUNGE
Adrian Younge is a self-taught multi-instrumentalist, composer, and orchestrator who has produced for entertainment greats such as Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar and Wu Tang Clan.
In 2007, Younge relinquished his position as a professor of law to find himself at the center of the Black Dynamite phenomenon. He served as the film’s editor and composer. Hailed as a modern blaxploitation masterpiece, the soundtrack was listed in the top 10 best soundtracks of the year by the LA Times.
In 2011, Younge created the album, Something About April, showcasing a dark mix of psychedelic soul and cinematic instrumentals. In 2013, the project was sampled twice by Timbaland for Jay-Z’s Magna Carta… Holy Grail, solidifying Younge as a new sound in hip hop. Younge’s work has also been sampled by various artists including No I.D., DJ Premier, Schoolboy Q, and more.
Younge owns and operates Linear Labs, a recording studio and label. Linear Labs reflects his dedication to the art of analog recording, utilizing analog tape and live instrumentation exclusively. Under the label, he’s produced projects for artists such as Ghostface Killah, Souls of Mischief, and The Delfonics.
In 2017, Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad (A Tribe Called Quest) formed the band, The Midnight Hour. In addition to musical releases and touring, they’ve teamed to score a myriad of television and film projects: Marvel’s Luke Cage (Netflix), Raising Kanan (Starz), The Equalizer (CBS), Reasonable Doubt (Hulu), Run This Town (2019), Washington Black (2023), Boogie (2021), and Bitchin’, The Sound and Fury of Rick James (2021). Younge has also scored Black Dynamite (2009), Black Dynamite animated series (2012), California King (2023), The Big Payback (2023), Queens (ABC), All Rise (OWN), and Human Footprint (PBS).
In 2019, Younge, Muhammad, Andrew Lojero and Adam Block created Jazz Is Dead (JID), a multimedia company specializing in the production of live concerts, studio albums, television and film. JID concerts have earned an ever-growing fanbase through national and international tours. Under the label, Younge and Muhammad have produced albums with their musical heroes including luminaires such as Roy Ayers, Lonnie Liston Smith, Gary Bartz, Jean Carne, Marcos Valle and Tony Allen.
In February 2021, Younge released the seminal album, The American Negro, his most important work to date. This project, in tandem with his Amazon original podcast, Invisible Blackness and short film TAN, provides an unapologetic critique on the evolution of racism in America. The podcast features conversations with guests such as Chuck D, Roy Choi, Dr. Melina Abdullah, Wayne Brady and Mahershala Ali. For Younge, the message is more important than the music.
ABOUT PARAMOUNT TELEVISION STUDIOS/CBS STUDIOS
Paramount Television Studios (PTVS), which has been incorporated into CBS Studios, has produced a wide range of entertaining television programs for streaming including The Haunting of Hill House, Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, Reacher, and the upcoming CROSS and Before, among others. CBS Studios is one of the world’s leading producers of entertainment programming, with dozens of globally popular series for broadcast and streaming, including genre-defining franchises such as NCIS and the Star Trek universe, fan-favorite comedies such as Frasier and Ghosts, the newly reimagined Matlock, and buzzy international and local productions such as Colin From Accounts and upcoming King & Conqueror.
ABOUT SKYDANCE TELEVISION
Skydance Television is a leading supplier of premium scripted content across a range of platforms including Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV+, producing some of their most successful series including the Emmy-nominated series Grace and Frankie, which became Netflix’s longest running series following the release of its final season, as well as Foundation, Reacher, Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, The Big Door Prize, and FUBAR. The studio’s upcoming series include CROSS, Neuromancer, The Runarounds, an untitled comedy series starring Matthew McConoughey and Woody Harrelson, an action-adventure series starring Octavia Spencer and Hannah Waddingham, and a drama series starring Tim McGraw set in the world of competitive bull-riding.
Skydance is the diversified media company founded by David Ellison in 2010 to create high-quality, event-level entertainment for global audiences. The company first launched with Feature Films and has since strategically expanded to include Television, Interactive, Animation, New Media and Sports, with studios in Los Angeles, Silicon Valley, Spain and Canada.
ABOUT BLUE MONDAY PRODUCTIONS
Founded by Ben Watkins and his wife Kandi, Blue Monday Productions was established with a dedication to exceptional storytelling and commitment to community service. In addition to CROSS, Blue Monday has a significant slate of upcoming projects in development. Their Breakthrough Artist Program – a three-month paid apprenticeship for writing, producing and/or directing – focuses on increasing access and accelerating the learning curve for artists who have demonstrated exceptional talent, a commitment to community, and giving back.
