Wednesday, October 5, 2016

“Long Live The Chief”: ‘Luke Cage’ Just Gave Hip Hop Star Jidenna A Super Big Stage

One of the best parts of Luke Cage is how it seamlessly adds hip hop into the Marvel Universe. Every episode is named for a Gang Starr track, Method Man plays himself, and Harlem’s Paradise hosts a who’s who of hip hop and R&B legends. However, one up-and-comer has taken his slot at the fictional club and turned it into a breakthrough moment. Jidenna‘s powerful performance of “Long Live the Chief” in Episode Five, “Just To Get A Rep” had even the most casual hip hop fans sitting up to take note of his name.


“Long Live the Chief” actually came out last fall — along with a slick music video – but it doubles as the title track for Jidenna’s debut album, which is set to come out later this fall. Early reviews for Long Live The Chief are already strong. Jidenna has the support of such popular acts as label-mate Janelle Monae and has a witty and articulate style that eagerly betrays his top notch education. (The line “But I still rejected Harvard” is a reference to the fact that the rapper attended Stanford University – also the alma mater of Luke Cage creator and showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker.)


Jidenna is also making waves for himself this week on the heels of a rather explosive cypher performance for the BET Hip Hop Awards. See, Jidenna dropped a line that implies he may be queer (or that he doesn’t care if you’re speculating about his sexuality.) Decider contributor Erika Ramirez tweeted about it:

In any event, Jidenna is poised to take over the music industry this season. His stint in Marvel’s Luke Cage was clearly just a warm up for the total domination to come.
You can stream “Long Live the Chief” on Spotify.


[Watch Jidenna in the opening moments of Marvel’s Luke Cage, “Just to Get A Rep” on Netflix]

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