The soundtrack to the new Hollywood blockbuster combines the orchestral film score by the legendary German composer Hans Zimmer and contemporary music, spanning hip hop, Afrobeats, Country and Electronic Dance Music.
The first single from the album Lose My Mind by American rappers Don Toliver and Doja Cat was released in April this year as a prelude to the movie, which premiered internationally on June 25th.
The soundtrack is a star-studded affair, from Ed Sheeran with the rock edged tune Drive, to the Nigerian super star Burna Boy’s Amapiano flavoured Don’t Let Me Drown produced and co-written by Los Angeles based Zimbabwean producer Munashe Kugarakuripi (Kooldrink).
Another Afrobeats star Mr. Eazi contributes the infectious highlife song Attention and Nigerian-born British artist Darkoo is fine form on Give Me Love. The soulful Grandma Calls the Boy Bad News by British music sensation Raye is pleasantly charming, and country star Chris Stapleton delivers a hard rocking guitar in Bad as I Used to Be. Other highlights are Baja California by Puerto Rican rapper Myke Towers and OMG by Dutch DJ Tiesto.
Of course, Hans Zimmer, no stranger to F1 scores having produced the music for the film Rush in 2013, creates big anthemic tunes and the title track F1 is what he describes as a hybrid between electronica and orchestra.
Barbra Streisand
The Secret of Life: Partners, Vol 2
In the 1970s, Bob Dylan had proposed a duet with his fellow New Yorker Barbra Streisand but she reportedly demurred. Fast forward more than five decades later and the two musical icons have eventually recorded their first ever collaboration on the new album by Streisand.
The 37th studio album by the 83-year-old, one of the most decorated artistes of all time, is a prequel to 2014’s Partners and also contains romantic duets with different pop stars across the generations.
There is an eye-catching duet with Dylan on a rendition of the classic The Very Thought of You, which opens with a harmonica solo transitioning to a soft strings arrangement that allows the two revered voices to complement each other gorgeously.
My Valentine pairs Streisand with another legend, the former Beatle Paul McCartney, while there is a cross generational collaboration with Mariah Carey and Ariana Grande on One Heart, One Voice.
Streisand has explained why the idea of recording with her younger compatriots felt inevitable as a theme of female empowerment. “The lyrics ‘we’ve got every right to make a choice’ resonated with me,” she posted on Instagram. “The song became a vehicle for three strong-willed women to join in voice and purpose.”
Country star Tim McGraw lends his vocals to I Love Us, British soul singer Sam Smith proves a worthy duet partner on the beautiful To Lose You Again and Sting joins Streisand for a version of his lyrically powerful 1987 song Fragile.
Gregory Isaacs
The African Museum & Tad’s Collection Vol 3
July 15th will mark what would have been the 75th birthday of one of the most exquisite voices of Jamaican music. Coinciding with that anniversary is a new career retrospective of the Cool Ruler of Reggae, Gregory Isaacs, with three discs of 39 songs and playing time of just under three hours.
It is a real treat for the fans of the singer who died in 2010 with timeless favourites – Sad to Know (You’re Leaving), Lover Overdue, Objection Overruled, Material Man, The Border (Night Nurse), the song he is best known is on the second volume of the compilation released in 2011).
African Museum is the label Isaacs co-founded with fellow singer Errol Dunkley in 1973, while Tad’s is an independent label based in Kingston which also released many of his hit songs.
This month, one of the biggest events in Jamaica, the Reggae Sumfest will present a “Tribute to the Legends” celebrating the music of Gregory Isaacs, his close friend and collaborator Dennis Brown, Cocoa Tea and other departed giants who have shaped the island’s much loved music landscape.
The Whispers
Greatest Hits
Fans of soul music have been paying tribute to Walter Scott Jr, one of the founders of the legendary band The Whispers, who died at age 81, on June 26, 2025 after a battle with cancer.
The quintet whose heyday in the early to mid 1980s was centered around Scott and his identical twin, Wallace, treating a whole generation with their elegant harmonies and slick dance routines (remember, the TV shows, Soul Train and Solid Gold?)
The news of the singer’s passing has led to a resurgence in the streaming of their catalogue among their older fans and younger folks interested in discovering the magic of a bygone era.
This 2018 compilation of the greatest hits by the Whispers contains classic soul/disco anthems like And the Beat Goes On,It’s a Love Thing,In the Raw, and Rock Steady.
