The best thing about shows that feature original music in their storylines is that we get to buy the songs and bop along to them whenever we want. It’s true with Nashville, and it’s definitely the case with Empire, which returned for its third season on Wednesday, Sept. 21. The series has introduced a number of soundtracks in its first two seasons, and I'm sure that as soon as you watched the season premiere, you wanted to know how to download the Empire Season 3 soundtrack.
Suffice it to say that the cast has the chops to back up the Timbaland-produced music, and fans seem to like it — Empire: Original Soundtrack from Season 1, which was its first soundtrack released, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart when it was released in March 2015. To put this in perspective, Madonna’s Rebel Heart came out the same week, and Empire pushed the Queen of Pop into the number two spot on the chart. Empire: Original Soundtrack from Season 1 sold nearly 110,000 units in its first week, which is great for the soundtrack to a TV drama.
So where is the soundtrack for Season 3, which is bound to be another success? Well, it’s not out yet, but in looking at when the other soundtracks were released, I'd like to make an educated guess. Season 1's soundtrack came out in March 2015 (though the show premiered in January). Season 2 released two soundtracks, and the first was released in November 2015 and the second in April 2016. If Empire continues to do two volumes per season, I'm going to venture a guess that we'll see the first volume of music from Empire Season 3 before 2016 is over. Luckily, the show has released a few singles from Season 3 to give us fans a little taste — let’s take a look (and listen) at what to expect on the next soundtrack.
"Factz"
Ah, another song by Hakeem that brags about how awesome he is. I know he’s on this quest to distinguish himself from his father and his family and all that, but now that he has a family of his own (he’s the father of Anika’s baby, which is so I-can’t-even), maybe he should be focusing on that. You don’t always have to be loud, Hakeem — sometimes silence and responsibility are more powerful than diss tracks.
“Free Freda (Need Freedom)”
If you’re a dedicated Empire viewer, you’ll remember that Freda Gatz shot Jamal last season. She really meant to shoot Lucious, because he killed her father in prison, but collateral damage and all that. Instead of being angry, Jamal wrote a song because he doesn’t really think Freda should be in jail — all of this, like most things on Empire, is Lucious’ fault. Leave it to Jamal to be the reasonable one, even when he's been the victim of violence.
"Need Freedom"
OK, this is basically the same song, but this time, only Jamal is singing, whereas "Free Freeda" has Nessa, Empire Entertainment's newest talent (thanks to Shyne and his hand-breaking ways) on vocals. Whoever is performing it, "Need Freedom" is powerful commentary on #BlackLivesMatter and racism.
The Empire Season 3 soundtrack may not be ready yet, but if its predecessors and these tracks are any indication, it's going to be awesome.
Image: Chuck Hodes/FOX
