Which songs set the tone for the second season of Dear White People? Based on his 2014 film of the same name, Justin Simien brought Dear White People to the small screen via Netflix which has so far aired three critically acclaimed seasons of the satirical comedy-drama. The college campus-set show takes place at the fictional Winchester University – a prestigious and predominantly white Ivy League school – and chronicles the experiences of a group of black students, including activist Sam (Logan Browning), budding politician Troy (Brandon P. Bell) and college newspaper reporter Lionel (DeRon Horton).
In the second season of Dear White People, the black students at Winchester University had to deal with a mysterious racist alt-right Twitter troll whose eventual identity reveal came as a shock to many viewers. Elsewhere in season 2, Sam and Lionel started investigating the existence of another mysterious entity – the Order of X, an all-black secret university society.
Just as with the first season of the show, the Dear White People season 2 soundtrack boasted a smorgasbord of great tracks, spanning a range of genres and decades and featuring the likes of Erykah Badu, DeJ Loaf and Tyler, The Creator. Here’s a list of every song featured in Dear White People’s second season, episode by episode.
“Chapter I”
- Galimatias – ‘Blowback’ DeJ Loaf – ‘Changes’ Tyler, The Creator – ‘I Ain’t Got Time!’ Luciano Pavarotti – ‘Nessun Dorma’ Malmo Symphony Orchestra & Bjarte Engeset – ‘In The Hall Of The Mountain King’ The Addicts Rehabilitation Center Choir – ‘Walk With Me’
“Chapter II”
- Toulouse – ‘Hurtin ‘ Jorja Smith – ‘On My Mind’ Louis Cole – ‘Blimp’ Erykah Badu & James Poyser – ‘Tyrone’ Moses Sumney – ‘Quarrel’ Jaden – ‘Watch Me’ Passion Victim & Muchacho Major – ‘Que Paso’
“Chapter III”
- Zack Villere – ‘Cool’ Andy Williams – ‘Can’t Get Used to Losing You’ Louis The Child – ‘It’s Strange (feat. K.Flay)’ Leaf – ‘FWM (Lie to Me)’ Gavin Turek – ‘Frontline’ Bbymutha – ‘Indian Hair’ Dai Burger – ‘Dolla Slice’ Brockhampton – ‘Face’ Kris Bowers – ‘What’s Stopping Us’ Cole Porter – ‘I’ve Got You Under My Skin’
“Chapter IV”
- Still Woozy – ‘Goodie Bag’ Kelela – ‘Bluff’ The Trak Kartel – ‘Memory’ Ruth B. – ‘Shadows’ Hatin Toney – ‘Fall Out’
“Chapter V”
- Zebra Katz & Njena Reddd Foxxx – ‘Ima Read’ Marc E. Bassy – ‘Plot Twist (feat. Kyle)’ Kris Bowers – ‘It Just Us’ Kris Bowers – ‘New Friends’
“Chapter VI”
- tobi lou – ‘Txt Me’ Shamir – ‘90’s Kids’ Namesake – ‘Vroom Vroom (feat. pinkcaravan! & Sam Stan)’ Dune & Crayon – ‘So Bad’ Andy Mineo – ‘Dunk Contest (Magic Bird)’
“Chapter VII”
- The Cool Kids – ‘Get Out the Bowl’ Mitya – ‘1 Life Is Not Enough’ All Cows Eat Grass – ‘Daydream (Pasture Sessions)’ Millie Jackson – ‘Phuck U Symphony’ Mayer Hawthorne – ‘Where Does This Door Go’
“Chapter VIII”
- John Patrick Amedori – ‘Bad and The Unknown Grey’ Someone – ‘Forget Forgive’
“Chapter IX”
- CeCe Peniston – ‘Finally’ Al Hazan – ‘I Wanna Be There’ Kris Bowers – ‘The Bell Tower’ Kris Bowers – ‘What’s Stopping Us’
“Chapter X”
- E.R. – ‘Still Down’ Kučka – ‘Honey (Medasin Remix)’ Leven Kali – ‘Yours’ Jidenna – ‘Decibels’ Dune x Crayon – ‘So Bad’ The Mariinsky Orchestra & Valery Gergiev – ‘Arabian Dance (From The Nutcracker)'
Dear White People’s season 2 soundtrack is a musical backdrop carefully curated by creator Justin Simien and music supervisor Morgan Rhodes, who has also worked on the soundtracks of Ava DuVernay’s Selma and forthcoming, long-awaited sequel Space Jam 2. Season 2 also reunited Simien and Rhodes with Julliard-trained pianist and composer Kris Bowers. Alongside crafting Dear White People’s musical score, Bowers’ other work includes composing scores for When They See Us and For The People. Cast member John Patrick Amedori, who plays Sam’s former flame Gabe Mitchell, contributed to Dear White People’s season 2 soundtrack too with the song ‘Bad and The Unknown Grey’.
As for the future of Dear White People – well, there’s good news and bad news. The good news is the hit Netflix show will return for a fourth season, but the bad news is season 4 will be its last. While it’s a shame that Dear White People is coming to an end, the show will surely go out with a bang and - if past seasons are anything to go by – it’ll feature a brilliant soundtrack too.
Next: What To Expect From Dear White People Season 4
