Luke Cage (season 1)

The first season of the American streaming television series Luke Cage, which is based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, follows a former convict with superhuman strength and unbreakable skin who fights crime in Harlem, New York. It is set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), sharing continuity with the films and other television series of the franchise. The season was produced by Marvel Television in association with ABC Studios, with Cheo Hodari Coker serving as showrunner.

Mike Colter stars as Cage, reprising his role from the series Jessica Jones. He is joined by principal cast members Mahershala Ali, Simone Missick, Theo Rossi, Erik LaRay Harvey, Rosario Dawson, and Alfre Woodard. Luke Cage entered development in late 2013, and Colter was cast, to appear in Jessica Jones and star in Luke Cage, in December 2014. Production took place in New York City from September 2015 to March 2016, with the season exploring race and politics while looking to replicate the atmosphere and culture of Harlem. Coker especially emphasized the use of music: Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad composed a "'90s hip-hop" score; various artists give onscreen performances in the fictional nightclub Harlem's Paradise throughout the season; and each episode is named after a Gang Starr song. Visual effects, including for the depiction of Cage's abilities, were provided by FuseFX.

The first two episodes of the season premiered in Harlem on September 28, 2016, with the full season of 13 episodes released on Netflix on September 30 to an estimated high viewership—it was believed to become the fourth most-viewed season on Netflix within 30 days of its release—and positive reviews, particularly for the first 7 episodes. Critics praised the cast, especially the performances of Ali and Woodard, as well as the music and general style. Its pacing and some writing were viewed as some of the season's shortcomings. The series' approach to racial issues was discussed by many commentators. The season won several awards, including a Primetime Emmy Award. A second season of Luke Cage was ordered on December 3, 2016.

## Episodes

## Cast and characters

### Main

- Mike Colter as Luke Cage
- Mahershala Ali as Cornell "Cottonmouth" Stokes
- Simone Missick as Misty Knight
- Theo Rossi as Hernan "Shades" Alvarez
- Erik LaRay Harvey as Willis Stryker / Diamondback
- Rosario Dawson as Claire Temple
- Alfre Woodard as Mariah Dillard

### Recurring

- Frank Whaley as Rafael Scarfe
- Ron Cephas Jones as Bobby Fish
- Jacob Vargas as Domingo Colon
- Darius Kaleb as Lonnie Wilson
- Jade Wu as Connie Lin
- Deborah Ayorinde as Candace Miller
- Justin Swain as Mark Bailey
- Jaiden Kaine as Zip
- Sean Ringgold as Sugar
- Dawn-Lyen Gardner as Megan McLaren
- Jeremiah Richard Craft as D.W. Griffith
- Michael Kostroff as Noah Burstein
- Tijuana Ricks as Thembi Wallace
- John Clarence Stewart as Alex Wesley
- Karen Pittman as Priscilla Ridley

### Notable guests

- Parisa Fitz-Henley as Reva Connors
- Rob Morgan as Turk Barrett
- Rachael Taylor as the voice of Trish Walker
- Danny Johnson as Benjamin Donovan
- Stephen Rider as Blake Tower

## Production

### Development

In October 2013, Marvel and Disney announced that Marvel Television and ABC Studios would provide Netflix with live action series centered around Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, and Luke Cage, leading up to a miniseries based on the Defenders. In December 2014, Mike Colter was cast as Cage, which was envisioned as a recurring role on Jessica Jones before headlining his own series. Netflix and Marvel announced that Cheo Hodari Coker would be the showrunner for Marvel's Luke Cage in late March 2015, after he pitched the series to Netflix as an examination of Harlem, "like what The Wire did for Baltimore." The season consists of 13 hour-long episodes.

### Writing

Each episode of the season is named after a Gang Starr song, with Coker wanting the full season to feel like an album of music, explaining, "When Prince put out an album, you would shut things out and listen to the whole thing" similarly to modern binge-watching of television series. Coker was inspired to name the episodes based on music by television producer Shonda Rhimes, who names each episode of Grey's Anatomy after a pop song. Coker chose the Gang Starr songs ahead of his first pitch meeting with Marvel Television head Jeph Loeb, to help organize his planned story arcs. He chose the songs based on their titles only, so each episode's events does not necessarily reflect the respective song's lyrics.

Loeb described the season as "a fugitive story", and "a story of redemption", and said it was about Luke Cage's "story and where he came from and, most importantly, where he's going" after telling an "early part of the middle" of his story on Jessica Jones. Colter noted that the series uses flashbacks to tell elements of the story like the previous Marvel Netflix shows. Coker described the series as "a powerful fusion of dark drama, hip-hop, and classic superhero action" and The Wire of Marvel Television. More specifically, Coker felt the season was a hip-hop Western, comparing it to Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy of films, with Cage the Man with No Name coming to a town, Harlem, where he is convinced to fight injustice. Coker further compared the characters Cottonmouth and Misty Knight to the resident villain and local law enforcement, respectively, of the Western genre, and described the Harlem's Paradise nightclub as the town's saloon.

The season picks up "a few months" after Jessica Jones, with Luke Cage trying to stay off the radar. The end of the second episode "get[s] this series into forward action mode [by making Cage] see that he couldn't just sit back and do nothing." Coker said the arc for Cage in the season was 'hero', and felt this was a more natural way of introducing the character than telling a traditional origin story as other Marvel properties have done. This also differentiated the show from the rest of the MCU. Coker had plotted the story of the first four episodes before the show's writers room began work, but had initially done so over two or three episodes, with the event at the end of the second episode originally taking place at the end of the first. Loeb and Marvel's Karim Zreik told Coker to slow the pace of the show down, which led to an approach that Coker compared to Unforgiven. Coker also planned the "rugpull" at the end of the seventh episode from his initial pitch, wanting the audience to feel the same way he had reading Alpha Flight \#12 which featured the death of Guardian.

Set in Harlem, rather than the Hell's Kitchen of the previous Marvel Netflix series, Colter described the season as "a completely different world". Marvel Comics' editor-in-chief Joe Quesada said that unlike the fictionalized version of Hell's Kitchen depicted in Daredevil and Jessica Jones, which was more inline with how it was when the comics were first written, the Harlem of Luke Cage represents the Harlem of "today", and is truer to the real-life modern New York. However, Colter admitted that the show's version of Harlem "does resemble Harlem of maybe ten years ago." Coker said that Harlem was a world for the series, but also about legacy. He wanted to replicate the experience of walking through Harlem and hearing different music coming from cars driving past and open windows, which he felt was unique to the neighborhood. Coker further described the Harlem's Paradise nightclub as the series' Iron Throne, and wanted it to "invoke the history of Harlem ... it's crime, politics, music, really the whole cornucopia of the black creative existence in one place."

Cage is seen wearing a black hoodie throughout the series, which, beyond being practical for a character trying to lie low, was a nod to Trayvon Martin and Black Lives Matter. Colter said it was meant to invoke "the idea that a black man in a hoodie isn't necessarily a threat. He might just be a hero." The series also features a political campaign with the slogan "Keep Harlem Black", "in the face of gentrification that threatens to homogenize Harlem's cultural history." Discussing these racial undertones, Coker asked, "how does the presence of a bulletproof black man change the ecosystem of a neighborhood? Not just in terms of the street-level crime. How do the cops react to someone like that? What are the ripple effects of doing that? That's one of the things I wanted to explore on the show". He did caution comparisons to recent headlines involving racial tension given when they had begun working on the show, stating that his focus had been on "identity", which he saw as a common element in all black art.

### Casting

The main cast for the season includes Colter as Cage; Mahershala Ali as Cornell "Cottonmouth" Stokes; Simone Missick as Misty Knight; Theo Rossi as Hernan "Shades" Alvarez; Erik LaRay Harvey as Willis Stryker / Diamondback, whose involvement was not officially announced by Marvel prior to the season's release, as he agreed not to do any publicity for the show to not "ruin the twist" of Stryker being the season's main villain; Rosario Dawson as Claire Temple, reprising her role from Daredevil and Jessica Jones; and Alfre Woodard as Mariah Dillard.

In September 2015, Frank Whaley was cast as Rafael Scarfe. Sean Ringgold and Karen Pittman were revealed to be involved in the series in March 2016, playing Sugar and Priscilla Ridley, respectively. Also recurring throughout the season are Ron Cephas Jones as Bobby Fish, Jacob Vargas as Domingo Colon, Darius Kaleb as Lonnie Wilson, Jade Wu as Connie Lin, Deborah Ayorinde as Candace Miller, Justin Swain as Mark Bailey, Jaiden Kaine as Zip, Dawn-Lyen Gardner as Megan McLaren, Jeremiah Richard Craft as D.W. Griffith, Michael Kostroff as Noah Burstein, Tijuana Ricks as Thembi Wallace, and John Clarence Stewart as Alex Wesley.

Several other actors also reprise roles from other Marvel Netflix shows: Parisa Fitz-Henley returns as Cage's deceased wife Reva Connors from Jessica Jones; Rob Morgan reprises the role of Turk Barrett from Daredevil; Rachael Taylor provides the voice of Trish Walker, who she plays in Jessica Jones, for a radio talk show; and Danny Johnson and Stephen Rider reprise their roles of Benjamin Donovan and Blake Tower from the second season of Daredevil.

### Design

Costume designer Stephanie Maslansky returned from the same role on Daredevil and Jessica Jones. Like the main characters of those shows, Cage has his own wardrobe evolution throughout the season after his initial look of T-shirts, jeans, leather jackets or an army jacket was introduced in Jessica Jones. The series opted to depict Cage in a Trayvon Martin-inspired hoodie, but introduces the character's classic costume for a brief flashback. Colter said that the costume, designed in the blacksploitation era, "is not made for serious moments", but the series was able to poke fun at it in the brief scene. In looking to pay homage to Cage's original costume with his updated clothing, Maslansky and Coker considered having him wear gold clothing, but thought that would be too on the nose and impractical for someone trying not to draw attention. Instead, Maslansky lined the insides of Cage's hoodies with yellow, so the color could frame the character's face in close ups. In contrast to Cage's hoodie, with jeans and T-shirts, many of the series' villains wear well-tailored suits. Stokes does this because he wants to present himself as "a wealthy, successful businessman", and wears a lot of suits from Dolce & Gabbana and Zegna. One of his suits for the show was custom made. To pay homage to the comics, Maslansky dressed Ali in a green suit for his introduction, using a subtle shade of green to avoid being flamboyant. The character subsequently is always wearing something green, like emerald earrings for one costume. The designer noted that many of these elements would not be noticed by the audience, but they made a difference to Ali when he was getting into character. For the character Shades, brands such as Hugo Boss, Helmut Lang, Prada, and Ferragamo were used "because he wasn't trying to hide who he was", while Misty Knight, in her final shot of the season, is shown wearing a version of her own iconic comic costume. That look includes leather pants and an "interesting cold-shoulder"-shaped top; a cream-colored top that fit that shape was found and dyed red for the scene.

The sets were designed and dressed to consist of strong colors that could be emphasized by the series' cinematography, to help differentiate the show from the noir look and tone of Jessica Jones. The nightclub Harlem's Paradise was intended to invoke the real-life Harlem nightclubs the Cotton Club and the Lenox Lounge, with production designer Loren Weeks, also returning from that capacity on Daredevil and Jessica Jones, taking specific inspiration from The Apollo and Smalls Paradise. Because of the series' filming schedule and Coker's desire to film live musical performances in the club, it was decided that filming in an actual nightclub would be unrealistic. A set was built for the location, with Weeks using an Art Deco style to give the club "a very distinctive look, and giving it an historical anchor", and indicate that it had been a successful club around the 1920s and 1930s and was now being refurbished as part of Stokes and Dillard's "New Harlem Renaissance". Weeks felt the building could be a metaphor for the political undercurrents of the series. Set decorator Alison Froling, whom Weeks worked with on the other Marvel Netflix series, furbished the Harlem's Paradise set with contemporary furniture, finishes, and lighting fixtures to contrast the older architectural design. The lounge side of the club features two murals by Archibald J. Motley, an artist from the original Harlem Renaissance. Coker insisted that the set for Pop's Barbershop be at street level, to connect it "both visually and geographically" with the Harlem street. For budget reasons, dressing an actual location as the barbershop was not going to work, but building a set to be at street level was also problematic since they would not be able to show people or cars driving past the window that you would see on an actual street. It was decided that a real location be found that is below street level so that scenes could be filmed on the street there, but would not have to match inside scenes filmed on the set because of the obstructed view of the street. To emphasize this, the set was built even lower than the actual store and a fake wall was added to the location. Coker instructed the series' prop master to carefully choose a selection of books to appear in Cage's bedroom, including Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man.

### Filming

Marvel announced in February 2014 that the series would be filmed in New York City, with Quesada stating in April that the show would be filming on location in addition to sound stage work. In July 2015, Loeb stated that Luke Cage was prepping to begin filming, and by September 2015, production had begun under the working title Tiara. Filming concluded in March 2016.

Filming took place in Harlem, including Lenox Avenue and areas where American Gangster was shot, the Mount Olivet Baptist Church, St. Nicholas Park, Jackie Robinson Park, Riverside Park, and the Riverside Drive Viaduct; in Washington Heights, including at the United Palace; Cortlandt Alley in Chinatown; in areas of Queens for when Cage escapes Seagate Prison and puts on the classic Power Man costume; the Roosevelt Island steam plant and Queens Detention Facility for interiors of Seagate; the Music Hall of Williamsburg for the exterior of Harlem's Paradise; the former Fulton Correctional Facility in The Bronx for the Crispus Attucks Complex; and the Long Island City portion of Newtown Creek. It was important to Coker for the series to film in Harlem, "the only place in the city where you see those wide boulevards. We really wanted to capture the color, the rhythm of the streets". For example, the production had the opportunity to film at a barbershop in Greenwich Village, which would have been much easier for the production, but Coker said "the opportunity to film it in Harlem was irresistible. I didn't want us to talk about Harlem and then not film" there. Soundstage filming took place at Broadway Stages in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. For the church that Cage and Temple visit in Savannah, Georgia, an abandoned church in The Bronx was found that was being sold, and the production was able to "graffiti up and sort of ruin" it. They also had to spend two days carting snow from the site before filming, after a recent blizzard.

Manuel Billeter served as director of photography for the series, after doing the same for Jessica Jones. He worked with director Paul McGuigan to establish the look of the show in the first two episodes, with Coker hiring McGuigan based on his direction of the Sherlock episode "A Scandal in Belgravia". Coker was delighted to learn how little CGI McGuigan used to craft the visuals of that episode, and wanted the same approach for Luke Cage, "just old school camera stuff. He brought a very analogue perspective, analogue feel to the show." McGuigan, Coker explained, directed "every scene [as] long takes, from multiple takes over and over again. We would run an entire eight-page scene almost like a play, so when it comes together it's seamless." McGuigan was inspired by the works of photographers Gordon Parks, Tony Ray-Jones, and Jack Garofalo. Billeter looked to differentiate the look of Luke Cage from Jessica Jones, using modified gels on lights, and saturating and warming colors in color correction to give Harlem a more glowing look. Coker noted that the series' has a color scheme of yellow, brown, amber, and gold, in contrast to the violet tint Billeter gave Jessica Jones to reflect that series' villain, the Purple Man. The series was shot on Netflix's standard 4K cameras, with Billeter pairing them with Panavision Primo lenses that were "custom treated with a reflective coating in between the glass elements in the interior of the lens, causing more flares and bringing down the contrast in addition to very slightly de-focusing them" in order to "add something magic, less controlled and more cinematic". Billeter filmed Colter with a lot of low angles to make him look "even more heroic", and kept the camera close to him with Harlem in the background so that Cage "is always the dominant force in his shots, but he also remains a part of the terrain. The shots aren't of him alone; they're of him in his home."

Cage's fight style in the series was called "smack-fu" by Coker, referring to the way he tried not to punch anybody since that would probably kill them with his super strength. To film the effect of bullets bouncing off of Cage, remote controlled devices were attached to Colter and operated by somebody behind the cameras. The devices could burn his skin if not attached properly, and Colter almost lost hearing in one ear after forgetting to insert the required ear pieces. The third episode begins with a couch coming out of the window of the fictional Crispus Attucks complex in Harlem. This was a tease of a large fight scene, the series' version of the 'superhero hallway fight' made famous in Daredevil. Filming for the fight was influenced by "Arnold Schwarzenegger's invading the police station in Terminator", and was one of the toughest sequences for the crew to shoot; it took a 14-hour day, and Colter attributed the successful completion of the sequence, including the couch shot, to director Guillermo Navarro. Colter also called the fourth episode particularly difficult to film, taking around 12 or 13 days to shoot. The episode was written by executive producer Charles Murray, who looked to organically transition the character's origin story from the original comics into the modern world of the series for the episode. This involved flashbacks with Colter in makeup and different costumes.

Scenes shot at the United Palace theater created new challenges for the series' stunt team due to not being able to drill holes in the historic building for creating anchors for wire rigs and other complex stunts. The crew had to find other ways to weigh down the equipment to remain safe for the actors and stunt doubles. For the explosion at the restaurant "Genghis Connie's", a practical explosion was created in the storefront on location, which was extended with visual effects to show the destruction of the building. A set showing the inside of the rubble of the destroyed building was then created on a soundstage, while a lot was found that "feels" similar to the original location, where rubble could by piled and fire trucks could be brought to show the exterior. The lot was previously being used to store vehicles that had been seized as evidence, with the production having to negotiate with the NYPD to have the vehicles moved elsewhere. Looking back on the filming style of the season, and comparing it to the previous Marvel Netflix series, Weeks said that the crew members working on each of the shows wanted them all to feel like they are set in the same city, but also for the world of each character to be distinct, and for this series they embraced Harlem "for exactly what it is" to differentiate the "visual identity. Some of that is lighting, and of course, some of that is production design and location work ... the color, the life, the activity on the streets. There's so much character to the neighborhood... I think it was important to feel that these characters were rooted in the real place".

The series' production sound mixer Joshua Anderson, who worked on Daredevil and Jessica Jones as well, worked to capture as much sound on set with boom mics over lavaliers to ground the unbelievable elements of the series in "naturalistic sound". He noted that Ali's Cottonmouth laugh and many of Colter's lines in particular sounded "incredible on the boom". Anderson also talked about Luke Cage adding a new layer of sound that the other series did not—music. The captured sound had to be clear to be properly mixed in with music later, and live performances in Harlem's Paradise had to be recorded for which Anderson and his team had experience after working on the musical series Smash.

### Visual effects

FuseFX provided 867 visual effects shots for the season, with a team of 15 to 20 members under FuseFX New York's production head and senior visual effects supervisor Greg Anderson. Anderson explained that the series' challenging schedule was made easier by the company's catalog of previously used digital assets and effect elements that can be reused, or partially reused, where appropriate in new projects. Several effects shots were created to show Cage's abilities, including a slow motion shot of a thug's fist collapsing into a compound fracture while punching Cage in the face. A standout effects sequence for the season was when Stokes fires a missile at a building, which took FuseFX 130 days to complete. It involved creating a CG building and integrating it into footage of a real New York City block, matching up with different camera angles and sources of light throughout the sequence. The effects team then had to digitally destroy the building, and create "a complex array of fireballs and falling debris".

### Music

In April 2016, Coker revealed that Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad were composing the series' score, describing it as "a confluence of multiple genres, a bit of ['90s] hip-hop, soul, psychedelic rock and classical". Younge and Muhammad composed the score as if they were creating 13 albums, one for each episode, with the music inspired by Wu-Tang Clan, Ennio Morricone, and Muhammad's group A Tribe Called Quest. The duo composed around twenty minutes of music for each episode, composing the entire season's score in nine months. Younge and Muhammad were encouraged to "push" the sound of the score as far as they could, and were allowed the use of a full, 30-piece orchestra for recording. They also arranged an original rap single, "Bulletproof Love", which features Method Man (who performs it in the show).

Songs from Mahalia Jackson, Nina Simone, John Lee Hooker ("It Serves You Right to Suffer" and "I'm Bad Like Jesse James"), Dusty Springfield ("Son of a Preacher Man"), and Wu-Tang Clan ("Bring da Ruckus") are used in the season. It also features onscreen performances by various artists as the live performances in the Harlem's Paradise nightclub, which Coker wanted to use to help capture the vibe of the neighborhood. Coker wanted Prince to perform at the nightclub for the season finale, before his death in April 2016. The "swear jar" that appears in the season was designed by Coker in hopes of convincing the artist to make the cameo appearance, as he was known to have a "swear jar" himself since he was a devout Jehovah's Witness. The role was ultimately filled by Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, which Coker said was "the better choice" because "that sequence is about Mariah being crowned." A soundtrack album for the season was released on October 7, digitally and pressed on yellow vinyl by Mondo.

Coker said that "one of the things that's really the cornerstone of '90s hip-hop is sampling, so we have a lot of influences that we wear openly", which he compared to the style of Quentin Tarantino. He continued, "I think what makes it feel new is the fact that we're showing you can be both. We're showing that you can do Ralph Ellison at the same times as you're doing Chester Himes." Coker was as specific with his choices of music in the season as "Martin Scorsese is with the rock 'n' roll references like in Casino or in Goodfellas", rather than just adding hip-hop music for the sake of it. He highlighted the use of "I'm Bad Like Jesse James" in the seventh episode, which he had been trying to use in something for 20 years, that "builds up and coincides with the explosion that happens on screen and it's so subtle. That's the kind of stuff I geek out over."

### Marvel Cinematic Universe tie-ins

Part of the series takes place simultaneously with the events of the second season of Daredevil. Throughout the season, the villains use Hammer Industries weapons to counter Cage's abilities. Justin Hammer and his company were introduced in Iron Man 2 (2010), and Hammer was last seen incarcerated in Seagate Prison in the Marvel One-Shot All Hail the King (2014); Seagate is depicted in Luke Cage, as the prison where Carl Lucas was sent and where there are rumored "millionaires hidden in the basement". The series references the events of The Avengers (2012) and members of that team, as well as the future Defenders and their own series. Specific mentions of the latter include Madame Gao's operations in Daredevil, the widely known villains Wilson Fisk and Frank Castle, and a flier for Colleen Wing's martial arts class, to then be introduced in Iron Fist.

## Marketing

The first trailer for the series debuted exclusively on Netflix, autoplaying after the final episode of the second season of Daredevil. In July 2016, Colter, Woodard, Ali, Rossi, Missick, Whaley, and Coker appeared at San Diego Comic-Con to promote the series and debut footage. At the end of August, Netflix released the first part of the "Street Level Hero" digital social video series. The series looked to "blend fiction with history by taking audiences behind the curtain on the themes that give the show its street-level authenticity and cultural relevance." The first part was centered on the music of the series, with commentary from Coker, Colter, composers Younge and Muhammad, A\$AP Ferg and Method Man. At the end of September, the second part of the "Street Level Hero" series was released, focusing on Harlem, with commentary from Coker, Colter, A\$AP Ferg, Method Man, and Harlem style icon Dapper Dan. On September 28, 2016, a premiere for the series was held at the AMC Magic Johnson in Harlem.

## Release

### Streaming

The first season of Luke Cage was released on September 30, 2016, on the streaming service Netflix worldwide, in Ultra HD 4K. The season was enhanced to be available in high dynamic range after its initial release by post-production vendor Deluxe. The 13 hour-long episodes were released simultaneously, as opposed to a serialized format, to encourage binge-watching, a format which has been successful for other Netflix series.

The season, along with the additional Luke Cage season and the other Marvel Netflix series, was removed from Netflix on March 1, 2022, due to Netflix's license for the series ending and Disney regaining the rights. The season became available on Disney+ in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand on March 16, ahead of its debut in Disney+'s other markets by the end of 2022.

### Home media

The season was released on DVD in Region 2 and Blu-ray in Region B on November 27, 2017, in Region 4 on December 6, 2017, and in Region 1 and Region A on December 12, 2017. In Region A, the season featured packaging designed by Quesada, and the bonus feature "Offstage at Harlem's Paradise", a roundtable discussion with Colter, Woodard, Rossi, and Missick discussing their time during filming on the season.

## Reception

### Audience viewership

As Netflix does not reveal subscriber viewership numbers for any of their original series, Symphony Technology Group compiled data for the season based on people using software on their phones that measures television viewing by detecting a program's sound. According to Symphony, Luke Cage opened stronger initially than the Netflix original series Making a Murderer and Stranger Things, but its performance over its first month fell short of both, comparatively. Symphony estimated that 6.34% of viewers age 18–49 were watching Luke Cage in an average minute in the first 32 days following its release, with Making a Murderer and Stranger Things seeing 9.1% and 9.81% of viewers, respectively. Symphony also estimated that 3.388 million viewers age 18–49 were watching an episode of Luke Cage over the average minute in its first weekend of release. The marketing analytics firm Jumpshot determined the season was the fourth-most viewed Netflix season in the first 30 days after it premiered, garnering 27% of the viewers that the second season of Daredevil received, which was the most viewed season according to Jumpstart. Jumpshot, which "analyzes click-stream data from an online panel of more than 100 million consumers", looked at the viewing behavior and activity of the company's U.S. members, factoring in the relative number of U.S. Netflix viewers who watched at least one episode of the season.

### Critical response

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 90% approval rating with an average rating of 8.00/10 based on 72 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "An immersive, socially conscious narrative and a confident, charismatic lead performance make Marvel's Luke Cage a stellar sampling of the new Marvel/Netflix universe." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 79 out of 100 based on 30 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Reviewing the first seven episodes of the season, Allison Keene of Collider awarded it 5 stars out of 5, describing the episodes as an "intimate" portrait of the Harlem culture, and noting that each character had distinct personalities and memorable moments. Keene specifically praised Colter. Mike Cecchini of Den of Geek spoke positively of the season, particularly the cast, atmosphere, and "willingness to go places that other Marvel Studios productions can't." He found Simone Missick to be the standout performer, praised the soundtrack which has "the most active role in a superhero production since Guardians of the Galaxy", and was equally impressed with the original score by Younge and Muhammad. However, Cecchini felt the season repeated some issues from previous Marvel Netflix series, such as the use of archetypes and monologues.

Deadline Hollywood's Dominic Patten called Luke Cage "one of the most socially relevant and smartest shows on the small screen you will see this year... the series reaches both back and forward into the culture of heroes and an America looking for a true game-changer." David Milner for Digital Spy was also positive about the season's exploration of African-American history, but felt Ali's Cottonmouth did not reach the heights of previous Marvel Netflix villains. Maureen Ryan of Variety felt the season "has a more than adequate supply of pleasures", with a strong cast that could overcome some of its issues including a "somewhat clunky pilot and a notable tendency to sprawl". Merrill Barr, writing for Forbes, called the season "another winner for Marvel and Netflix that shouldn't be missed," praising its story, twists, and "the 70s stylings that shake things up real well."

Giving the season 4.5 stars out of 5, CinemaBlend's Eric Eisenberg felt Luke Cage "has a unique flavor that could very well lead it to being called the best Netflix/Marvel series so far by the time its first season is over," a sentiment also shared by Helen O'Hara of The Daily Telegraph. Eisenberg also praised the members of the supporting cast, including Missick, Whaley, Frankie Faison as Pop, and Rossi, as well as Ali and Woodard as the main villains. Despite "weak exposition delivery in the pilot, repetitive narrative structures, and individual arcs that are cut short too soon," Eisenberg concluded that Luke Cage presented an area of the MCU unlike any previous films or television series and had done so with "a compelling vision and atmosphere". David Betancourt, for The Washington Post, concluded that Luke Cage is "Netflix's best Marvel show to date. When given the chance to bring to life one of the most well-known heroes of color around, Marvel and Netflix produced something that is undeniably and unapologetically black and beautiful." TV Guide's Alexander Zalban called the season one of 2016's "most vital, important" and "timely" television series, saying it had "incredibly layered and iconic performances" from the cast.

Matt Webb Mitovich of TVLine, who gave the season a "B", felt Harlem was "a wonderfully utilized character" in the season and a welcome change from the Hell's Kitchen setting of the previous Marvel Netflix shows. He also praised the strong performances from Colter (bringing "a needed intensity") and Ali ("compelling and threatening"), but felt some of its "talkier moments" and pacing were issues. Entertainment Weekly's Jeff Jensen awarded the season a "B−", calling it a "meaningful attempt at developing a new-model black hero. As entertaining drama, it's trapped in a not-so-Marvelous trapped cage". He criticized the season as "one more piece of Marvel pop that expresses its ballyhooed shared-world premise so poorly, it's jarring when it even happens," and also took issue with elements of the season's logic, pacing, and "thinly stretched plot". Reviewing the entire season, Terri Schwartz of IGN awarded it an 8.4 out of 10, saying, "Marvel's Luke Cage doesn't reach the heights of Daredevil and Jessica Jones, and its flawed second half ends up diminishing what was otherwise a fantastic season. But with something important to say and interesting new characters, Luke Cage is another win for Marvel's Netflix shows."

### Analysis

Keene highlighted the use of race in the season, and how it did not just study crime but also "the beleaguered police, sleazy politicians, and the young people in the community who see guns and drugs as an easy way to make money." Zalban felt that, just like Jessica Jones "sucked fans in by being a superhero detective story set in the Marvel Universe, while actually being one of the most powerful and thorough explorations of sexual assault ever committed to film," so too would Luke Cage with the racial aspects it covered.

Lorraine Ali at the Los Angeles Times praised the season for giving an alternative perspective on "black America" to that provided by Donald Trump, depicting a "nuanced black and Latino community of professionals and working class people, trees and cityscapes, complex conversations and shorthand street slang." Ali felt that Cage's focus on teaching others about the culture of Harlem rather than always using his abilities made him one of the more interesting and relevant modern superheroes, but also noted that he could be old-fashioned in his earnestness at times, such as in his sensitivity towards the use of the word "nigger". Reed Ramsey highlighted the nods to the Black Lives Matter movement in the season for Odyssey, especially the depiction of police brutality against black civilians and the use of hoodies covered in bullet holes as a symbol for standing up against the system. Ramsey also praised the fact that all the main characters in the season were not white, and that the characters in positions of power were women. Writing for Study Breaks, Aliyah Thomas found some of the season's symbolism to be "hackneyed", but still felt it was "one of the most promising narratives I have yet to come across on the black experience" and "unapologetically black". Thomas highlighted the humanity of Cage, as well as the use of music to evoke the blaxploitation era of films in which the comics were originally written which she felt accurately encompassed both the culture of Harlem and the exploitation that Cage and other black Americans have endured in the past.

Commenting on the overall response to the season for ScreenPrism, Elyce Rae Helford claimed that the season is "both progressive and regressive in its race politics", with Coker actively trying to avoid the stereotypes of the blaxploitation era by featuring an anti-gun hero, strong black female characters, and other characters from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences. However, the season was unable to completely avoid this because it also embraces music that was made famous to general audiences through blaxploitation films, and because it features a significant amount of crime and violence. Helford found a generally positive response to the show's use of the word "nigger" and Cage's dislike of it, but also detailed criticisms that some had regarding Cage's conservative personality and the fact that his political ideologies did not make him a true representation of past civil rights leaders as some may have expected. For The Daily Fandom, Rachel A. questioned why Cage was the right character to be the first black headliner of an MCU project, finding contrasting interpretations of his abilities: Cage could represent the fantasy of African-Americans "who face the very real prospect of that harm, and find escapism in imagining a state of immunity from it"; or he could represent the stereotype of African-Americans having "a body that can endure endless abuse and exploitation and still produce economic value". She also felt that Cage's apparent inability to be killed absolved Marvel from certain political issues, saying white audiences did not have to question whether Cage's life "mattered", as in "Black Lives Matter", because they would know that he is safe from harm.

Tomi Obaro specifically highlighted the season's women of color for BuzzFeed, finding the season to be a rare example of nuanced women of color who were not the main character. Obaro gave especial praise to the complex depictions of Dillard, Knight, and Temple, but noted that even the minor female characters were given exposition to add depth to their portrayals, and found many of these characters to be even more interesting than Cage and the other leading men of the season, feeling that Cage was boring and most of the male characters fit into simple archetypes. Veronica Hillsbring of Essence and Charles Pulliam-Moore of Splinter News agreed, with the latter calling the season's portrayal of women its "real strength" and praising it for "expanding the scope" of the MCU to include black women as both major heroes and villains. In response to these comments, Coker said, "Black women are the most passionate commentators, and even as black female geeks and nerds, they are rarely acknowledged. So this show is kind of a love letter to them." Contrasting some of these opinions, Noah Berlatsky of Quartz discussed some of the complexities of the male characters in the season, and how it questions the "toxic black male stereotypes" of masculinity and criminality, using the examples of Cage's intelligence and vulnerability, Pop's philosophy of peace and deescalation, and Stokes' love of music and unwillingness to become a criminal. However, Berlatsky felt the season failed to follow through with these questions, as "from the moment [Pop] first appears on screen, it's clear the ideology he represents is going to be discarded. Luke Cage recognizes young Cornell's gentleness and vulnerability. But it still has to turn him into Cottonmouth."

### Accolades

Luke Cage was included on multiple Best/Top TV Shows of 2016 lists, ranking on the African-American Film Critics Association's (5th), NPR's (6th), and Hidden Remote's (7th). It was also included on un-ranked lists from The Huffington Post, The Plain Dealer, TheWrap, and Yahoo! Comic Book Resources named "Just to Get a Rep" as the 9th best episode in 2016 among comic book-related television series. Additionally, Luke Cage was the third most trending television series search on Google for 2016, and the second highest rated science-fiction/fantasy/horror series on Rotten Tomatoes for the year.


Fade (Kanye West song)

"Fade" is a song by American rapper Kanye West from his seventh studio album, The Life of Pablo (2016). The song features vocals from Post Malone and Ty Dolla Sign. It was first played at West's Yeezy Season 2 show in September 2015, before later being released for digital download and streaming as the third and final single from the album on September 9, 2016, through GOOD Music and Def Jam. 11 days later, the aforementioned labels serviced the song to radio stations across the United States. A hip house song with club elements, it samples Mr. Fingers's "Mystery of Love", Rare Earth's and The Undisputed Truth's respective cover versions of "(I Know) I'm Losing You", Hardrive's "Deep Inside", and Barbara Tucker's "I Get Lifted (The Underground Network Mix)". The lyrics of the song focus on trying to hold on to a fading love.

"Fade" received generally positive reviews from music critics, with many of them being complimentary towards the sampling. Some highlighted Ty Dolla Sign's and Post Malone's vocals, while other critics commented on the song's inclusion on The Life of Pablo. It was ranked amongst year-end lists for 2016 by multiple publications, including Spin and Billboard. In 2016, the song reached number 47 on the US Billboard Hot 100, alongside attaining fellow top 50 positions in Canada, France, Scotland, and the United Kingdom. The song has since been certified double platinum and gold in the US and the UK by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and British Phonographic Industry (BPI), respectively.

An accompanying music video was briefly made available as a Tidal exclusive on August 28, 2016, before being released to West's YouTube channel nine days later. Directed by Eli Linnetz, the video features Teyana Taylor dancing, before she appears in a shower with Iman Shumpert. The visual received positive reviews from critics, who often praised Taylor's dancing. At the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards, it received the award for Best Choreography. West performed "Fade" live with the Sunday Service Choir throughout 2019, including respective performances from him and them at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Ty Dolla Sign expanded on the song with "Ego Death", which was released in July 2020.

A reinterpretation of the song with "Follow Me" by Aly-Us entitled "Follow Me – Faith" was released on the Sunday Service Choir's debut studio album, Jesus Is Born (2019). A two-part gospel track, the reinterpretation begins with a riff off the latter of the two songs before transitioning into a version of "Fade", titled "Faith". The group lead listeners to Christianity in the first part, while the second part's lyrics are focused on God's love. The reinterpretation received positive reviews from music critics, some of whom were complimentary towards the composition. Others appreciated the reinterpretation's development of the original songs, while a few critics cited it as one of the album's highlights. The reinterpretation peaked at number 22 on the US Billboard Gospel Songs chart in 2020.

## Background and recording

In October 2015, American rapper Post Malone revealed he first met West at a party thrown by West's sister-in-law Kylie Jenner. He recalled that West was eager to "make something" with him, which led to Post Malone going over to his, where the two worked together and talked. Elaborating, he said "we just kept on going. I went in the studio with Kanye and we just recorded the scratch vocals and then I wrote over it." Post Malone described West as "just a normal guy, like me," as well as "super cool," "very quiet" and "very, very humble." He later stated that the song "was just a dope vibe, a little funky vibe," viewing it as trying something new. Post Malone continued, admitting: "You never really know what to expect, but [Kanye] played me the song, or he sent me the song so I could hear it." According to him, he "got in the actual studio" with West after recording his scratch vocal "and actually cut the real vocals" for "Fade". Of collaborating with West on the song, American musician Ty Dolla Sign said it was "amazing" working with him and labeled West "one of the dopest musicians I know." Ty Dolla Sign asserted that when the two "actually got in the studio, it was dope," admitting they came up with the song in five minutes. He continued, recounting that West "did the beat on the spot, like from scratch."

At West's Yeezy Season 2 runway show on September 16, 2015 for New York Fashion Week, he debuted a new song. The song was played over video footage that showed people lined up in lines in a manner reminiscent of 1984 and various celebrities were in attendance for the debut, including Drake, Common, 2 Chainz, and Pusha T. After it leaked following the debut, Post Malone subsequently confirmed him and Ty Dolla Sign appear on the song while Pitchfork reported that it is titled "Fade". By November 2015, two months after West had debuted the song at his Yeezy Season 2 show, the official audio was yet to be released and designer Virgil Abloh played "Fade" in full during a DJ set in London that month.

The song samples American DJ Larry Heard's recording "Mystery of Love", which is a house track that was released in 1985 under his moniker Mr. Fingers and co-written by him with Robert Owens. In response to West sampling the recording, Heard called "Fade" first appearing 30 years after its release "quite an interesting anniversary present" while noting that he and West share the hometown of Chicago. Heard was hopeful that the song's success would bring him new listeners, saying: "Every little thing that helps people who maybe don't hear any dance music, maybe just hear what's available via radio, maybe that opens something for them to Google search the name and look at the Discogs page and check out some things there." However, Heard was cautious of being associated solely with the recording's dancefloor friendly vibe due to stereotyping in the 1990s from Sony Music officials that he admitted "were like, 'doesn't he just do house music?" In the months following the February 2016 release of The Life of Pablo, West continuously made changes to the album; Def Jam referred to it as "a living, evolving art project." For "Fade", the production was mostly minimized.

## Composition and lyrics

Musically, "Fade" is a hip house song, with Chicago house influences. The majority of the production is minimal. The song is built around a slowed down sample of the bassline from "Mystery of Love", written by its performer Mr. Fingers alongside Owens. The vocals "Your love is fading/I feel it fade" from a 1970 cover version of the Temptations' "(I Know) I'm Losing You" (1966), written by Cornelius Grant, Eddie Holland and Norman Whitfield, and performed by Rare Earth, are sampled on the song. The song includes a sample of a version of the same title as Rare Earth's cover, written by the same musicians and performed by The Undisputed Truth. "Fade" contains vocal samples of "Deep Inside" (1993), written by Louie Vega and performed by Hardrive. The song features samples of "I Get Lifted (The Underground Network Mix)" (1994), written by Vega, Ron Carroll, Barbara Tucker and Harold Matthews, and performed by Tucker, which adds club elements. On the song, West, Ty Dolla Sign and Post Malone alternate verses. Post Malone contributes his vocals alongside the samples of Mr. Fingers' "Mystery of Love" and Rare Earth's "(I Know) I'm Losing You".

Lyrically, "Fade" centers around attempting to hold on to a love that is fading. The word "fade" is stretched out vocally. In West's verse, he expresses the urge to engage in sex with someone after having consumed marijuana or alcohol. West interpolates lyrics from "Rock the Boat" (2002), written by Stephen "Static Major" Garrett, Rapture Stewart and Eric Seats, and performed by Aaliyah.

## Release and reception

On February 14, 2016, "Fade" was released as the nineteenth track on West's seventh studio album The Life of Pablo. In June of that year, Def Jam confirmed the song was set to be released to contemporary hit radio stations across the United States. The song was released for digital download and streaming in various countries by West's record labels GOOD Music and Def Jam as the album's third single on September 9, 2016. That same day, it was serviced to UK mainstream radio stations. On September 20, 2016, the song was sent to US contemporary hit, rhythmic contemporary, and urban contemporary radio stations.

"Fade" was met with generally positive reviews from music critics, who mostly praised the sampling. Alexis Petridis from The Guardian said the song "woozily interleaves two house classics" in Mr. Fingers' "Mystery of Love" and "I Get Lifted" by Tucker "with a snatch of barked vocal" from "(I Know) I'm Losing You" by Rare Earth "to startling effect," concluding that the sampling is "proof that when The Life of Pablo is good, it's very good indeed." NOW Magazine's Kevin Ritchie noted that the song "pays homage to Chicago house classics." Greg Tate, writing for Spin, analyzed that it sees "Motown's blue-eyed-soul-outfit-that-could Rare Earth and house diva Barbara Tucker cross-fade and elevate the curtain moment with what gooder-than-Yeezus-and-thou Christians call the Good News" while opining rapper Kendrick Lamar should have provided vocals for the song instead of fellow album track "No More Parties in LA". Jayson Greene of Pitchfork described the song as pitting Post Malone "against a sample of" "Mystery of Love" as well as "a flip of" Rare Earth's "(I Know) I'm Losing You", with him admitting that the song "rigs the mix so that Malone, somehow, sounds more important than both of them" while calling the sampling "a reminder of Kanye's audacious touch with huge, immediately recognizable pieces of musical history."

Comparing the song to the version played at Yeezy Season 2, Corbin Reiff from The A.V. Club stated it went from "a plodding, repetitive instrumental number" to "an intricately layered legitimate banger" that features "some superb scumbaggery from Ty Dolla \$ign." In HipHopDX, Justin Hunte labeled the song an "ode to dwindling love that moves more like a Ty Dolla \$ign and Post Malone collaboration than a Yeezy solo offering," concluding by pointing to it as "an ironic ending to an album" that is mostly about the polarizing topic of West's greatness. For RapReviews, Jesal 'Jay Soul' Padania selected "Fade" as a "fan favorite" on the album and compared the song to a "happy catwalk model" due to it being "taken from front and centre, and shoved right to the back, just to be contrary and fit in something like '30 Hours'." In a mixed review, referencing the position of the tracks on The Life of Pablo, Philip Cosores of Consequence of Sound viewed the song and "No More Parties in LA" as "A-sides on the wrong album shoved onto the end of the collection that would have been stronger if it ended with 'Wolves'," though called the tracks "not flawed lyrically."

### Accolades

"Fade" was listed among year-end lists for 2016 by multiple publications. The track was voted 76th on The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop poll for that year, receiving 7 mentions and being tied for the position with 12 other songs. The Fader listed the track as the 55th best song of 2016. It was named as the 32nd best song of the year by Spin, with Rich Juzwiak noting the song's house influence for retaining "the menacing quality of that early Chicago stuff" due to it sampling Mr. Finger's "Mystery of Love", Tucker's "I Get Lifted", and Harddrive's "Deep Inside". On Les Inrocks's list of 2016's best tracks, the song was placed at number 25. Billboard ranked "Fade" as the 18th best song of the year, and A.U. of the magazine labeled it "one hell of a workout" that combines "samples from Mr. Fingers and The Undisputed Truth into a runway and dance-floor killer that located the religious lift in romantic paranoia." The track's highest ranking came from screenagers.pl, with it being picked by the webzine as the 12th best song of 2016. "Fade" was later named as one of the 30 best G-House songs of all time in 2017 by Gary Richards, known under his stage name of Destructo.

## Music video

### Background

The music video for "Fade" was directed by the University of Southern California (USC) graduate Eli Linnetz, who first met West when he was working on his 2011 collaborative studio album Watch the Throne with fellow rapper Jay-Z. Linnetz explained that he ended up meeting West after the rapper had tweeted about his creative company DONDA and subsequently received an email from a friend of Linnetz's, with West replying to the friend. He recalled that he and West "started working on a bunch of writing projects together" before Linnetz went back to the USC to study screenwriting. Linnetz elaborated on his time at the USC, saying his scholarship involved "working in the costume department, sewing clothing" and that he "was gathering these skills that ended up being perfect for a Kanye West environment." Three weeks before the shooting of the video, West's GOOD Music labelmate Teyana Taylor was made aware that she was set to have a cameo. Linnetz said West emailed him "superlate at night" and requested him to direct the music video, noting he wanted Taylor to dance and her husband Iman Shumpert to also make an appearance. He admitted West used Taylor and Shumpert for displaying real love in the video, which West had previously done by appearing alongside his wife Kim Kardashian in the music video for his single "Bound 2" (2013). Linnetz revealed that West was there for the entirety of the shooting, being "super involved with every detail." According to Linnetz, the visual drew inspiration from a variety of media, including 1970s and 1980s pornography, the film Flashdance (1983), John Carpenter films, 1986 film The Fly, and the Olympics. As a result of her being the lead star, Taylor was exposed to people that weren't aware of who she was before.

During West's appearance at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards on August 28, the rapper had free rein to do whatever he wanted. West premiered the music video at the ceremony, after saying earlier that he "came here to present my new video." Of the premiere, Taylor admitted she was nervous and recalled being like, "Oh my god, it's tonight! Do I look good? Do I look great? Is he going to change his mind and not premiere it?" The same day as its premiere, the video was made available exclusively on Tidal for one week. It was later uploaded to West's YouTube channel on September 6, 2016.

### Synopsis

For the first three minutes of the music video, Taylor dances in a manner reminiscent of Flashdance in a workout room as "Fade" plays. She is half-clothed while dancing, with her wearing a thong and sports bra. After Taylor's dancing, the video cuts to footage of her making out with Shumpert in a shower. When in the shower, the couple appear naked. For the ending shower scene, Taylor lies on Iman's back as the couple are accompanied by their baby daughter Junie Shumpert, who cries as they are surrounded by several pink sheep. In reference to 1970s and 1980s pornography, the couple are covered in oil on their skin. Taylor's face transforms into the head of a cat, with a lioness face and tail alongside brows that were drawn on by her. The lioness face and tail are used for a biblical shot, which Linnetz said "is foreshadowing bigger things to come." During the shower scene, the sheep are "pooping and peeing everywhere."

### Reception

The music video was positively received by critics. At Vogue, Patricia Garcia commented that the "workout-inspired dance moves" from Taylor in the video "stole the show" at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards. Emilia Petrarca of W wrote that "Taylor makes viewers' jaws drop as she flexes Flashdance style" in the video, praising her "absolutely killer, super athletic body," and Petrarca called the visual "Kanye's new new workout plan." For The New York Times, Joe Coscarelli dubbed it a "flesh-heavy dance video." Justin Carissimo of The Independent noted Taylor's "fiery performance," describing her as having "essentially danced her ass off for three minutes a la Flashdance."

At the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards, the music video won the Best Choreography award. The video was awarded Best Dance Performance at the 2016 Soul Train Music Awards, where it also received a nomination for the award of Video of the Year. At the 2017 UK Music Video Awards, the visual won Best Choreography in a Video, alongside being nominated for the Best Dance International award at the ceremony. By October 12, 2016, the music video had received around 34 million YouTube views.

### Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from The Independent.

Production

- VFX by Gloria FX

Personnel

- Kanye West –  creative vision
- Eli Linnetz –  director
- Iconoclast –  production
- Kathleen Heffernan –  executive production
- Guillermo Navarro –  director of photography
- Tino Shaedler –  production design
- Renelou Pandora –  styling
- Guapo –  choreographer
- Jae Blaze –  choreographer
- Derek "Bentley" Williams –  choreographer
- Adam Robinson –  editor
- Sofie Borup –  color

## Commercial performance

Following the release of The Life of Pablo, the song debuted at number two on the US Billboard Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Singles chart. After being released as a single, "Fade" entered the US Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs chart at number 39 for the issue date of September 24, 2016. It received 4.9 millions streams that week, increasing by 130 percent from the previous week, and 50 percent of the streams came from YouTube views of the accompanying music video. The following week, the song roses 27 places to peak at number 12 on the chart. In the same week as its debut on the US Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs chart, the song opened at number 98 on the US Billboard Hot 100. On the chart issue dated October 1, 2016, the song climbed 51 places to its peak of number 47 on the Hot 100. The song lasted for 13 weeks on the chart. On April 21, 2021, "Fade" was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for pushing 2,000,000 certified units in the US.

Elsewhere, the song peaked at number 37 on the Canadian Hot 100. On the Scottish Singles Sales Chart, it reached number 20. After the album's release, the song entered the UK Singles Chart at number 125. It later reached the top 100 of the chart for the issue dated September 16, 2016, charting at number 65. The next week, the song climbed 15 places to peak at number 50 on the UK Singles Chart. The song lasted for eight weeks on the chart and as of October 24, 2019, it ranks as West's 23rd most successful track of all time in the United Kingdom. "Fade" was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for sales of 200,000 units in the UK on May 21, 2021. In France, the song peaked at number 40 on the SNEP chart.

## Live performances and appearances in media

West performed "Fade" live as the closer to his opening concert on the Saint Pablo Tour at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on August 25, 2016. While the song came to an end during the performance, the lift designed for carrying West over the large 30' x 30' projection screen in front of his stage malfunctioned. As a result of the malfunction, West had to descend with the stage to the ground and leave via the arena's floor. On November 1, 2016, the song was performed by West for his fourth concert at The Forum in Inglewood on the tour, with him being backed by pink strobe lights. For West and his gospel group the Sunday Service Choir's headlining set at the 2019 Coachella Festival on April 21 that coincided with Easter, the group delivered a performance of the song. The version performed featured synths and during the performance, the crowd stood up and danced. West later performed "Fade" as the closer to the set. A gospel rendition of the song was performed by West and the Sunday Service Choir for the group's concert at the Huntington Bank Pavilion in Chicago on September 8, 2019. On October 12 of that year, West and the Sunday Service Choir performed the song as part of a surprise concert on the yard at Howard University. During the group's concert at the Forum on October 27, 2019, they performed a spiritual version of the song with West, though the version retained the original's bassline and hook.

On February 17, 2016, American musician Gant-Man shared his juke remix of the song. A club remix, it adds synths and percussion to the original. American basketball player Shaquille O'Neal shared a video of him performing an impression of Taylor's dancing in the song's music video to Instagram on September 12, 2016. In September 2017, English singer Noel Gallagher revealed that the track "Fort Knox" from his band Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds' third studio album Who Built the Moon? (2017) was inspired by "Fade". Gallagher recalled running into the studio and expressing heavy admiration for the track after his first listen, considering sending it to West to use as his own. However, Gallagher decided to keep "Fort Knox" for himself after competition due to him realizing how good it was. Ty Dolla Sign wrote that his single "Ego Death" "expands on 'Fade'," which was released on July 1, 2020 and features West, FKA Twigs, and Skrillex.

## Sunday Service Choir version

### Background and composition

A reinterpretation of "Fade" with American house group Aly-Us' "Follow Me" (1992), titled "Follow Me – Faith", was recorded by the Sunday Service Choir. The song was released on December 25, 2019 as the seventh track on the group's debut studio album Jesus Is Born. Prior to the reinterpretation's release, the Sunday Service Choir had performed "Follow Me" as part of their set at the 2019 Coachella Festival. In January 2019, former West Angeles Church of God in Christ music director Jason White received a call from Ray Romulus of the Stereotypes informing him West wanted a choir, with Romulus requesting 100 people for it and to put together a band. White continued, revealing that he went to meet Romulus after the call and despite the two having a lack of knowledge or songs at the time, they "called about 100 people, said it's an A-list artist, can't tell you who it is or what it is, meet us here." Although he was "a little scared" of becoming involved with any of West's controversies, White opined that he "could see something different about this guy" on the night he first met West during rehearsal. White hired American songwriter Nikki Grier to sing, with her and West re-writing lyrics of songs after White "pulled her from the top of the choir stand." The song was composed by West and Grier.

"Follow Me – Faith" is a two-part gospel track, which transitions from a riff off "Follow Me" into a reinterpretation of "Fade". "Follow Me" features a dance groove, while the lyrics see the Sunday Service Choir leading listeners to Christianity. Following the first part, "Faith" maintains the structure of "Fade" and also takes the bassline. Beneath the bassline, it adds organs, horns, and handclaps. The horns accompany dark piano keys during the second part's bridge. Lyrically, "Faith" focuses on the love of God. On the hook, the group repeatedly sings, "Your love is favor. We feel it, faith," with the word "faith" being stretched out vocally; the lyrics were originally written as "Your love is fadin'/ I feel it fadin" for "Fade". The original's line "Deep down inside" is switched to "He's alive, He-He-He's alive" on the bridge by the Sunday Service Choir.

### Reception and promotion

"Follow Me – Faith" was met with positive reviews from music critics, with a number of them praising the composition. Earmilk author Max Pasion-Gonzales said it may be "the most compelling moment" on Jesus Is Born, commenting that "Follow Me" includes an "inviting dance groove" alongside describing "Faith" as "a strong religious iteration" of "Fade". Pasion-Gonzales lauded the impressiveness of the track's second part due to "how seamlessly the lyrical and musical transition to gospel was made from the original" and praised the "beautiful" hook, while he called the track "dynamic and powerful" and observed that it "encourages dancing, rejoicing, and celebration." For NME, Rhian Daly wrote that the reinterpretation "inventively switches lines" from "Fade" and commended the organs, horns, and handclaps for "adding another glorious layer of joy to things." Revolt's Preezy Brown opined that by transitioning from "Follow Me" into "a gospel-infused interpolation" of "Fade", the rendition "brings the club to the church, and embodies the best of both worlds in the process." In Exclaim!, Ryan B. Patrick picked the reinterpretation as one of the album's main tracks "to vibe off of." At Spectrum Culture, Daniel Bromfield analyzed that the first part turns the original "into something alive with convivial chatter, more like a Moodymann cut than anything else." Biana Gracie from Billboard noted the reinterpretation for uplifting "Follow Me" "with an inspiring message." "Follow Me – Faith" experienced a lesser reception commercially. For the issue dated January 11, 2020, it peaked at number 22 on the US Billboard Gospel Songs chart.

For promotion, the rendition was performed by the Sunday Service Choir as part of their concert at Credit Union 1 Arena in Chicago on February 16, 2020. During the performance, White directed the group while standing in the middle of the arena's two-tiered stage.

## Track listing

Digital download / streaming

1. "Fade" – 3:13

## Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from West's official website and Tidal.

Recording

- Mixed at No Name Studios, North Hollywood, CA

Personnel

- Kanye West –  songwriter, production
- Benji B –  songwriter, co-production
- Ryan "Charlie Handsome" Vojtesak –  songwriter, co-production
- Anthony Kilhoffer –  songwriter, co-production, engineer
- Mike Dean –  songwriter, co-production, engineer
- Noah Goldstein –  songwriter, additional production, engineer, mixer
- Ty Dolla Sign –  songwriter, vocals
- Post Malone –  songwriter, vocals
- Jerome Potter –  songwriter
- Samuel Griesemer –  songwriter
- Norman Whitfield –  songwriter
- Eddie Holland –  songwriter
- Cornelius Grant –  songwriter
- Larry Heard –  songwriter
- Robert Owens –  songwriter
- Louie Vega –  songwriter
- Ronald Carroll –  songwriter
- Barbara Tucker –  songwriter
- Harold Matthews –  songwriter
- Stephan Garrett –  songwriter
- Rapture Stewart –  songwriter
- Eric Seats –  songwriter
- Malik Yusef –  songwriter
- DJDS –  additional production
- Andrew Dawson –  additional production
- David Rowland –  additional production
- William J. Sullivan –  assistant mixer

## Charts

### Weekly charts

### Year-end charts

## Certifications

## Release history

## See also

- Ego Death (song)

2016 single by Kanye West

Song recordings produced by Mike Dean (record producer)

Songs written by Mike Dean (record producer)