Empire: Original Soundtrack Season 2 Volume 1

Empire: Original Soundtrack Season 2 Volume 1
Empire: Original Soundtrack Season 2 Volume 1
Soundtrack album by Various artists
Released	November 20, 2015
Genre	Hip hop; R&B; pop;
Label	Columbia
Producer	Timbaland; Ne-Yo; J.R. Rotem; Swizz Beatz; Teal Douville; Terrence Howard; Thomas "Da Hitman" Goodlett; Petey Pablo; TroyBoi; Max Beesley; Jesse "Corparal" Wilson;
Empire soundtrack chronology

Empire: Original Soundtrack Season 2 Volume 1 is the second soundtrack album by the cast of the musical drama television series Empire which airs on Fox. The album includes songs that featured during the second season of the show. It was released on November 20, 2015.^[1]

Commercial performance[edit]

The album debuted at No. 16 on the Billboard 200,^[2] selling 22,000 copies in the first week. As of April 2016, the album has sold 114,000 copies in the US.^[3]

Critical response[edit]

AllMusic gave the album a score of three out of five, commenting that "much like the show itself, the quality of songs has become somewhat uneven" and that the album's standout track is "Boom Boom Boom Boom".^[4] Entertainment Focus gave the album four out of five stars, based on the deluxe version of the album. They felt that eight bonus tracks were the best on the album.^[5]

Track listing[edit]

Standard edition^[6]
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Born to Love U" (Jussie Smollett)	J.R. Rotem Teal Douville Talay Riley	J.R. Rotem Teal Douville	3:35
2.	"Snitch Bitch" (Terrence Howard and Petey Pablo)	Moses Barrett III Terrence Howard	Terrence Howard Petey Pablo	3:48
3.	"Hourglass" (V. Bozeman)	Max Beesley Howard	Howard Max Beesley	3:45
4.	"Get No Better (2.0)" (Serayah)	Troy Henry Camille Purcell	TroyBoi	2:48
5.	"Bout 2 Blow" (Yazz and Timbaland)	Dwayne Murchison Bryshere Y. Gray	Timbaland	3:01
6.	"No Doubt About It" (Jussie Smollett and Pitbull)	Shaffer Smith Jesse "Corparal" Wilson Tearce "Kizzo" Person	Ne-Yo Jesse "Corparal" Wilson	4:45
7.	"Ain't About the Money" (Jussie Smollett and Yazz)	Smith Sixx Johnson Jason Lee York Jesse "Corparal" Wilson Reynell Hay	Ne-Yo Jesse "Corparal" Wilson	3:12
8.	"Never Love Again" (Jussie Smollett)	Smith Charles T. Harmon	Ne-Yo	4:03
9.	"Runnin'" (Yazz, Jamila Velazquez, Raquel Castro and Yani Marin)	Rotem Joshua Kindlan Mulvey Marty James Raja Kumari Claudia Alexandra Feliciano James Robert McCall Candice Shields Dwayne Murchison	J.R. Rotem	2:56
10.	"Boom Boom Boom Boom" (Terrence Howard and Bre-Z)	Howard Maxton Gig Beesley Calesha Murray Thomas "Da Hitman" Goodlett	Howard Goodlett Beesley	3:37
11.	"Heavy" (Jussie Smollett)	Smith Jesse "Corparal" Wilson Tierce A.J. Person Reynell Hay	Ne-Yo Jesse "Corparal" Wilson	2:57

Deluxe edition (bonus tracks)^[7]
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
12.	"Ready to Go" (Pepsi Version) (Jussie Smollett)	Kasseem Dean Tyrone Reginald Johnson Melodie Nicholson Josh Exantus		2:26
13.	"Powerful" (Jussie Smollett and Alicia Keys)	Rotem Riley Alexander Izquierdo Jussie Smollett		4:00
14.	"Battle Cry" (Jussie Smollett)	Smith Jesse "Corparal" Wilson The Aristocrats	Ne-Yo Jesse "Corparal" Wilson	4:09
15.	"Dynasty" (Yazz and Timbaland)	Murchison Gray		2:47
16.	"Mimosa" (Jamila Velazquez, Raquel Castro and Yani Marin)	Rotem Ruth Anne Cunningham Christopher J Baran Douville		3:27
17.	"Do Something With It" (Serayah)	Smith Jesse "Corparal" Wilson Person Hay	Ne-Yo Jesse "Corparal" Wilson	2:26
18.	"You Broke Love" (Jussie Smollett)			3:56
19.	"Same Song" (Bre-Z)	Brian Vincent Bates Calesha Murray Asiahn Bryant		3:57

Personnel[edit]

Executive music producer

Timbaland

Soundtrack album producers

Timbaland
Ne-Yo
J.R. Rotem
Teal Douville
Swizz Beatz
Thomas "Da Hitman" Goodlett

Music supervisor

Jen Ross (Format Entertainment)

Executive in charge of music for 20th Century Fox Television

Geoff Bywater

Executive in charge of music for Columbia

Shawn Holiday

Music coordinator

Simone Sheffield

Music production for Fox

Carol Farhat

Music production liaison

Robin Simms

Soundtrack coordination

Nicole Fox
Sebastien LeTellier

Periscope Studio manager

Michael Nels

Mastered by

Mark Santangelo
Dave Kutch

Art direction and design

Dave Bett
Taylor Diglio

Executive producers

Brian Grazer
Francie Calfo
Danny Strong
Lee Daniels
Ilene Chaiken

Charts[edit]

Weekly charts[edit]

Chart (2015)	Peak position
French Albums (SNEP)^[8]	171
UK Albums (OCC)^[9]	74
UK Soundtrack Albums (OCC)	1
US Billboard 200^[10]	16
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)^[11]	4
US Soundtrack Albums (Billboard)^[12]	1

Year-end charts[edit]

Chart (2016)	Position
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)^[13]	23
US Soundtrack Albums (Billboard)^[14]	5

References[edit]

^ "Empire Cast – Original Soundtrack Season 2 Volume 1: Amazon.com: Music". Amazon.com.
^ "The Billboard 200". Billboard. December 12, 2015.
^ "Upcoming Releases". Hits Daily Double. HITS Digital Ventures. Archived from the original on April 13, 2016.
^ "Empire: Season 2, Vol. 1 [Original Soundtrack] - Empire Cast". AllMusic.
^ "Empire: Original Soundtrack Season 2 Volume 1 album review". Entertainment Focus.
^ "iTunes – Music – Empire (Original Soundtrack from Season 2), Vol. 1 by Empire Cast". iTunes Store (GB). Archived from the original on 2015-12-06.
^ "iTunes – Music – Empire: Original Soundtrack, Season 2, Vol. 1 (Deluxe) by Empire Cast". iTunes Store (GB).^{[permanent dead link]}
^ "Le Top de la semaine : Top Albums Fusionnes - SNEP (Week 32, 2016)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved August 17, 2016.
^ "Empire - Season 2 - Volume 1 - OST". Official Charts Company.
^ "Soundtrack Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
^ "Soundtrack Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved July 4, 2020.
^ "Soundtrack Chart History (Soundtrack Albums)". Billboard.
^ "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 2016". Billboard. Retrieved July 4, 2020.
^ "Soundtracks – Year-End 2016". Billboard. Retrieved July 4, 2020.

[1] "Empire Cast – Original Soundtrack Season 2 Volume 1: Amazon.com: Music". Amazon.com.

[2] "The Billboard 200". Billboard. December 12, 2015.

[3] "Upcoming Releases". Hits Daily Double. HITS Digital Ventures. Archived from the original on April 13, 2016.

[4] "Empire: Season 2, Vol. 1 [Original Soundtrack] - Empire Cast". AllMusic.

[5] "Empire: Original Soundtrack Season 2 Volume 1 album review". Entertainment Focus.

[6] "iTunes – Music – Empire (Original Soundtrack from Season 2), Vol. 1 by Empire Cast". iTunes Store (GB). Archived from the original on 2015-12-06.

[7] "iTunes – Music – Empire: Original Soundtrack, Season 2, Vol. 1 (Deluxe) by Empire Cast". iTunes Store (GB).^{[permanent dead link]}

[8] "Le Top de la semaine : Top Albums Fusionnes - SNEP (Week 32, 2016)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved August 17, 2016.

[9] "Empire - Season 2 - Volume 1 - OST". Official Charts Company.

[ac_Billboard200_Soundtrack-10] "Soundtrack Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved December 1, 2015.

[ac_BillboardRandBHipHop_Soundtrack-11] "Soundtrack Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved July 4, 2020.

[ac_BillboardSoundtrack_Soundtrack-12] "Soundtrack Chart History (Soundtrack Albums)". Billboard.

[13] "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 2016". Billboard. Retrieved July 4, 2020.

[14] "Soundtracks – Year-End 2016". Billboard. Retrieved July 4, 2020.

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v t e Empire
Seasons	1 "Pilot" 2 3 4 5 6
Characters	Lucious Cookie Andre Jamal Hakeem
Soundtracks	Season 1 Season 2 Volume 1 Season 2 Volume 2 Season 3 Season 4 Season 5 Season 6