Highest 2 Lowest (soundtrack)

Did You Know?

• The track list was announced on August 6, 2025.
• The title track was preceded as a single on August 6, 2025.
• ASAP Rocky's songs "Both Eyes Closed" and "Trunks" were released on August 15, 2025.

Development

For the film "Highest 2 Lowest," which has musical elements, director Spike Lee brought in ASAP Rocky, Aiyana-Lee, and Jensen McRae to create original tracks. Rocky wrote two songs, "Both Eyes Closed" and "Trunks," both sung from the viewpoint of the antagonist rapper Young Felon. Aiyana-Lee and McRae were discovered through their Instagram performances. Aiyana-Lee’s voice was considered ideal for a powerful, climactic song at the movie’s end, drawing comparisons to Jennifer Hudson’s performance in "Dreamgirls."

After recording several tracks under Lee’s direction, they settled on the title song, which she recorded on set opposite Denzel Washington. She also covered "Prisencolin (Americano Joint)," a reinterpretation of Adriano Celentano’s "Prisencolinensinainciusol." McRae was picked to record the folk piece "King David" after Lee heard songs from her upcoming album "I Don't Know How But They Found Me!" Two versions of "King David" were written in just half an hour.

The track was later recorded with the Scottish jazz ensemble Fergus McCreadie Trio, whom Lee admired after seeing them at the Edinburgh Jazz Festival. The film’s score was composed by Howard Drossin, who previously orchestrated for Terence Blanchard, a frequent Lee collaborator. Drossin arranged the instrumentation for the title track and other songs, and worked with the Fergus McCreadie Trio to score several scenes. The score was recorded in New York with a 90-piece orchestra.

Drossin originally joined the project just to assist Aiyana-Lee on the title track, but Lee later asked him to compose the full score. He created a "lush, orchestral score" evoking 1970s music, with piano and guitar-driven pieces for the character King. Drossin called the piano "a deeply expressive instrument that has so much range," using it to represent the character, while piano solos conveyed the character’s inner turmoil. Lee and Drossin identified scenes needing music and talked about the score’s color, texture, instrumentation, and sound.

Drossin noted that Lee has strong musical instincts and trusts them, adding that every comment Lee has made has improved his work.

Reception

Stephanie Zacharek of Time wrote that Howard Drossin's "magnificent score—sometimes majestic, sometimes achingly melancholy—follows the movie's shifting moods perfectly." David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter stated the film is "packed with great music, starting with Howard Drossin’s mood-shifting score, which ranges from melancholy piano to cascades of jazz, and two electrifying performances that add a massive charge," noting the title song as "a big-build power anthem belted to the heavens by singer Aiyana-Lee."

Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph wrote that Drossin's score "starts literally reeling, striking up a four-four Celtic stomp that compounds the mad intermingling of cultures and tones." Pete Hammond of Deadline Hollywood wrote that the film has "a superb, soaring musical score from Howard Drossin that really feels NYC to its core." María Muñoz of Metal wrote that Drossin's score "swings between dissonant jazz and hard-edged hip-hop, echoing the protagonist's internal conflict."

John Bleasdale of Time Out wrote that Drossin's soundtrack "is interminable and spends a lot of time sounding like an Irish jig."