"Kicks" Soundtrack Lyrics

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"Kicks (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)" – Album Guide to Tracks and Key Scenes

Overview

Can a pair of sneakers soundtrack a coming-of-age? Kicks (2016) treats music like a second lead: tough, tender, and rooted in the Bay. The album folds classic East Coast grit into West Coast bounce, then threads in atmospheric score to echo Brandon’s interior world.

The compilation arrives with hip-hop staples (Wu-Tang Clan), Bay Area heroes (Mac Dre, Iamsu!), neo-soul grit (Charles Bradley), plus original cues by Brian Reitzell. It’s a street-level mixtape that moves—from corner-store swagger to night-drive anxiety—while the score’s dreamy textures shadow Brandon’s spaceman visions and the moral lines he keeps crossing.

Questions & Answers

Is there an official soundtrack album?

Yes. Kicks (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) released September 9, 2016 via Back Lot Music; it compiles songs and Reitzell cues.

Who composed the score cues sprinkled through the film?

Brian Reitzell, known for work with Sofia Coppola, contributed original instrumentals and a dialogue-tinted interlude with lead actor Jahking Guillory.

What’s the overall music profile—golden-era or hyphy?

Both. The crate-digging classicism (e.g., Wu-Tang) sits beside Bay slap (Mac Dre, Iamsu!), with modern instrumental hip-hop (RJD2) bridging eras.

Are the astronaut visions tied to a musical motif?

They’re often underscored with airy, reflective Reitzell cues that contrast the diegetic street tracks—soft focus against hard reality.

Any songs appear in marketing but stand out in-film too?

Wu-Tang Clan’s “C.R.E.A.M.” anchors the album’s ethos and was prominent in promotion; in-story it’s used to underline money/status pressure.

Is everything on the album in the film?

Most cues are; as usual with compilations, some edits and interludes are tailored for album flow vs. exact film placement.

What label handles digital availability today?

Back Lot Music distributes on major DSPs; the album is still streamable globally.

Notes & Trivia

• The soundtrack pairs New York’s 1990s boom-bap DNA with Oakland hyphy, mirroring Brandon’s big-dreams-vs-block reality.
• RJD2’s “The Sheboygan Left” predates the film (2016) and is repurposed to energize movement scenes without crowding dialogue.
• “Kitchen Astronaut / Kicks” folds character voiceover/dialogue into an original cue—bridging score and street chatter.
• Back Lot Music released the album day-and-date with the film’s U.S. rollout.
• Some placements are diegetic (from phone/car speakers, parties); others drift in non-diegetically with the astronaut motif.

Genres & Themes

• Golden-era East Coast hip-hop → signals money/status codes; underscores Brandon’s fixation on the Jordans as social armor.
• Bay Area slap & party rap → bravado, group identity; fuels scenes of moving through neighborhoods and hanging with friends.
• Neo-soul & retro R&B → vulnerability beneath swagger; moments of calm after confrontations.
• Ambient/arthouse score → the “astronaut” psyche: weightlessness, dissociation, and moral drift.

Tracks & Scenes

Note on timestamps: runtimes vary slightly by edition/stream; marks below are approximate scene positions based on the film’s standard cut.

"C.R.E.A.M." — Wu-Tang Clan
Scene: Early act one (~00:10). After Brandon first steps out in his new Jordans, the track bleeds in over cruising shots and glances from older kids; non-diegetic under a diegetic street bed. It frames the shoes as currency—eyes on him, pressure rising.
Why it matters: Money/status logic is stated outright by the hook; the cue reframes pride as risk.

"The Sheboygan Left" — RJD2
Scene: Mid-film traversal (~00:40). A kinetic walking montage pulls us through corners and overpasses as the trio hunts for the thief; non-diegetic, quick-cutting around trains and sidewalks.
Why it matters: Bright percussion keeps momentum without crowding dialogue, marking their shift from talking to doing.

"Get Stupid" — Mac Dre
Scene: House-party stretch (~00:30). Bass rattles from a Bluetooth speaker; diegetic, bodies loosening while side-eyed tensions gather at the edges.
Why it matters: A Bay anthem that localizes the film; joy flashes before the night turns.

"In You (I Found a Love)" — Charles Bradley & Menahan Street Band
Scene: Quiet breather after a close call (~00:55). Non-diegetic soul warmth floods in over close-ups; Brandon replays choices as the lyrics ache in the background.
Why it matters: Humanizes the mission; the record’s vintage tone softens the film’s edges for a page-turn pause.

"Sincerely Yours" — Iamsu! feat. 1 O.A.K.
Scene: Hang-time with the crew (~00:20). Car-stereo diegetic; in-the-moment flex that reads as earned confidence before the theft upends it.
Why it matters: Establishes baseline swagger so later vulnerability lands harder.

"Kitchen Astronaut / Kicks" — Brian Reitzell feat. Jahking Guillory
Scene: Astronaut-vision interlude (recurs). Non-diegetic with fragments of dialogue; the mirrored-helmet figure drifts through Brandon’s mindscape, offering escape paths as real-world noise dims.
Why it matters: It’s the movie’s inner voice—magnetic and a little dangerous.

"Barbeque Music" — Marc E. Bassy
Scene: Daytime neighborhood flow (~00:08). Diegetic ambience from a stoop speaker; kids orbit, stories overlap.
Why it matters: Grounds the film in place and routine before the plot tightens.

"Self Made" — Keith Jenkins
Scene: Pre-showdown march (~01:05). Non-diegetic, clipped and stern; Brandon’s resolve stiffens as the risks crystallize.
Why it matters: Ties self-image to action—the point of no return.

Trailer spotlight: the official trailers lean on the album’s hip-hop spine and score swells; if you’re mapping moods, start there and work inward.

Music–Story Links

• When Brandon first wears the Jordans, classic boom-bap crowns him; later, the same aesthetic tightens like a vice—status turns to target.
• Party diegetics (Mac Dre) equal belonging; cut them off, and the room’s warmth disappears—so does his safety net.
• Reitzell’s weightless textures signal the astronaut—a coping fantasy. Each reappearance = rising dissociation from the consequences.
• Old-soul needle-drops give moral hangtime after violent beats; the film refuses to sprint past fallout.

How It Was Made

Score by Brian Reitzell, whose filmography spans The Virgin Suicides to The Bling Ring. Music supervision centered Bay Area artists alongside touchstone classics, with Back Lot Music issuing the album. Pre-existing tracks such as RJD2’s “The Sheboygan Left” were licensed to provide rhythmic propulsion between dialogue-heavy scenes. A Reitzell/Guillory interlude blurs character voice with scoring, reflecting the film’s subjective style.

Reception & Quotes

Critics singled out the film’s vibe—performance, visual language, and the way music frames Brandon’s headspace.

“Tense, horrifying and hypnotic: a stunning premiere from a new filmmaking talent to follow.” — Under the Radar

“The astronaut… isn’t a gimmick. It’s the whole point.” — RogerEbert.com

Album availability has remained steady on major services since release; physical copies surfaced via standard retail channels.

Additional Info

• Label: Back Lot Music (digital release aligned with theatrical date).
• Marketing leaned on a mix of iconic rap hooks and airy score swells to telegraph tone quickly.
• Several placements are intentionally short—needle-drops that punctuate rather than dominate.
• Dialog-interlude formatting on the album mirrors on-screen talk, keeping the mixtape feel intact.
• Charles Bradley’s cut provides the album’s deepest vintage color, counterbalancing modern production elsewhere.
• Two slightly different digital track counts exist (editions with 22 vs. 23 tracks).

Technical Info

• Title: Kicks (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
• Year: 2016
• Type: Various Artists + Original Score (Film Soundtrack)
• Composers/Score: Brian Reitzell
• Music supervision: Not publicly credited in studio notes; album assembled under Back Lot Music.
• Notable placements: Wu-Tang Clan “C.R.E.A.M.”; Mac Dre “Get Stupid”; Iamsu! “Sincerely Yours”; Charles Bradley & Menahan Street Band “In You (I Found a Love)”; RJD2 “The Sheboygan Left”
• U.S. Release context: Film opened September 9, 2016 (Focus World); album released the same day.
• Label: Back Lot Music (digital; later physical retail availability).
• Availability: Streaming (major DSPs); catalog listing persists.

Canonical Entities & Relations

Subject	Relation	Object
Justin Tipping	directed	Kicks (2016) film
Joshua Beirne-Golden	co-wrote	Kicks (2016) film
Jahking Guillory	starred in	Kicks (2016) film
Mahershala Ali	starred in	Kicks (2016) film
Brian Reitzell	composed score for	Kicks (2016) film
Back Lot Music	released	Kicks (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Wu-Tang Clan	performed	“C.R.E.A.M.” (in album/film)
RJD2	performed	“The Sheboygan Left” (licensed track)
Charles Bradley & Menahan Street Band	performed	“In You (I Found a Love)”
Mac Dre	performed	“Get Stupid”

Sources: Back Lot Music press materials; Billboard; Apple Music/Spotify listings; RogerEbert.com review; The Playlist coverage; Discogs cataloging.

Another gangster drama. But not ‘yet another’, like you might think. This is a story of growing old. When you was nobody and nothing & you started to become somebody due to hard stresses you must overcome. And the trigger here was a simple pair of sneakers. Which was stolen from a kid, who eager so much to return them that he changed himself in the course of obtaining his belonging back. He grows stronger and starts to believe in his powers and personality. How will it end? Watch the movie. There are many rap songs in the musical ornament of the visual row on the screen. In fact, almost every music piece is rap (37 or C.R.E.A.M). Some of their lyrics are dumb, like, for example, Barbecue Music with little common sense. Some, like Sideshow, are of more essence in lyrics. Maybe it is because these wiser songs are of funk genre? Probably, but we wouldn’t insist on this thought. What we sure about – is that you’ll love them all while watching this movie. It is about struggle, not like it happens in sports or in high school or whatever, you know. But as it happens in the real life, when you grow in the bad neighborhood, as the protagonist of the film did. His complicated fate is underlined by singers from the soundtrack, like Wu-Tang Clan or Blue Magic. They live through every moment and we literally feel immersion in every frame of the tape of this film – that good it has been created!

November, 12th 2025

Kicks IMDb Page, Kicks on Rottentomatoes.com, Official Movie Website

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