Riz Ahmed has released the extended edition of the ‘Bait’ soundtrack, a 17-track collection featuring 37 artists drawn from across British, South Asian and global music, executive produced by Zubin Irani of FAMM alongside Ahmed himself.
‘Bait’, Ahmed’s six-part comedy series for Amazon Prime Video, has been one of the year’s most talked-about television events since its March release. Ahmed plays Shah Latif, a struggling British Pakistani actor whose life spirals after he auditions for the role of James Bond, and the series has earned a 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes alongside widespread critical praise for its sharp, personal examination of race, identity and representation in the entertainment industry.
The soundtrack reflects the same ambition: rather than a conventional TV tie-in, it draws together an eclectic cast of contributors spanning grime, British rap, South Asian music, jazz and beyond.
Focus track ‘Too Bait’ makes the breadth of that vision plain. Produced by Dirty Danger of Ruff Sqwad and built around an interpolation of ‘Zambo Zambo’ by Tafo and Nahid Akhtar, which also appears in the series itself, the track features vocals from AJ Tracey, Enny, KR$NA and Anik Khan.
AJ Tracey said of his involvement: “When Zubin asked me to do this I had to say yes. He’s a good friend of mine and I love what he and Riz have created here.”
Elsewhere the soundtrack features Arooj Aftab, Casisdead, Natasha Noorani, Talha Anjum, Talwiinder, Manni Dee and many more, with Ahmed himself among the contributors. The extended edition also includes ‘Price of It All’ by Jorja Smith, an Urdu cover of ‘Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)’ featuring Arooj Aftab, and ‘Pulling Me Back’ by Jay Sean featuring Veya. All six episodes of ‘Bait’ are currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
