Ryan Coogler thinks of his new movie Sinners as a song. Specifically, “One” by Metallica.
“I wanted the movie to have the simplicity — and simultaneously the profound nature — of a Delta blues song,” he told The Detroit News. “But I wanted it to have the contrast, variation, and the inevitability of a great Metallica song, like ‘One.’ It starts off with almost like an easy listening solo, you know what I’m saying? And then it just goes batsh*t insane, in a way you could have never seen coming — and at the same time, it felt like it was going there all along.”
Music always plays an important role in Coogler’s movies. Below, you’ll find the most powerful song-based moments from all his films, from 2013’s Fruitvale Station to 2025’s Sinners (with a pair of MCU titles in between).
Fruitvale Station
“Feelin’ Myself” by Mac Dre
The muse-like collaboration between director Ryan Coogler and actor Michael B. Jordan began with Fruitvale Station.
The powerful drama chronicles the final night of Oscar Grant, a 22-year-old Black man who was killed by a white police officer at a BART station in Oakland, California. The film often plays out in silence, but in one of the final moments of joy in his life, Oscar and girlfriend Sophina are on a stalled train minutes before midnight on New Year’s Eve when one of his friends pulls out his phone. He plays “Feelin’ Myself” by Bay Area rapper Mac Dre, and everyone on the train is dancing and, like the song says, feeling themselves.
Coogler, an Oakland native, doesn’t want his city to be defined by tragedy; he would rather celebrate the individuals, like Oscar and Mac Dre, that make it great.
Creed
“Lord Knows” by Meek Mill
Certain songs make you feel powerful enough to lift a garbage truck with your bare hands, or do something even more daunting: run outside in Philadelphia in the cold. Meek Mill’s triumphant “Lord Knows” is one of those songs.
Creed (the greatest sports movie of the 21st century IMO) is a stirring spinoff of the Rocky series centered on Apollo Creed’s son, Adonis (Michael B. Jordan). As part of his training before a fight with a pretty-boy British boxer, Adonis runs through the streets of Philly; he’s cheered on by locals on motorbikes while “Lord Knows” plays. I won’t go so far as to claim that this is the best running scene in a Rocky movie, but it’s in the… running.
Black Panther
“All The Stars” by Kendrick Lamar and SZA
Ryan Coogler and Kendrick Lamar put together an all-timer soundtrack for Black Panther. The chart-topper features Schoolboy Q, 2 Chainz, Khalid, Vince Staples, Jorja Smith, Anderson Paak, Future, Travis Scott, The Weeknd, and Lamar himself, of course.
Lamar is joined by SZA on “All The Stars,” their biggest hit together until “Luther” came along. The ethereal Oscar-nominated collaboration between the Grand National Tour co-headliners plays over the end credits. It’s a better reason to stay in your seat than any post-credits tease for a future MCU movie.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
“Lift Me Up” by Rihanna
Ryan Coogler curated another soundtrack for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, this time without Lamar. Instead, he reached out to Rihanna for “Lift Me Up,” a tribute to T’Challa actor Chadwick Boseman, who died two years earlier.
The vulnerable ballad (co-written by Coogler, Rihanna, Tems, and composer Ludwig Göransson) is the bridge from the goosebump-inducing final scene in the film, where Shuri burns her funeral clothes while reflecting on her brother, to the credits. Try not to tear up, I dare you.
Sinners
“I Lied To You” by Miles Caton
The most awe-inducing sequence in Sinners has nothing to do with vampires or even Michael B. Jordan’s muscles. It’s the “surreal montage” that has blues singer Sammie (played by Miles Caton) playing “I Lied To You” with such passion that he conjures the spirits of Black musicians in the past and present. There’s tribal dancers, DJs, and a Jimi Hendrix-like guitarist in a swirl of music that has enough power to symbolically set the juke joint roof on fire.
“I’ve had a few of those moments [in my life],” Coogler said about the inspiration for the scene, “and you feel immortal, like you are outside of space and time for [a moment], like there’s another presence there with you.”
Coogler, composer Ludwig Göransson, and cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw capture the transcendent power of music in a stunning jam session for the ages.