Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F Soundtrack Guide: Every Song & When They Play

Warning: Major spoilers for Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F below!

Summary

The franchise is known for dropping multiple bangers into its soundtracks, andBeverly Hills Cop: Axel F’s soundtrack is no different. Music is so important to theBeverly Hills Copmovie franchisethatthe fourth entry’s subtitle,Axel F, takes its name from the original movie’s theme song. Of course, soundtracks were a much bigger deal back during the 1980s and 1990s. The first three movies were loaded with hits from artists like George Michael, Glenn Frey and The Pointer Sisters.

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F’ssoundtrack is interesting in that, like the movie itself, it leans hard on nostalgia. Many of the songs featured come from priorBeverly Hills Copsequels, or the 1980s generally. This works inAxel F’sfavor, though it would have been nice to have a few more modern tracks too. Even pieces of music score like the extremely catchy “Adrianos” from the second film reappear.InAxel F, most of the songs kick in during the sequel’s big chases, of which there aremany.

Eddie Murphy rides in a car with his sunglasses on in Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F still

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Beverly Hills Cops: Axel F is a good time, not a slam dunk good time, but entertaining enough to satisfy the need for Eddie Murphy.

“Players” (Sync Edit)/“Hot in the City”

eddie murphy looks at the driver while sitting in the passenger seat in beverly hills cop: axel f still

“Here We Go”

Lil Nas X

“The Heat Is On" by Glenn Frey- Just like the famous montage that opened the originalBeverly Hills Cop,Axel Fbegins with an intro of Eddie Murphy’s Foley driving around Detroit to Glenn Frey’s “The Heat Is On.“This credits scene is a nice piece of scene setting for Axel, showing that he knows every corner of the city and seemingly knows everybody living in it too. Next to “Axel F,” “The Heat Is On” by the late Frey is the most famous piece of music from the 1984 original, so it’s nice to see it back again.

“I Don’t F*** with You” by Big Sean ft E-40-Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F’snext needle drop is part of an actual scene. While pursuing escaping suspects, the only vehicle available to Axel is a snow plow.The driver is heard listening to “I Don’t F*** with You” by Big Seanon his earphones when Axel tries to commandeer his vehicle. When asking nicely doesn’t work, Axel pulls his pistol and the driver swiftly exits.

Beverly Hills Cop Axel F Film Poster

“Shakedown” by Bob Seger- The hits come thick and fast inAxel F, withBeverly Hills Cop 2’s"Shakedown” making a return during the snow plow sequence.“Shakedown” plays throughout the latter half of the snow plow chase, where Axel causes untold levels of property damage while pursuing his suspects. In the 1987 sequel, this Bob Seger track played over the opening credits as Foley prepares himself for an undercover sting.

“Players” (Sync Edit)/“Hot in the City” by Coi Leray and Billy Idol- When Axel arrives in Beverly Hills, the traditional montage of him looking around in awe at the weirdness of the city also returns.This montage is set to a mashup between Coi Leray’s “Players” and Billy Idol’s “Hot in the City.“In other words, a great fusion of retro and modern, which feels like a mission statement forBeverly Hills Cop: Axel F. That, and it’s just a really catchy song.

“Neutron Dance” by The Pointer Sisters- There reaches a point listening toAxel F’ssoundtrack where it feels like the filmmakers just made a mixtape taken from the first twoBeverly Hills Cops. After fleeing from killers who were rummaging through Billy’s (Judge Reinhold) office, Axel has no choice but to escape in a Meter Maid’s car.The resulting chase is set to The Pointer Sisters' “Neutron Dance,“which was used in the first film.

“Family Affair” by Mary J. Blige- Taylour Paige joinsthe cast ofBeverly Hills Cop: Axel Fas Jane, the estranged daughter of Murphy’s title character.After Jane gets Axel out of custody, they drive together and Mary J. Blige’s 2001 classic “Family Affair” playson the car radio. Axel reminds Jane this was one of her favorites and begins singing along, despite getting most of the lyrics wrong; when Jane turns off the radio, he continues to make vaguely similar noises to “Family Affair.”

“Milkshake” by Kelis-Axel Ffeaturesthe return of anotherBeverly Hills Copcharacterin Bronson Pinchot’s Serge. An epic character deserves an epic intro and song, sowhen Serge pulls up to Axel and Jane an hour into the movie, Kelis' “Milkshake” accompanies him.

“Maneater” by Hall & Oates (covered by Luis Guzmán)- One ofthe most creative uses of music inAxel Finvolves a cover of Halls & Oates' “Maneater,” being performed (poorly) by cartel member Chalino (Luis Guzmán). This scene involves Axel and Detective Abbott (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) traveling to meet Chalino about his nephew being framed for killing an undercover cop. To get Chalino’s interest, Foley wildly overpraises his rendition of “…whatever that was!”

“Here We Go” by Lil Nas X-Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Fgot a theme song of its own with “Here We Go” by rapper Lil Nas X.“Here We Go” plays when Axel, Billy and Abbott are driving a truck to the mansion where Jane is being held hostage, and they need to call for backup. “Here We Go” fires up as Axel hits a police car as a way to get the cops to follow him. The song plays again over the sequel’s credits.

Where To Listen To The Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F Soundtrack

Axel F’s biggest tracks are easy to stream

While composer Lorne Balfe’s score for the sequel is available on Spotify, it appearsBeverly Hills Cop: Axel Fwon’t be receiving a song soundtrack. Still, the majority of the tracks used can be found individually on streaming platforms including Spotify and YouTube, Fan-made playlists featuring both music from and inspired by the film have already been created too.