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The soundtrack on Netflix’s Beef is ‘the music I grew up with’: creator on why the songs matter so much, plus 3 of the ones that hit the hardest

  • The soundtrack for the Netflix show is full of songs from the ’90s/early ’00s, featuring Bush, Christina Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson, Smashing Pumpkins and others
  • Creator Lee Sung-jin chose those songs for a reason. The two lead characters are trapped in the past, and he felt it fitting to tap into the sounds of that era

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Steven Yeun as Danny and Ali Wong as Amy in “Beef”. The Netflix show is packed with nostalgic songs, all of which have been chosen for good reason, says the showrunner. Credit: Netflix

This story contains mild spoilers.

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If you have watched Beef, the darkly comic road rage thriller starring Ali Wong and Steven Yeun, you have probably found yourself transported at times to the heyday of Total Request Live, a 1998-2008 US programme that played the 10 most requested music videos of the day.

The soundtrack for the Netflix show is full of songs from the ’90s and early ’00s, featuring hits by Bush, Christina Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson, Smashing Pumpkins and many others.

“This is the music I grew up with,” said creator Lee Sung-jin, who was inspired to write the series by an infuriating encounter with an angry driver on the streets of Los Angeles in the US state of California.

Lee Sung-jin (right) the creator of “Beef”, poses with Wong and Yeun at the premiere of the Netflix series on March 30, 2023, in Los Angeles. Photo: AP
Lee Sung-jin (right) the creator of “Beef”, poses with Wong and Yeun at the premiere of the Netflix series on March 30, 2023, in Los Angeles. Photo: AP

Beef follows Danny (Yeun) and Amy (Wong), two strangers who nearly run into each other in a car park and become consumed with a mutual quest for revenge.

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