The Hip Hop movie soundtrack. Once in a long while, the planets align and a record company is capable of cranking out something that’s not only representative of the best in rap and R&B, but also ties into the theme or feel of the movie that bears its name. The soundtracks to 8 Mile and Murder Was The Case succeeded, while the soundtracks to Sprung and Woo did not.
Executive Producer Sean “P. Diddy” Combs has brought together an imposing lineup of talent for the soundtrack to the summer blockbuster Bad Boys II. And if Puff Daddy is involved in an album project, you can be sure that he’ll appear on a few tracks, too. The best of the Puffy-infused cuts is Shake Ya Tailfeather. It’s a high-tempo club jam that features guest spots from Nelly and Murphy Lee. Sure, the lyrics are akin to the empty calories of a Hostess snack cake, but all three cats display tremendous chemistry on the mic and flow well (as well as they can) with a blazin’ party-startin’ beat. So sue me…I even liked the Atlanta Braves tomahawk chop war chant sample.
Unfortunately, the heavy hand of Diddy is a little too prevalent. He’s teams up with the 2003 version of himself, Pharrell, on Show Me Your Soul. Lenny Kravitz and labelmate Loon make it a four-car pile up of styles that just don’t mesh. This is a running theme throughout this album, which is even more obvious when Puffy isn’t rappin’. His clunky, overblown production of Beyoncé’s Keep Giving Your Love To Me is a huge disappointment and completely overwhelms the lyrics. Later, Snoop does his best with the played-out 1997 beat Puffy serves up for him on Gangsta Sh*t, but those rumors of a Puffy-produced Snoop album should frighten all of us.
It’s nothin’ but generic, run-of-the-mill themes on Justin Timberlake’s especially whiny Love Don’t Love Me, which may or may not be directed at ex-flame Britney Spears. Ditto for the Foxy Brown/Mario Winans collabo on Pretty Girl Bullsh*t. Foxy flaunts all her material goods, but would’ve really impressed me by explaining the irony of her spittin’ on a cut with the word “Pretty” in it.
Mary J. Blige tries for the late-inning rally with her excellent effort on Didn’t Mean. Puffy crafts a seamless beat that perfectly entwines with Mary’s passionate vocals. Unfortunately, it’s a case of too little, too late. Even Ms. Blige can’t cover up for the number of high-profile crash-and-burn efforts. What the hell was Jay-Z thinkin’ with his flaccid remix (La La La) of Excuse Me Miss? An even bigger question is why anyone felt the need to add the underground 50 Cent/B.I.G. cut, Realest N’s? It’s a B-Level effort from both artists and reeks of that “name exploitation” that previously was the sole intellectual property of the Tupac estate.
