Soundtrack Bangers

Back in the day, movie soundtracks were as popular if not more popular than the movies they were created for.  In the 90s, some soundtracks such as Menace II Society and Above the Rim were considered hip-hop classics while others such as Who’s the Man? and Deep Cover introduced us to emcees whom would later become legendary.  These days, soundtracks aren’t as popular, but if you came up in the 90s, soundtrack releases were anticipating as much as any albums.  In honor of these soundtracks, I’ve decided to give you 26 bangers that appeared on soundtracks.  There’s no particular order and I’m sure I missed some so let me know.

1.     MC Eiht – Streiht Up Menace (Menace II Society)

2.     Nas – One On One (Street Fighter)

The Street Fighter soundtrack had 3 or 4 gems on it and this one from Nas was probably the best one.

3.     Outkast – Phobia (Higher Learning)

4.     2Pac – Pain (Above the Rim)

My favorite Pac song of all-time.  This song was only available on the cassette version.

5.     Method Man & Redman – How High (The Show)

6.     Ice Cube – How To Survive In South Central (Boyz N the Hood)

7.     Tha Dogg Pound – Big Pimpin’ (Above the Rim)

My boy Brian put me on the clean version of Above the Rim soundtrack and the clean version of this song was just as dope as the dirty version.

8.     Outkast – Benz Or Beamer (New Jersey Drive)

9.     Tha Dogg Pound – Just Doggin (Sunset Park)

This song was playing in the background from a scene in Above the Rim which came out before Sunset Park, but for some reason it wasn’t on the Above the Rim soundtrack.

10. A Tribe Called Quest – Hot Sex (Boomerang)

11. Common – High Expectations (Soul in the Hole)

Soul in the Hole seems to be a forgotten soundtrack.  It had a lot of dope tracks on it.

12. Naughty By Nature – Uptown Anthem (Juice)

13. Digital Underground – Same Song (Nothing But Trouble)

Introduced us to Pac

14.  The Notorious B.I.G. – Party & Bullshit (Who’s the Man?)

15. Eminem – Lose Yourself (8 Mile)

16. DJ Quik – Dollaz + Sense (Murder Was the Case)

17. Master P, Young Bleed & C-Loc – How Ya Do Dat (I’m Bout It)

18. Jay-Z – This Life Forever (Black Gangster)

19. Dr. Dre & Snoop Doggy Dogg – Deep Cover (Deep Cover)

20. Eric B. & Rakim – Juice (Know the Ledge) (Juice)

21. Warren G – Regulate (Above the Rim)

22. 2Pac – Definition of a Thug N**** (Poetic Justice)

I forgot about this track until a couple of years ago when I came across the Poetic Justice soundtrack for some reason.

23. Mobb Deep – Back At You (Sunset Park)

24. Mic Geronimo, DMX, Cormega, Ja Rule & Fatal – Usual Suspects (How to Be a Player)

A young DMX and Ja Rule.  Mic Geronimo before he messed up and got with Puff.  For some reason I really like this track.

25. Public Enemy – Fight the Power (Do the Right Thing)

26. Main Source – Fakin the Funk (White Men Can’t Jump)

Music To Drink To

Retrieved from http://www.egotripland.com/gallery/irish-st-patricks-rap-album-covers/8-u2pac-all-irish-eyez-on-me/

St. Patrick’s Day is finally here…March 17^th is to drinkers what 4/20 is to smokers or what Halloween is to kids.  It’s that one day that people can indulge in their vices without fear of being judged or reprimanded.  While green beer and Irish whiskey may not be for everyone, if you choose to participate in the drinking festivities, I encourage you to get in touch with your inner Irish-ness and drink one of the two.  At the very least, you could at least wear something green.  While you’re enjoying the day, I’ve compiled a list of hip-hop songs for you to drink to so that you can properly enjoy your day.  Sláinte!

2Pac – Thug Passion

One part Alize, one part Cristal.  Pac wasn’t trying to turn y’all into alcohols...alcoholics…just into thugs.

Gucci Mane featuring Plies – Wasted

This is the guilty pleasure song.  I don’t want to admit that it’s kind of catchy and might be somewhat likable, but after you’re a few drinks in, you don’t worry about the judgment of the hip-hop elite.

Mobb Deep featuring Q-Tip – Drink Away the Pain

This song is actually kind of sobering.  Prodigy saying he loves her (liquor) her more than living.  Q-Tip’s verse was dope as hell though.

Busta Rhymes featuring Puff Daddy and Pharrell – Pass the Courvoiser Part II

If Drink Away the Pain sobered you up, this joint will get you back to being um…as the kids say these days…TURNT UP!!!!!

DJ Quik – Tonite

Don’t sleep on this ode to drinking from Quik’s debut album.  By the end of St. Patty’s most of you will be feeling like Quik, “To the man up above to whom thanks I give, I’ll never drink again if you just let me live.”

D12 – 40 oz.

I’m not a beer drinker and if 40s get you in this much trouble, that’s probably a good thing.

NaS – Drunk By Myself

This falls in the same category as Drink Away the Pain.  Hopefully you’re not by yourself on St. Patty’s.

Kendrick Lamar – Swimming Pools (Drank)

I get this is supposed to be an anti-drinking song, but the chorus makes you think otherwise.

The Click – Hurricane

“Hurricane, but you can call it Slurricane.”

Tha Alkaholiks – Only When I’m Drunk

I mean the title says it all.  Just a bunch of things you’re prone to due when you’re inebriated.

Snoop Doggy Dogg – Gin & Juice

Possibly the greatest ode to drinking.

House of Pain – Jump Around

This isn’t a song about drinking, but it is St. Patty’s Day’s and they were Irish.

Since this is dedicated to drinking, as a bonus, I've included this YouTube clip featuring a promo tape of St. Ides commercials.  If you were watching Yo! MTV Raps or Rap City in the mid-90s, I don't even have to tell you about the St. Ides commercials.  If you have no idea what I'm talking about, you need to go to YouTube and search St. Ides commercials.

Ode To DJ Clue

It was September 1996 and I had just begun my sophomore year at Grand Valley State University.  I had a history class and met this guy named Gary.  We started talking about hip-hop and he started talking to me about mixtapes.  Now, I’m from Muskegon, Michigan, went to a school only 30 minutes away and this was before the Internet blew up, so I didn’t know anything about mixtapes.  I remember my boy Shun, who went to Michigan State, let me hear a Bad Boy mixtape, but it was bad quality.  However, I started talking to Gary and he started telling me about mixtapes that were coming out of New York and featured unreleased songs.  He told me about this one DJ, named DJ Clue and he said Clue put out the dopest mixtapes.  Gary was headed to North Carolina to visit family and he said he could grab a couple of mixtapes for me, so I gave him the loot and told him just to make sure he got at least one Clue tape for me.

Gary brought back this Clue tape for me called, 4, 5, 6 (Going For Broke) and to this day, it’s my favorite mixtape of all-time.  It had a Mobb Deep joint on it called Drop A Gem On ‘Em that I had only heard about it in Vibe magazine.  It was Mobb Deep’s response to 2Pac’s diss on Hit ‘Em Up and it hadn’t been released yet.  Just for that fact, I loved the mixtape, but it had a lot of other gems on there such Nas’ Take It In Blood, Lil Kim’s No Time and Capone-N-Noreaga’s Illegal Life.  For the next five years, I would have a love affair with Clue tape’s and I made it a priority to cop every Clue tape that came out.  There was the Show Me the Money series, Clue For President series, the Cluemanatti series and countless others.

In the late 90s, mixtapes weren’t artist driven like they are today, they were DJ driven.  It seemed like each DJ was known for something.  Ron G was nice with the blends, Tony Touch had the scratches and dope turntable techniques, Kayslay was known for showcasing beef between rappers, but Clue had the exclusives and was known for breaking New York artists.  I first heard the Lox, Fabolous, Joe Budden, Stack Bundles and a bunch of other artists from Clue tapes.  I remember hearing Mobb Deep’s Quiet Storm, Puff’s All About The Benjamins and Jay-Z’s People’s Court for the first time on Clue tapes. 

Clue’s success would extend beyond mixtapes because he would sign with Roc-A-Fella records and in 1998 he released his debut compilation album The Professional that would go platinum.  He would later release 3 additional albums, the Backstage soundtrack (2000), The Professional 2 (2000) and The Professional 3 (2006).  His mixtapes connections enabled him to put together solid compilation albums that would feature artists such as Jay-Z, DMX, Fabolous, Noreaga and a long list of noteworthy hip-hop artists.

When you think of some of the greatest mixtape DJs of all-time, Clue has to be included because he was forerunner in revolutionizing the mixtape game.  In my opinion, Clue paved the way for a lot of DJs such as DJ Kay Slay, DJ Envy and DJ Drama.  Clue was also one of the first mixtape DJs to transition successfully to releasing major label albums and music production.  At the end of day though, my love for DJ Clue is for the mixtapes that he blessed us with.  I had an addiction for hip-hop and Clue was the pusher feeding my habit, so to DJ Clue, I owe you a huge debt of gratitude for blessing me with dope music over the years.