Seeing Sounds

This piece is about music, but no it’s not about the iconic N.E.R.D album from 2008. As a late 80s baby and a child of the 90s, I grew up in what was considered a golden era for many when it came to music. I, like others have many favorite songs and albums from that time, and vividly remember the feel and energy that the music of that era had. While many say it was a golden era for music, I also think the later 80s and early 90s were a golden era for Black film. I feel like after a lot of what we got back then, we saw people follow a formula for the type of films we got. Beyond the original concepts, raw acting, and cinematography of those films of the time, there was also a marriage between the films and its music that was flawless. Some of the films were carried by their soundtracks, and it seems to be something we have lost throughout the years. As a whole we aren’t necessarily waiting for soundtracks to release and this is something we once did frequently. This year there seems to be hope of things may be working their way back to that age we loved so much though.

There are pieces that required heavy research and diving into things to build the greatest perspective possible on the theme, this isn’t one of those where that was the case. The reason being, these albums that released for many of these movies contain songs many of us never forgot. Some remain staples played at certain times of the year, while others are songs that get functions going whenever they come on.

Let’s start in 1990 with the iconic “House Party”

This soundtrack opens up with classic New Jack Swing record “Why You Get Funky On Me” by R&B group Today. Hip Hop legends Public Enemy and LL Cool J round out the soundtrack with “Can’t Do Nuttin’ For Ya, Man!” and “To Da Break of Dawn”. The standout record on the soundtrack comes from the infamous battle scene between Kid and Play at the part simply titled “Kid vs. Play”.

 

1991 was a very good year for as far as these films and soundtracks went.

“New Jack City” is arguably the most well-rounded soundtrack on this list. It had hit after hit and completely complimented the film. Ice-t’s “New Jack Hustler”, Christopher Williams’ “I’m Dreamin”, Color me Badd’s “I Wanna Sex You Up”, LeVert “For the Love of Money”, and title track “New Jack City” by Guy.

 

From the west coast we got Ice Cube acting debut “Boyz N The Hood”. This is another soundtrack where the music gives you an entire feel for the timeframe and place the movie takes place. Compton’s Most Wanted “Growin’ Up in The Hood”, 2 Live Crew’s “Hangin’ Out”, and Tony! Toni! Tone!’s “Me and You” are some of the most remembered records from the soundtrack. Cube’s “How to Survive in South Central” is the intro, and definitely an album favorite for many.

 

The last soundtrack from ’91 is from one of my all-time favorite movies, “Strictly Business”. At the end of the day this and another film that will be listed later are the pinnacle for Black Romantic Comedies in my eyes. The soundtrack opens with “I Just Want Love” by Stephanie Mills, features Mary J. Blige’s “You Remind Me”, and has a its title track from LL Cool J “Strictly Business”. On top of those standouts, records from Grand Puba, Nice & Smooth, and Heavy D, we got the timeless record “You Called and Told Me” By Jeff Redd on this soundtrack.

 

1992 had a pair of films that are also two of my personal favorites with classic soundtracks as well.

First is the always quotable and other Black Romantic Comedy I was referring to “Boomerang”.  The soundtrack opens up with feel good duet between Babyface and Toni Braxton “Give U My Heart”. Other standouts are Johnny Gill’s “There U Go”, Kenny Vaughan’s “Feel Like Heaven”, and single rap feature “Hot Sex” by Tribe Call Quest”. The break out record from this soundtrack is Toni Braxton’s “Love Shoulda Brought You Home” and is tailor made for the movie.

 

That year we also got “Juice”, which from a soundtrack standpoint is flawless. Hands down there are classic records from nearly every artist on this album. Teddy Riley, Big Daddy Kane, Rakim, Salt N’ Pepa, Cypress Hill, and Naughty by Nature all have some of their best songs on this soundtrack. Juices soundtrack also contains Aaron Hall’s best version of “Don’t Be Afraid”.

 

The list could run a whole lot longer, but for time purposes I will honorable mention a bunch of other great ones that show you all how amazing that time period was for Black Film and their soundtracks. Above the Rim, Friday, Menace II Society, Mo’ Money, and Poetic Justice all have phenomenal soundtracks that are nearly as good as their respective films and made you enjoy the film that much more.

Now that I have ran through these films and reminded you of how good we had it, I’m sure you may be looking at how things are now with a bit of pessimism. But, we may be ok. This year has been good for soundtracks & movie related albums. With the upcoming Rocky sequel Creed II we got a project from producer Mike WiLL Made-It that is star-studded. The album features Lil Wayne, Pharrell, Nas, Rick Ross, Ella Mai, Ari Lennox, A$AP Rocky, J. Cole, Nicki Minaj, Kendrick Lamar, Tessa Thompson, and 2Chainz. There is a pulse to the entire project that already has social media excited to see the latest installment. Creed II The Album, isn’t the only project this year for a film that has us feeling nostalgic as far as soundtracks go. The Black Panther soundtrack may be my favorite project this year. The records painted a picture that paired so well with the film, it’s insane. They had feeling and ambiance in the production, that made each record seem crafted diligently rather than just recorded. The features complimented one another like something we hadn’t seen in some time, and every record flowed into the next seamlessly. Since Michael B. Jordan stars in both films so we may need to thank him for ushering in a new generation of film and soundtrack pairings that we have been missing for some time. This couldn’t be by chance and with the relationships he has I am sure he played a part in how these things came together. Whatever it is I am happy as a fan and look forward to what else we get going forward.