All-star lineup fails to deliver

Blade II: The Soundtrack\nVarious Artists\nImmportal Records\nAt some point, we all knew it was going to happen: A movie soundtrack that attempts to fuse hip-hop lyrics into songs already bubbling over with programmed techno loops. Blade II: the Soundtrack is that very disc, and its poor attempt to mesh these two very different genres of music into a cohesive album fails. When separate, hip-hop and techno (and I use techno in the broad sense of the word) are fun to listen to. On this particular soundtrack, there is an admirable mix of mainstream hip-hop artists such as Redman and Mystikal combined with more old-schoolers like Mos Def and The Roots. \nThere's an equally talented line-up from the electronic standpoint of the album as well. UK deejays such as Basement Jaxx and Roni Size (among others) are listed side by side with techno big wigs like BT and The Crystal Method.\nBut when trying to create tracks combining two talented artists from two very different music genres, things can (and in this case, do) go wrong. \nTake the song "Cowboy," a collaboration between UK dance giant Fatboy Slim and rapper of Ruff Ryder fame, Eve. Here's a track with a very decent beat laid down by Slim, but it is totally side-stepped by Eve's mindless opening lyric, "Where my niggas at? / What! / Where my thugs at? / What! / Where my niggas getting sacks?" \nHmm… where's your talent at, Eve?\nThis sort of musical oddity continues throughout the entire album with a very peculiar flow; if there's a beat in a certain track you can find remotely appealing, it's almost a surefire bet the song will fail to deliver from a lyrical standpoint.\nOther disappointing examples of the hip-hop/techno confusion include "Right Here Right Now" by Paul Oakenfold and Ice Cube. Any Oakenfold fan will find this track a little strange because it lacks any element of his style whatsoever -- only a heavy, guitar riff loops through the song while Ice Cube raps about how mean and tough he is.\nThe opening title track composed by Marco Beltrami and Danny Saber is one of the few bright spots. But the only reason it's a bright spot in the first place is because there is no inane babbling from "John Q. Rapper" found anywhere on the track. \nRedman and Gorillaz put together the only successful convergence of electronica and hip-hop with their track, "Gorillaz On My Mind," a kooky yet intelligent little number that involves both Redman and Gorillaz front man Damon Albarn basically grunting like apes… go figure. \n

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