In The Movies (Edited)

Since Priority's 2003 compilation Greatest Hits grabbed some of the most important tracks this West Coast G gave to soundtracks, their 2007 Ice Cube collection In the Movies isn't the grand discography helper it could have been. It's best for the faithful fans who bought all the albums but not all the soundtracks Cube landed on or those who don't mind a little redundancy as long as they get to take a nostalgic ride back to the '90s when the hip-hop soundtrack was king. Tracks from Murder Was the Case ("Natural Born Killaz"), Boyz N the Hood ("How to Survive in South Central"), I Got the Hook Up ("Ghetto Vet"), The Players Club ("'We Be Clubbin'"), and Friday ("Friday") prove Cube was on the best of them, often with the soundtrack's key cut. The rest of the set is more archival than vital, but there's nothing here that suggests the rapper was taking the Hollywood money and running. Even the low point -- "Right Here, Right Now," the collaboration with dance producer Paul Oakenfold for the Blade 2 soundtrack -- deserves a C+, and while including the 1991 track "The Wrong N**** to F**k Wit" on the collection because it landed in the 2001 film Scary Movie 2 seems like cheating, it is an amazing cut. [A clean version was issued simultaneously.] ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide