Customer Reviews

Bad Boys II

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Well the summer is definitely off to a good start thanks to production from the urban label known as Bad Boy Records. Headed by Sean Combs (P. Diddy) he gets his label (under a new distribution deal with Universal Records) back in the swing of things with the release of BAD BOYS II [Soundtrack]. The basic concept is that this is a compilation album featuring artists from hip-hop (Jay-Z), r&b (Beyonce), rock (Lenny Kravitz) and even pop (Justin Timberlake).

Unlike others artists in the rap arena who bring us tales of problems with their mother/girlfriends and having survived assassination attempts, P Diddy and Bad Boy Records has always been good for "feel good" party type music. Easy to recite lyrics over recognizable pop tunes was the method during the labels zenith. After hearing some criticism, Puff has toned down the overt sampling and created his own sound (actually it should be noted that now, as in the past, Mr. Combs employs other producers that function to create and assist in the production of these music tracks).

But you want to know how does the CD sound? Well, it's one of those rare CD's that doesn't have what critics refer to as "filler" tracks (songs that just take up space on an album). He has managed to assemble artists who are regarded as being among the best in their respective fields. And for him they contribute some of their best work. The first song "Show Me Your Soul" has an old soul feel to it. Lenny Kravitz pays homage to James Brown style as he wails the hook and asks a girl to "lose control". This gets the CD off to a very good start and then rap heavyweight Jay Z takes over the duties on the second track "La, La, La" (a remix to his hit Excuse Me Miss). St Louis natives Nelly and Murphy Lee join P Diddy to call out women and "Shake Ya Tailfeather". Then Latin titan Fat Joe joins Diddy on the cut "Girl I'm a Bad Boy". Out of all the songs on the soundtrack this one best incorporates themes from the film as "Joey Crack" raps to his amour that he can't change who he is and "I'm a be a Bad Boy for life" in the last verse. This has a nice cool mellow vibe to it. Our favorite weed-aholic Snoop joins the posse on "Gangsta Sh**". Bad Boy newcomer Loon joins the Doggfather on this song with a haunted ghetto mansion like sound. Loon's laid back flow (which some unjustly compare to past Bad Boy artist Mase) goes well with Snoop and makes you look forward to his upcoming debut release.

I could write forever about the rest of the songs but those listed above should be a good guide to allow you to make a decision on whether to purchase this CD or not. This CD will be on constant rotation in your car or home when you want to take your mind off of a hard day and want to lift your spirits for a moment. It has excellent replay value (media buyers know exactly what I'm talking about with this statement). If that still doesn't convince you think about this: P Diddy has worked (and performed) with the likes of Sting, David Bowie, Jimmy Page, Chuck D, Notorious B.I.G. even the Smashing Pumpkins (I was surprised at this one). In an industry that tends to not favor the crossing over and mixing of genres, he has managed to gain the trust of respected artists and entertainers. This CD is a reflection of other artist's respect for him from not just rap and hip-hop but music as a whole.

For any rap fan out there, you will probably notice that the biggest names in rap are all here. Bad Boys II the soundtrack, essentially created by P. Diddy, was so hyped, parties were thrown all over New York to commemorate its release. So naturally, I was excited, being a huge fan of rap, but did the album really live up to its hype?
Almost every big name in rap is here. You got Nelly, Jay-Z, P Diddy, 50 Cent, Notorious B.I.G., and even Justin Timberlake. And with good production, you'd come to expect everything from this album. But does it really deliver all that well. Sure, some tracks are hot on here, such as La La La by Jay-Z, the meanest MC in rap, and the heavily played track, Shake Ya Tailfeather. It features Nelly, P. Diddy, and that other guy. (No, seriously, why would they put Murphy Lee on this track?) Well, anyway, although I don't have much love for these three rappers, the track is pretty awesome! Other great tracks are 50 Cent feat. Notorious B.I.G., and maybe some others, but generally this album is pretty average. If it was any other album, it would be great, but with the biggest names in black music, this album should have brought us a lot more than it really did.

When I heard that this album debuted at #1 on the billboard charts I immediately knew why. The tv ad for this album lures you in with big names like Jay-Z, 50 Cent, Notorius BIG, Puffy, Beyonce, and Justin Timberlake but the majority of these tracks aren't that great.

The best tracks on this cd are not new music. Jay-Z "lalala" appeared on the Blueprint 2.1 and on the S. Carter Collection Mixtape earlier this year. The 50 Cent and Biggie track has been out for over a year and is getting old now. Freeway's Flipside is very hot but is also on Freeway's album which came out in February.

Of the other tracks, only a few stand out. Show Me Your Soul is an average track at best. Shake Ya Tailfeather is the main single for this cd and is a good party track. The Beyonce track "Keep Giving Your Love to Me" doesn't measure up to the quality Beyonce set forth on her solo album. No matter how much I love Beyonce I just can't get into this one. The Justin Timberlake track surprised me, it was much better than I expected. The rest of the tracks seem to be just fillers except for Loon and Snoop Dogg's "Gangsta ****". The beat is very hot. As for the track by P. Diddy's band, it's nice to see that they finally came together to make some real music but this track proves that they still have a long way to go.

If you already have the Jay-Z, 50 Cent, Biggie, and Freeway tracks then I don't recommend you buy this album. Those songs are several months old and were just thrown in the soundtrack to add more big names to it. Of the new tracks, only about 3 are good and you would be wasting money to buy this cd for just 3 hot new tracks.

If you've been in the dark for the past year and haven't heard the Jay-Z, Freeway, 50 Cent, or Biggie tracks before then I definitely recommend you buy this cd. Those are the best cuts on the entire soundtrack.

Bad Boys II Soundtrack drops three days prior to the movie. I remember enjoying the first movie's action packed sequences, and finding Will Smith and Martin Lawerence an entertaining duo, so I am looking forward to going to the movie in a few days, as for the soundtrack its decent. Soundtrack comes out on P. Diddy's Bad Boy Records, it makes sense for Bad Boy Records to deliver this soundtrack which shares the labels name. Sean Combs (P. Diddy) executive produces this release. After a short intro from the movies co-stars, the first track is the Neptunes produced "Show me Your Soul" feat. P.Diddy, Lenny Kravitz, Pharrell Williams and Loon, a unique collaboration. Jay-Z comes out solo on the next track "La, La, La" a track with a nice beat which is the first of two tracks that has been made into a video. The second being "Shake Ya Tailfeather" feat. P. Diddy and the St. Lunatics Nelly and Murphy Lee drop an upbeat party track, not huge into this one, though its going to be one of those tracks that blows up on the radio. "Girl I'm a Bad Boy" feat. Fat Joe, P. Diddy and Dre is a hot Rap/R&B song, Dre's vocals are very impressive, and Diddy & Fat Joe come out well. Destiny's Child Beyonce delivers a strong soulful performance on the upbeat "Keep Giving your Love to Me". The "Realest ..." has this years most popular artist (50 Cent) and the late great Notorious B.I.G. toghether. On one hand its nice to hear the Notorious on the other, just reminds me what a great rapper the hiphop world lost in 1997. Rocafella's Freeway comes through on "Flipside" a fast-paced track. My favorite track is called "Gangsta ..." feat. Snoop Dogg and Bad Boy Records artist Loon. Snoop is usually always good at collab tracks, this track being a fine example of that, Loon is memorable as well."Pretty Girl Bullshit" feat. Mario Winans and Foxy Brown falls under skip material for me. Next comes the first of in my opinion three pointless interludes, combined with the albums intro, this makes "Bad Boys II soundtrack a fourteen track work. So what do you do when you want a soundtrack to have even more mainstream popularity? You get teenage heartthrob Justin Timberlake on your soundtrack. Timberlake does a good job on "Love Don't Love Me" a catchy song about a girl he is infatuated with. Loon who has three appearances on the soundtrack leads on "Relax your Mind" a laid back track where Loon talks about his rise in the game, which has Diddy repping Bad Boy in the background. The next track "Didn't Mean" comes courtesy of R & B Queen Mary J. Blige, like the beat and Bliges vocals. Da Band a collection of artists from Sean Combs MTV show "Making the Band 2" are next on "Why" a song about the devil and player hating. Not big into this track but it is nice to see new artists getting a break. M.O.P closes off album with "Wanna be G's". P. Diddy shows his influence by getting some of the biggest artists in the game on his album, artists that are selling the most today. Personally I would of liked to see some more talent from Bad Boy Records on this album artists such as Black Rob, G-Dep and some of the established R & B acts signed to the label. Soundtracks that do well commericially usually offer a wide variety of music, from well known artists (Justin Timberlake, Mary J. Blige, Nelly, Beyonce etc), and "Bad Boys II Soundtrack" achieves this. For the most part this is a good soundtrack with some nice songs, recommend this release to those who like the artists featured on it.

You know how people say that a good movie has a bad soundtrack, or vice versa? Well, I don't know anyone that saw this movie, but I just hope this rule applies to it, because this soundtrack stinks.

First of all, the soundtrack was mostly produced by P. Diddy, so do you know what that means? Yep, he announces the title and "Bad Boy" at the end of every track. But even more annoying than that is how bad the majority of this album is. There are a lot of wack songs on here - Fat Joe and Diddy's "Girl I'm A Bad Boy" and Diddy, Pharrell and Lenny Kravitz's "Show Me Your Soul" come readily to mind. By the way, Loon is also featured on the latter song, and he also appears on two more tracks with mediocre results, but I never expected anything from him anyway.

Another mistake is Mario Winans and Foxy Brown's "Pretty Girl B.S.", which has Foxy saying "I roll with Shawn Carter" in the first verse. When's the last time she rolled with Shawn Carter (Jay-Z)? Justin Timberlake's "Love Don't Love Me" starts off okay but then falls at the end when he says to the girl that rejected him, "You know what? Screw you." And "Gangsta Ish" (with Snoop Dogg and Loon) is about as interesting as Puff's song of the same name.

The rest of the songs sound like they were left off artists' albums, like Mary J. Blige's "Didn't Mean" and Beyoncé's "Keep Giving Your Love To Me". And despite Biggie having a decent (vaulted) rhyme on "Realest N's", you just can't ignore the erratic supposed-to-be-funny-but-isn't talking before (and during) the first verse. The chorus is pretty dry too (sorry, 50).

The only songs really worth listening to on here are Freeway's "Flipside" and the guilty pleasure "Shake Ya Tailfeather". Although this soundtrack is only an hour long, it seems like it lasts forever. I don't think I'll be playing it again.

Anthony Rupert

This soundtrack is all hype and big names and what is sad is that this is the type of crap other youth are listening to thinking this is what music is all about. There is nothing wrong with hip-hop, but this is a clear sign the whole genre has lost any and all substance. My last fresh hope is Talib Kwali.

It seems everyone in hip-hop and R&B turned out for the P. Diddy-produced "Bad Boys II" soundtrack. Yet for all its razzle-dazzle star power, "Bad Boys II" is just slightly above average.

Subpar rapping from P. Diddy, Loon and Pharrell Williams mar the otherwise funky Neptunes-produced opening track, "Show Me Your Soul"; Foxy Brown shows why she's become an afterthought in the rap world with her witless rhyming on an R&B song with Mario Winans; "Shake Ya Tailfeather," by Nelly, Murphy Lee and (guess who?) P. Diddy, sounds like a retread of Nelly's past hits; and "Flipside," by rapper Freeway, would've been better as an instrumental.

The soundtrack gets a boost from the blazing rap track "La La La" by Jay-Z, and the raw pairing of 50 Cent and the Notorious B.I.G. results in the ultimate gangsta anthem. There's also the enticing soul of Beyonce on the dance track "Keep Giving Your Love To Me." "Love Don't Love Me" by Justin Timberlake channeling Prince is another winner. Perhaps the biggest surprise is "Why," a strong track from Da Band, the train-wreck-in-progress group documented on the P. Diddy-MTV series, "Making The Band."

The Album is just a compilation of Big stars, without any thought of making good music. Jay Z excels in the track 'la la la' and produces a funky flow with smart lyrics rapped to a funky beat. Jay Z has some bad songs ( like 'excuse me miss') but when he feels like getting funky and witty on the mic, no one else is better. Mary J also has a good track, and along with 'la la la',it is the most impressive song on the album. Shake your tail feather sounds like a karaoke song and the track with lenny kravitz makes you sick as soon as you hear p.diddy trying rap with a laid back flow. Another good thing though, is the debut song of 'Da band'. Their track has a good beat and the members show that they are the most talented stars on Bad boy. Loon's tracks are terrible (like his rap) but Snoop saves him in one. Justin's track is good, but has been seen and done before. The album as a whole is messy and you'll find yourself skipping most of the tracks. Lets hope upcoming Bad Boy albums are better planned and sounding than this. (too late loon)

The Bad Boyz II soundtrack is a neat concoction from artists showing P. Diddy some love for his new label. I'll break down this cd by song...skip the interludes

Show Me Your Soul feat. Lenny Kravitz, Pharell, Loon, Diddy - This song is aight...it's a headnodder but with terrible rappers on it. 2.5/5

La La La feat. Jay-Z - The lyrics are riding but I'm not feeling this beat. Another aight track. 3/5

Shake Your Tailfeather feat. Nelly, Murphy Lee, Diddy - Good single but stupid song title. 4/5

Girl I'ma Bad Boy feat. Fat Joe, Diddy - Another ok song...really no groove to it though. 2.5/5

Keep Giving Your Love To Me - Beyonce - Wack..this must have been a throwaway from her recently released album. 1/5

Realest Killas feat. Notorious BIG & 50 Cent - This is classic even though it really came out in 2002. But still this is it. 5/5

Flipside feat. Freeway & Peedi Crack - Yeah now the album is picking up. Freeway is the best new rapper out and they add this song from his album Philadelphia Freeway. 5/5

Gangsta Shhh feat. Loon & Snoop - a tight song with Snoop's signature buttery flow all over this. Loon is ok on it as well. 4.5 /5

Pretty Girl BS feat. Mario Winans & Foxy Brown - a new song from Foxy Brown and yes it is tight to def! 4.5/5

Love Don't Love Me feat. Justin Timberlake - this song is straight...it ain't all that like some claim. Still good though. 4/5

Relax Your Mind feat. Loon - I don't like Loon at all...his voice is too lazy. 1/5

Didn't Mean feat. Mary J. Blige - Diddy & Blige together again! Too bad the song isn't `the joint' still tight though. 4/5

Why feat. Da Band - OMG this joint is ON FIRE. Da Band from the MTV show come through on this song. Choppa and Fred absolutely rip it up. This is a classic. 5/5

Wanna Be G's feat. MOP - This song is ok...not up to usual MOP standards though. 3/5

Overall this is an aight soundtrack that doesn't hold a candle to the 2 Fast 2 Furious soundtrack but is still worthy of your collection. 3.5 Stars.

ok, this is an excellent produced hip hop soundtrack. its one of the very few hip hop soundtracks this year that came out hot. there's plenty of hot tracks on this one. my personal favorite on this album is excuse me miss again (la la la) by jay z, that beat is super sick, its a real hot beat, i mean a real tight beat, and the lyrics to the so song are hot too and the lyrics fit real well with the beat. other hot tracks include...shake ya tailfeather by nelly, p.diddy, and murphy lee, gangsta sh*t by snoop dogg and loon, girl im a bad boy by fat joe and p.diddy, realest nig*az by 50 cent and biggie smalls, flipside by freeway, and why by da band (a.k.a. the making the band 2 squad). this album is a must buy to any true real hip hop fan. dont miss out on this album, buy it next time you hit the store, cause its one of the new soundtracks this year that is living up to its hype.