New Jack City

This soundtrack, from Mario Van Peebles' hit movie New Jack City, is a fairly good cross section of rap, house, and R&B styles, in keeping with the attitude of the movie (a violent cop vs. crack lords drama). There's no "Theme from Shaft" for the '90s here, but there are some slammin' sides all the same -- the album kicks right into high gear with Ice-T's "New Jack Hustler (Nino's Theme)," a nonstop barrage of beats, samples, and furious rhymes. F.S. Effect manage to convey the same sort of energy and fury with "Get It Together (Black Is a Force)" later in the album. ~ Steven McDonald, All Music Guide