Back in December 2018, I reviewed the movie soundtrack to Creed II. Despite some movies coming and going with predominantly Hip Hop soundtracks, I never bothered to talk about them. However, when I saw Joyner Lucas had released a new track, I clicked on it, to then find out it was included in the collection of songs to support and feature in the new Space Jam film starring Lebron James, Space Jam: A New Legacy
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So by the time I'd been to see the film, I'd already heard the soundtrack like 9 times, so the best thing about the film was recognising the songs from the soundtrack that are laced throughout the film. They were crammed in mostly for the sake of it though, I feel like, if I didn't know the songs, they wouldn't have really done much for me and the scenes that they were in would've felt even more alien and awkward.
The soundtrack though itself completely matches the tone and family atmosphere of the film. All the way from its light-hearted friendly aesthetic to the actual 'take-home' messages. This is something a soundtrack certainly needs to achieve in my opinion, they need to marry up and go hand-in-hand with the film, otherwise they will just feel like pointless money-grabs that nobody asked for. Whether anyone asked for this Space Jam soundtrack anyway, who knows, but the music for most part was actually enjoyable.
For example, the opening track We Win, produced by Just Blaze really captured the film the best and you can see why this track was used in the closing credits of the film. The track is one of ambition and celebration. With Kirk Franklin + the choir, this track sounded very early Kanye-esque (especially if you'd substitute Lil Baby with Ye).
After We Win, it moves onto a track called Control The World, this has may favourite feature performance on the track (so not when it is their own track), and it comes from Lil Wayne. His flow and rhyme schemes are tight and he has a few lyrical highlights which do sound somewhat inspiring. The smooth catchy hook sets up Wayne to flourish in his verses.
See Me Fly is another song early in the tracklist that precisely executes its objectives by comfortably catching the vibe of the movie. Chance certainly did his thing and this was another uplifting track with gospel undertones to caress the ear on impact.
Hoops takes the soundtrack in a new direction and adds another dimension. This is a bouncy, hard-hitting, lyrical exercising, female anthem. Kash Doll came through with my favourite verse on the track, her Detroit accent sounding dope as the other track I heard her spit on, Friday Night Cypher.
Then we come to the first song on the tracklist which I really didn't care for, and that is Lil Uzi Vert's Pump Up The Jam. Heavily sampling the original late 80's dance classic Pump Up The Jam - a track everyone loves, a track everyone appreciates, not a track that needed this 2021 re-boot from Lil Uzi Vert. Lil Uzi sounded incredibly bored and the dullness of the track sucks the life out of the listener until the listener naturally implodes in some sort of evolutionary reaction. The main problem is, Uzi had no real chemistry with the music. I can't believe some people were saying Uzi had the best performance on the soundtrack - I CAN'T SPEAYK!
The next two tracks are both pop songs. i'M not trying to be that guy, but the pop songs really hold this soundtrack back, and the hip hop songs really carry it. I'm not trying to hate on pop songs for no reason, but in general, pop isn't a genre that I take much notice in - pop being the songs that really dominate the charts at any given time. Not that I hate pop songs, I'm sure there's songs in the charts I'd like, but in general, probably not. Old pop songs from the 80's, 90's and 00's were tacky and a bit wet, but they weren't bland, and including some of the tracks on this soundtrack and ones I have heard in the charts, pop songs nowadays seem bland and uninspiring. The John Legend effort was bad, but Mercy by Jonas brothers had this cool whistling in, so I did find that song fun.
Then there were a few pop songs at the very end of the run, My Guy by Leon Bridges was, though very lame, extremely catchy and I did welcome that song every time it came on. The Best was decent closer in my opinion that neither added nor took away from the tracklist.
As I said, Hip Hop carried the soundtrack. I think to use the word 'experimental' may be giving too much credit, but the Hip Hop tracks (especially in the second half of the project) tried newer things and the music matched and made sense to be on the Space Jam movie soundtrack. It also showed off the talent where possible. MVP by Brockhampton had some solid, memorable verses and a vibey hook that made for nice breaks in the song. I loved Cordae's second verse in Settle The Score, the way he rides the beat just after it changes slightly is smooth as fuck and is just perfect.
Goin' Looney was a really corny song, but in hindsight it was meant to be this weird song that represents the Looney Tunes. As a song though I just didn't think it was particularly remarkable or needed for the soundtrack.
Next we have the track which brought me to this project in the first place, and that is Shoot My Shot. This is one of the better and perhaps more serious cuts on the soundtrack. However, as a Joyner song, this completely just feels like an ADHD reject. One thing that I do like about this track is the melodic singing at the beginning of verse 2. Joyner is excellent at doing that, and I wish he would do more of it. I feel as though I haven't heard enough of Joyner doing this since is 508-507-2209 days. Another thing to note, this was one of the few songs in the soundtrack that did not feature in the movie.
To conclude, I cannot deny the tedious pop and RnB tracks that hold this project back, but also, as a project, it absolutely captured the feel of the movie and there was some good performances. Nothing to write home about though so I'll write about it here instead.
6.5/10.
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