Fast and FURIOUS Soundtrack review from IGN

Fast & Furious Soundtrack Review
Will these hip hop tracks get your motor running?
by Finn White

March 31, 2009 - The soundtrack to Fast & Furious, the fourth installment in The Fast And The Furious film franchise, is a strong compilation of hip hop and dance tunes and sounds exactly the way an action-packed urban underground car-racing movie should.

From beginning to end the music stays on point, invoking images of fast driving, growling engines, hot asphalt, exploding testosterone, and gorgeous bad girls with a thing for dangerous men.

The album kicks off with it's best track, "Bang," an adrenaline-pumping collaboration between M.I.A. (the multi-talented UK rapper that broke into mainstream awareness when "Paper Planes" featured in the trailer for Pineapple Express and later on the soundtrack to Slumdog Millionaire) and her prot?g? Rye Rye.

Busta Rhymes contributes "G-Stro," a nasty but irresistible club anthem almost certain to become a hit. Check your gentlemanly politics at the door or watch your normally respectable girlfriend shake her undies for all the guys with a better sense of humor.


- Universal


Most of the rest of the album has a distinct latin flavor, dominated by team-ups with Cuban-American hip hop and reggaeton artist, Pitbull. The best of these is "Blanco" featuring super-producer Pharrell. With a high-energy dance beat and rallying brass bridge, it delivers an infectious fiesta vibe. "Krazy" featuring rapper Lil John and "You Slip, She Grip" featuring Puerto Rican rapper Tego Calder?n keep the party going. They put a smile on your face and get your body moving, but are less memorable.

Also of interest is a gangsta's bedroom interpretation of Madonna's "La Isla Bonita." It has novelty value and is sure to play during the film's main getting-it-on scene, but the vocal performance by Tasha is a little emotionally flat.

Overall, the Fast & Furious soundtrack is a worthy listen, serving a few standout tunes, rounded out by solid, thematically consistent material with only a couple weak songs.