Published on Mar 19, 2002
A few years ago,
Blade came out just as the comic-movie craze was becoming a
saturated landfill in the theaters. Low-budget, smacking of B-movie
charm, the movie was not expected to do well. However, Wesley
Snipes’s dead-on bad-ass performance and cutting-edge special
effects (those who saw
The Matrix were a little more prepared to be bowled over
after seeing some of the scenes in
Blade), helped made the movie a modest hit. Now that the
video has been out for years, it has become a major cult hit.
Of course, a sequel was inevitable. Only this time, the budget
is fatter than P-Diddy’s payroll and expectations are much larger.
Happy Walters, CEO of Immortal Records was put in charge of
assembling a soundtrack to fit the movie. He has manned the boards
for such hip-hop-meets-heavy metal-collaborations as
Judgment Night and
Spawn.
Much like his past two soundtracks, Walters aims to strike a
balance between commercial and critical acclaim. For
Blade II, it seems that Walters is leaning toward the latter
balance. The soundtrack features some of the most innovative
artists in trip-hop as well as hip-hop.
The pairings are inspired: Mystical meets up with Moby; Redman
and Gorrillaz; Cypress Hill and Roni Size; The Roots and BT; Ice
Cube and Paul Oakenfold, just to name a few. The dream combo in the
soundtrack is a collaboration featuring trip-hop pioneers Massive
Attack and hip-hop visionary Mos Def.
Much like all-star teams and superhero team-ups, some pairings
work and some just seem to fall apart. Massive Attack’s spooky,
atmospheric beats work perfectly with Mos Def’s confidant,
smooth-flowing delivery. Even though the lyrics to “We Be Like
This” may smack of hip-hop clichés, the slamming beats
provided by Jadakiss, Danny Saber and Fabolous are so infectious
that you couldn’t care less.
“Gorillaz On My Mind,” a fun, funky collaboration between
Gorillaz and Redman brings out the best in both artists. For
Redman, an artist plagued by recent weak efforts, the
comic-book-style energy provided by Gorillaz seemed to re-energize
Redman’s creative process. And Redman’s presence made Gorillaz seem
well, less cartoonish.
Of course, other experiments do not work nearly as well. “The
One,” in insipid number featuring Busta Rhymes, Silkk The Shocker
and Danny Saber, is almost forgotten once “We Be Like This” comes
on. It doesn’t help that Silkk’s limited lyrical and rapping skills
is matched up with Rhymes’ furious, creative energy.
Unlike other so-called mergers of different musical styles,
Blade II rarely feels like it’s contrived or rehearsed. The
dark, moody beats of many of these trip-hop artists mesh well and
actually give a good amount of depth to some of the hip-hop artists
on the list. So what if the movie may turn out to be over-hyped,
inferior to the original and a big-budget disappointment? The
soundtrack already ranks among the best in recent memory.