Whenever people debate the enduring merits of 2Pac and his many talents, the one non-hip-hop trait amongst all else that is thrown around is how amazing an actor Pac was. And how his tragic and sudden death at the tender age of 26 cut short, what could have been, an amazing filmography in the future. One of the prime examples of this acting talent, and probably the second-best Pac role (after Bishop in 'Juice', of course...aint nobody touchin' Bishop) is the film 'Above The Rim' - a Harlem, NY-based basketball drama set, surprisingly, to a predominantly West-Coast (meaning G-Funk) soundtrack curated by rap label powerhouse Death Row Records. The film itself is a tale of two brothers; Birdie, played by Pac and Shep, played by Leon Robinson; both raised in Harlem in an earlier era and now dealing with the repercussions of their past moving forward. At the same time, central character Kyle Watson is an up-and-coming high-school basketball star seemingly on his way to success at the next stage - college basketball - and hopefully playing for the nearby Georgetown Hoyas. But Kyle has a few issues that need straightening out. Those "issues" being his involvement with Birdie, the neighborhood drug-dealer / thug extraordinaire, and the "straightening out" role falling on Shep. Obviously, the brothers come to be at odds with each other.
All of this, as I stated earlier, is played out to an exclusively hip-hop ala Death Row and hip-hop-influenced R&B ala SWV, etc. The album was notorious for being both a critical favorite, as well as a financial success; debuting SECOND in the Top 40 upon it's release in 1994 (!!!). Indeed, it was a very different era of music - an era where people still paid for their music in the physical form of compact discs. This meant having to wait for the album to actually release on a certain date, that meant a time when it was still relatively special and held with much anticipation. Certain films were an EVENT, indeed. Within the "street crime" film genre, which was itself relatively small, the hip-hop influence of course spilled over to the soundtracks and actually made THEM the event instead.
And the film's producers guaranteed that the 'Above The Rim' soundtrack would be an event with the involvement of Death Row Records and it's HNIC, Suge Knight. That meant Dr. Dre was involved too, of course, as this was 1994. 'The Chronic' was still fresh in people's minds. That meant a sonic landscaped soaked in the sounds of "G-Funk" and the artists that dominated within that genre. Surprisingly, Dr. Dre kept his involvement to mostly just mixing and engineering purposes, leaving a large portion of the production duties to relative unknowns. Tupac, being one of, if not THE star of 'Above The Rim', was of course on several of the twenty-odd tracks (not counting loose b-sides). One of those tracks left off the compact disc version of the soundtrack, strangely enough, is film intro and stand-out track 'Pain' ft Stretch. It begins with a Star Trek 5 dialogue sample about internal pain which grabs the listener's attention. Then the perfectly bare, RZA-like beat loops and Pac goes OFF. It's truly a classic track. So is Pac's "lost homies" track, 'Pour Out Some Liquor', which DID make the CD (several cuts were made available on the cassette tape version that didn't make the compact disc*). This joint would be perfect at my funeral, straight up. It's Pac at his most emotional - definitely in the same lane as 'Dear Mama' and 'Brenda's Got A Baby'. There are also two other 2pac joints on the soundtrack that were left-off as B-sides and released later, "Loyal To Tha Game" ft. Preach (Naughty-By-Nature) and eventual-Pac classic "Holler If Ya Hear Me". Label mate and friend, Snoop Dogg; and moreso his co-horts, The Dogg Pound aka DPG; have several contributions and really help mold the soundtrack with cuts like "Big Pimpin" (which plays as Bridie rolls up to the Shoot-Out basketball tournament in a classic-90's Jeep complete with bae in passenger with the gold hoop earrings...). Another classic DPG track that concludes the soundtrack as well as being a storytelling jawn is "Dogg Pound For Life". It's your standard hood tale full of gangster totems that borderlines on stereotype, but Daz and Kurupt spit such vicious, silky-smooth bars dripping with style that it pushes the "politically-correct agenda"-type distractions to the background.
Mid-90's New Jack Swing dominates all of the soundtrack joints that don't feature gangster rappers. R&B legend and curator of New Jack Swing himself, Devante Swing, is involved for at least four gems. Al B. Sure! contributes some flavor as well. Soundtrack opener SWV - 'Anything' is the perfect party jam and blends right into the scene involving Birdie displaying his club to newcomer Kyle Watson who Birdie is hoping will drink his Kool-Aid and play for his team in the Shoot-Out tournament. Even though gangster rappers are NOT included on most of the R&B joints, that doesn't mean their still not a major influence. The biggest example of this is clearly on Rhythm & Knowledge's 'You Bring The Dog Out In Me' which is exactly like it's titled - an R&B cut plastered full of canine analogies that were EXTREMELY popular during this time period. Thank Uncle Snoop for that. It doesn't mean the song isn't groovy AF tho! It's P-Funk-meets-New-Jack-Swing-meets-mid-90s-Death-Row like it's never been heard before. DJ Quik, who along with Dat Nigga Daz would become Death Row's soon-to-be primary in-house producers after the departure of Dr. Dre to his Interscope vanity label Aftermath, has two tracks on the album. The best of the two is definitely B- Rezell - 'Blowed Away', which is the album's official cannabis anthem amongst many, many references to getting' blunted. Ironic, considering the movie is 100% about basketball and being fit enough to complete at the college level, and, hopefully, beyond that. Or maybe not, as the ying to basketball's yang is Birdie and his drug/street-life ways.
Basketball, while the focus, was really just an excuse to showcase the talents and hopefully profit off of Tupac himself. And the 'Above The Rim' soundtrack was, similarly, an excuse to showcase some of the best G-Funk and West-Coast-by-way-of-Southern-Cali joints of that time. It succeeded beyond the wildest dreams of it's producers. So much, in fact, that an online streetwear company recently advertised that this holiday season they would be releasing a special 3-way "classic rap-sports-film throwback jersey" collection including 'Above The Rim' and it's Shoot-Out Tournament jerseys (BUT IN BIRDIE'S TEAM COLORS THO COME ON Y'ALL!!!!) for sale on their website. It's expected to sell-out within hours. The mid-90's was a weird time in hip-hop, for sure. A sea-change had been bubbling for sometime for a West Coast-takeover; and it had finally happened. Where else could you see a NY-centric film w/out a single East Coast artist on the soundtrack? Or at least it's influence, sonically. But it's rap ying-and-yang blend attracted listeners bye the millions. And a classic soundtrack was made. Death Row Records might be gone. Suge Knight is hopefully locked-up for the rest of his life now (for the 'SOC' movie-set homicide back in 2014). Tupac has, unfortunately, passed on. But their legacies live, in part due to albums like the 'Above The Rim' soundtrack. They truly don't make film soundtracks like this anymore.
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