ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK
Topdog/Underdog (MCA)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale

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The music on this disc combines original material created for the Pulitzer prize-winning play with recorded music that's used in its production. Starring Mos Def and Jeffrey White, who respectively open and close the album, the play about streetcorner three-card Monte hustlers has achieved great success, and the music is central to creating the mood and telling the story. Playwrite Suzan-Lori Parks selected tracks that chronicle a wide range of African-American musical styles of the last century, from Robert Johnson blues to Wu-Tang Clan hip-hop, with stops for funk, jazz and R&B along the way. Some of those styles will have more appeal to one listener than another, but there's not a bad cut among them, and the result is a CD that's both fun and interesting to hear.

Track List:

3-Card/Mos Def * Face Of The Deep/Wayne Shorter * Papa's Got A Brand New Bag/ James Brown * Change The Game/Jay Z * Grinnin' In Your Face/Son House * Got My Mojo Workin'/Muddy Waters * Bring Your Whole Crew/DMX * Poor Boy/Howlin' Wolf * Hell Hound On My Trail/Robert Johnson * Boom Boom/John Lee Hooker * Let My N****'s Live/Wu-Tang Clan * Lincoln's Blues/Jeffrey Wright

© 2002 - Shaun Dale