Dr. Dre & DJ Quik w/Mimi - Training Day

Give thanks to the folks behind Training Day for aiming a little higher on the musical food chain and actually putting together a collection that has more beef than filler. The meat is represented by an eclectic array of talent--everyone from underground champs Gang Starr to P. Diddy, whose hook-up with David Bowie's "American Dream" bites off more than it can spit out. On the plus side, there's "Put It on Me," an X-rated G-funk romp from Dr. Dre and DJ Quick; a fiery remake of N.W.A.'s "F*** tha Police" (now called "Watch the Police") by C-Murder and Trick Daddy; and "Wolves," a snarling, take-no-prisoners salvo from street dawgs M.O.P. Hip-hop's golden child Nelly checks in with "#1," a more-rugged-than-usual shout-out to the glory of success, while Pharoahe Monch's rock-stoked "F*** You" shines a light on this oft-overlooked wordsmith. In short, a veritable feast for ravenous rap fans that feels more like music than product. --Amy Linden Amazon.com

 Song Title Help
I am looking for the song that is played when Alonzo and Jake are walking up the steps to Smiley's house near the end of the movie. I clicked on the previews of the tunes on the cd here and could not recognize it. The song is a heavy down beat with violins and guitars. It's a riveting tune and I hope someone here recognizes it. Please send a reply back to my email as I would like to sample the whole song. Regards. February 19, 2008

 4 & A 1/2 STARS DAMN RIGHT! YOUR IN A PRIVLEDGED POSITION 2 LEARN A THING OR 2, "KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN"!!!!
THAT'S ABSURD 2 WRITE THAT THERE'S "JUST 2 GOOD SONGS" ON THE WHOLE DAMN SDTK!!? WHEN THERE IS SO MANY ARTISTS THAT COLABORATED ON THIS CD (WHAT?) THIS TRAINING DAY SDTK EVERYONE COULD LISTEN & VIBE 2 BECAUSE IT HAD WEST, EAST, SOUTH COAST RAPPERS SPITTING ON IT... IT WAS ALITTLE SOMETHING 4 EVERYBODY IF YOU WASN'T FEELING A CERTAIN ARTIST(S)!

THE TRACKS THAT I FELT THE MOST WERE: *#1,*#2,*#3,#4,*#6,*#7,*#8,#9,*#11,*#12,*#13,#14,#15,*#16 & *#17. #1:THE INTRO I LOVE BECAUSE DENZELS' VOICE & WORDS WERE NEEDED 2 BEING THIS TRACK. #2:W.O.L.V.E.S BECAUSE M.O.P SHINED ON THIS 1, IT WAS BASIC-LY ABOUT THE PRISON SYSTEMS & POLICE BRUTALLITY! #3:BOUNCE ROCK,GOLDEN STATE, THIS 1 XZIBIT WAS ROCKING IT WAS ABOUT CALI & THE LIFE THEY LIVE. #4: PUT IT ON ME, IT WAS COOL 2 ME IT WAS SENSUAL & DRE DID HIS' THING. *#6: F*** YOU, THIS SONGS & VIDEO WAS TOO HOTT, PHAROAHE MONCH DID HIS' THING HE WAS RHYMING BASICALLY ABOUT BEING A CROOKED COP UNDERCOVER--I FELTED IT! #7: "WATCH THE POLICE", C-MURDER & TRICK DADDY WAS CONVEYING A VITAL MESSAGE ABOUT "crOOkED cops", THEY CAUGHT THAT--THIS GOES ON EVERYDAY PEOPLES YOU GOTTA "WATCH,LISTEN & LEARN"!!!!

**#8:DIRTY RYDERS, THE LOX ARE DIAMONDS-IN-THE-ROUGH THEY GIVE IT 2 THE LISTENERS JUST HOW IT'S GIVEN 2 THEM, THEY RAPPED ABOUT BLACK UNITY (HOW 1 HAND WASHES THE OTHER)! #9:CROOKED COP, NAPALM THIS AT 1ST I WASN'T FEELING IT BUT HE MADE A VALID POINT, THE MESSAGE IS CRYSTAL CLEAR 2 ME (WATCH)!! *#11: "GREED", CYPRESS HILL "DELIVERED" JUST AS THEY HAVE IN THE PAST, THEY RAPPED ABOUT "GREED" IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY & HOW THEIR GREEDY WAYS CAUSE THEM 2 BREAK & HAVE LEGAL DISPUTES (STOP BEING GREEDY!!)--I LOVE IT! **#12: GUN N' ROSES, THE CLIPSE & THE NEPTUNES ALWAYS MADE A LOVELY BLEND OF MUSIC, THIS WAS ABOUT A-LIFE-OF-CRIME & BEING IN LOVE--I LOVE IT! *#13: "THA SQUEEZE", GANGSTARR ARE 1 OF THE MANY PIONEERS...GURU SAID "ASSOCIATION BRINGS SIMULATION" THAT PRETTY MUCH IS ELABORATING ON THE ACTION OF crOOkED cops & HOW THEY WILL GET DEALT WITH!!!!

#14: LET US GO, AT 1ST I WASN'T FEELING IT, IT'S OKAY...I ENJOYED THE BEAT. #15: TRAINING DAY (IN MY HOOD), WHAT IN COURAGED ME 2 LISTEN 2 IT WAS THE BEAT...IT WAS ABOUT CITY-LIFE & HOW SNITCHES WOULD BE DEALT WITH (REAL SH**)! *#16: "PROTECT YOUR HEAD", THE BEAT & THE LYRICS ARE EXPLICIT & COOL, SOLDIER B THIS 1 IS WORTH HEARING! OF COURSE THE "OUTRO" **#17: "WOLF OR SHEEP": THIS IS THE "FILM SCORE" IT'S THE BASIS OF WHAT ALONZO/DENZEL WAS TRYING 2 SCHOOL JAKE/ETHAN ABOUT "THE CROOKED WORK" THAT HIS' SQUAD DOES...ALONZO TOLD JAKE "THAT IN ORDER 2 PROTECT THE SHEEP, YOU MUST KILL WOLF"...MEANING YOU SOLVE A PROBLEM BY ELIMINATING IT!!!

1. KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN..."FILM DIALOGUE" (19 STARS)
2. W.O.L.V.E.S--- KRUMBSNATCHA F/ M.O.P (20 STARS)
3. BOUNCE ROCK, GOLDEN STATE--- XZIBIT (18 STARS)
4. OUT IT ON ME--- DRE & DJ QUIK W/ MIMI (16 STARS)
5. #1?--- nelly (NO STARS, NEGATIVE 20) "I HATE IT"!
6. F**K YOU--- PHAROAHE MONCH (20 STARS)
7. WATCH THE POLICE--- C-MURDER & TRICK DADDY (20 STARS)
8. DIRTY RYDERS--- THE LOX (20 STARS)
9. "CroOkEd COPS"--- NAPALM (8 STARS)
10. ---DAVID BOWIE & PUFFY (NEGATIVE 20 STARS)
11. "GREED"***--- CYPRESS HILL (20 STARS)
12. GUN N' ROSES--- THE CLIPSE F/ THE NEPTUNES (20 STARS)
13. "THA SQUEEZE"--- GANGSTARR (20 STARS)
14. "LET US GO"!--- KING JACOB & PROFESSOT (8 STARS)
15. TRAINING DAY (In My Hood)--- ROSCOE (16 STARS)
16. "PROTECT YOUR HEAD"**--- SOLDIER B (18 STARS)
17. "WOLF OR SHEEP"(FILM SCORE)--- ALONZO/DENZEL (20 STARS)

G O & G E T THIS SOUNDTRACK!!!! July 8, 2005

 This cd is awsome
Yo Bob from St. Louis MO says: "I'm getting tired of all these hate crimes in rap..." [...] I love rap and I think that people choose what to listen to. Rappers are allowed to express their views. [...] March 14, 2005

 Great Soundtrack
This is one of the best rap soundtracks I've ever heard. It features rappers from the east, south, and west some known and some not known. All the songs except one or two are tight. You can listen all the way through without disappointment (except #14). Buy It, you'll be pleased.

#2 - 9 (Krumbsnatcha & M.O.P.)
#3 - 9.5 (Xzibit f/ Ras Kass & saafir)
#4 - 9 (DJ Quik & dr. Dre f/ mimi -- also on Quik's 2002 "Under the Influence")
#5 - 9 (Nelly - good song and I don't really like him to much -he's talkin' about KRS-One but never says his name)
#6 - 9.5 (Pharaohe Monch - song goes along w/ the movie)
#7 - 8 (C-Murder f/ trick Daddy)
#8 - 9.5 (Sheek & Styles w/ jadakiss on the hook {LOX})
#9 - 9 (the unknown - Napalm)
#10 - 7.5 (Puff Daddy, Mark Curry, Kain, Big Azz Ko, David Bowie)
#11 - 8 (Cypress Hill f/ Kokane)
#12 - 10 (classic from Clipse {Pusha T & Malice})
#13 - 9 (gangstarr)
#14 - 5 (worst song on cd --- Professor & King Jacob)
#15 - 9.5 (roscoe - Kurupt's lil bro)
#16 - 9 (the unknown - Soldier B)

check all my reviews out November 4, 2004

 Decent, but too ambitious for its own good
This is one of those rap soundtracks that's trying to appeal to everybody. Priority Records recruited a large number of rappers from various coasts (East, West, South, Midwest), ranging from unknowns like Soldier B and Napalm to multi-Platinum pop artists like Nelly and P. Diddy. Unfortunately, trying to please everybody is a difficult task. This soundtrack ALMOST pulls it off, but not quite.

For me personally, the best songs were those that were included for the more hardcore rap audience (since that's the kind of stuff I like). The first song heard is an anti-police brutality anthem called "Wolves" that features Krumbsnatcha and M.O.P. This is one of my favorite tracks on the album; the distinctive jungle-sounding beat is pounding, and M.O.P.'s Billy Danze and Lil Fame spit hot fire as usual. Tracks by respected hardcore veterans, such as GangStarr's "Tha Squeeze" and Cypress Hill's "Greed", are also satisfying and enjoyable street-bangers. Pharoahe Monch's "F*** You" recycles the crooked cop theme from his older song "What Is The Law?", but I like this track better: His self-produced guitar-riff beat is sweet, and his sarcastic lyricism ("Psychologically, the guns you use will define you") is more on-point. I was also pretty impressed by the "Golden State" collaboration of Ras Kass, Xzibit and Saafir, all of whom are among rap's top lyricists, and they come off nicely here.

The tracks by some of the more mainstream rappers weren't quite as impressive. Dr. Dre and DJ Quik (two of the West Coast's most respected producers/rappers) do a decent collaboration with "Put It On Me", but I found that singer on the chorus (Mimi) to be rather annoying and I wish they'd just left her off. Then there's Nelly's "#1", which I'm sure most people remember because it was all over the radio back in 2001. I've never really been a fan of Nelly (and probably never will), but I can definitely appreciate his flow, and he actually has some pretty funny lines on this track ("Baby name not Sigel but I speak +The Truth+"). And then there's the much weaker "American Dream" by P. Diddy. This track was most frustrating because it contains one of the few beats P. Diddy's ever done that I really liked (a nice electronic groove), but then he went and ruined it by lacing the track with his crappy lyrics. Hopefully, he'll reuse this beat someday for somebody on his label who can actually rap (like Black Rob).

Unfortunately, most of the other material on this album ranges from "aiight" to downright mediocre. C-Murder and Trick Daddy have remade N.W.A.'s "F*** Tha Police" into "Watch The Police"; the title ALONE is a good indication of just how much they watered it down. The remade beat is decent enough, but they shouldn't have watered down the lyrics to sound less controversial; if you want to hear a good remake of this song, listen to the Bone Thugs-N-Harmony version. Clipse's "Guns N' Roses" is a passable track that's trying too hard to build on the raw style for which they're best known...and it succeeds in coming off only as average. And then there's the LOX's terrible "Dirty Ryders" and Roscoe's "In My Hood", both of which are boring and completely uselss throwaway tracks. Finally, there are some other throwaway tracks by a bunch of completely unknown rappers - "Protect Your Head" by Soldier B, "Crooked Cop" by Napalm, and "Let Us Go" by King Jacob. Soldier B's song was the only one I didn't mind - the other two are basically worth skipping over completely.

Overall, the strength of songs like M.O.P.'s "Wolves" and Nelly's "#1" will probably make this soundtrack worthwhile for most rap fans. Howevever, with so many different tracks by so many different types of rappers, and about half being only OK at best, this soundtrack risks dissapointing the same wide audience it's meant to appeal to. Frankly, I'd rather have given this soundtrack 2.5 stars (instead of 3, which is all that Amazon will let me give it), because it's about half-good and half-bad. Recommended mostly for hardcore rap fans looking to find some good street tracks.

Also, a note to the Australian guy whose review is below mine: The song heard in the Impala is that M.O.P./Krumbsnatcha song called "Wolves", and despite what you said, it IS on the soundtrack. I'm not sure how you could have missed it, since it's the second track on the album. May 8, 2004

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