Fresh [Original Soundtrack] – Original Soundtrack

The Fresh movie soundtrack features three tracks from Staten Island's finest, the Wu-Tang Clan, and a slew of old school hip-hop songs from the early '80s. The Wu-Tang songs are nice (though all available on the group's various albums), with "I Gotcha Back" and "Can It Be All So Simple," catching the group at its rawest and earliest best, but the old school tracks are the real treat. The brutal 808 kick of the 3 MC's "Fresh" and the drum breaks of T-Ski Valley's "Catch the Beat" recall a time when hip-hop was simpler and livelier. And judging by the loose funk of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five's "It's Nasty" (with kazoos!), it was also a good deal more fun. While the synthesizer sheen on Funky Four and 1 More's "Do You Wanna Rock" hasn't aged particularly well, these songs sound surprisingly vibrant. The contrast between the life and color of the old school tracks and the unrelenting gloom of the Wu-Tang cuts, produced over ten years later, suggests that hip-hop may have lost something in the intervening years. ~ Chris Witt, All Music Guide