Editor’s Note: The Albumism staff has selected what we believe to be the 100 Greatest Soundtracks of All Time, representing a varied cross-section of films and musical genres. Click “Next Soundtrack” below to explore each soundtrack in the list or for easier navigation, view the full introduction & soundtrack index here.
Murder Was the Case
Death Row/Interscope (1994)
Selected by Jesse Ducker
Murder Was the Case is an awful short film. It’s hard to believe that the original plan for the Dr. Dre-directed 18-minute “movie” was to show it in front of Oliver Stone’s Natural Born Killers during its theater run. But Murder Was the Case was important because it removed all pretenses: the sole reason for its existence is to deliver the soundtrack, which is almost 50 minutes longer than the glorified music video. Death Row Records ruled gangsta rap during the mid ’90s, and Murder Was the Case showcases the darker sound of the subgenre, in contrast to their previous “lighter” entry, the soundtrack to 1994’s Above the Rim.
“Natural Born Killaz,” the triumphant reunion of Dre and former N.W.A cohort Ice Cube, serves as the album’s blistering, chaotic centerpiece. Tha Dogg Pound’s eerie and claustrophobic “What Would You Do?” earned the duo a GRAMMY Nomination. The album also features the underrated posse cut, “Who Got Some Gangsta Shit?” as well as DJ Quik’s “Dollaz + Sense,” a venomous dis track which kicked his beef with MC Eiht into high gear. All the great music makes the film’s terrible-ness an acceptable cost of doing business.
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