various artists :: Fresh - Music Inspired By the Film :: BMG/Loud/RCA Records
** RapReviews "Back to the Lab" series **
as reviewed by Steve 'Flash' Juon
The film "Fresh" much like the "Music Inspired By the Film" accompanying
soundtrack are both largely forgotten over two decades after they were released.
They're each worth discovering though. The movie is an underrated coming of age
tale featuring the titular character Fresh (portrayed by Sean Nelson)
trying to escape from a life of poverty, violence and drug running
using both street smarts and the chess moves he learned from his alcoholic dad
(portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson). These aren't the only actors you'll recognize
in the film - N'Bushe Wright plays Fresh's sister Nichole, Giancarlo Esposito
(yep that's Gus Fring from "Breaking Bad") plays drug dealer Esteban, and so
on and so on. I'm not saying your life will be ruined if you never watch this
movie, but you certainly won't consider it two hours of your life wasted if you do.
Now let's clarify the word "soundtrack" here because it both is and isn't any such
thing. "Music Inspired By the Film" is both more accurate and a less satisfying
way to describe this album. I'm honestly going to have to rewatch the film myself
to even recall if any of these songs were used in it, though I strongly suspect
that they were at least background music in many scenes, particularly the selection
of old school hip-hop tracks. These days most heads would consider this entire album
"old school" but when it came out in 1994 there was a very clear delineation between
the three new Wu-Tang Clan related songs and the nine OLD "old school" songs that
dated from the early 1980's. I had a pen pal friend back in the day who was a
New York deejay named Bubs and when he sent me "old school" mixtapes the selection
was uncannily similar - everything from Spoonie Gee to Cold Crush Brothers to
Whodini. Odds are you know the latter's "Freaks Come Out at Night" if you know any
of the classic tracks here.
This "soundtrack" would be worth buying just for these nine songs, many of which
were hard to impossible to find in a crisp clear digital compact disc format at the
time, and ironically might be even harder to find now given a consumer movement away
from physical items like CDs (although ironically more "retro" formats like cassette
tapes have enjoyed a resurgence). I'm pretty sure I've never seen Fresh 3 MC's
"Fresh" or T-Ski Valley's "Catch the Beat" anywhere else. The three Wu-Tang Clan
songs though are ALSO quite good and in fairness probably the reason anybody
bought the "Music Inspired By" at the time. The Clan's ascent in hip-hop stardom had
not slowed down one bit in 1994 as many members had yet to drop their own solo works
and their sophomore album "Wu-Tang Forever" wouldn't
even come out until three years later. All three inclusions are produced by RZA and
bare his signature dirty Wu sound, starting with GZA's solo effort "I Gotcha' Back."
This song would reappear a year later on his first solo album "Liquid Swords" but until such time it was an excellent teaser of what was to come
from GZA as a soloist (at least for those who hadn't heard his lesser known "Words From
the Genius" debut in 1991). His was not the only song to be recycled though as Raekwon's
somber and powerful "Heaven & Hell" came back for a second run on his seminal
"Only Built 4 Cuban Linx..." album along with the
"Can It All Be So Simple (Remix)" of the original from "Enter the Wu-Tang." Sadly this means the only tracks you might not already own if
you're a dyed in the wool true Wu head are the old school classics that pre-date the Wu,
and frankly it's still weird to me when I hear kids today call Wu-Tang "old school" but
that's before the gray hairs on my head and chin remind me just how old I really am.
Can I call this a "must own" album? If you're into both old Wu and even older classic
hip-hop it's definitely a pick-up if you find it at a reasonable price. You could
rebrand it as a "Best of 1980's Hip-Hop" compilation and be 75% accurate, and probably
sell a lot more copies than it did the first time around. Maybe somebody at Sony Music
(which now owns the RCA Records imprint) should.
Music Vibes: 7.5 of 10
Lyric Vibes: 7.5 of 10TOTAL Vibes: 7.5 of 10
![[Fresh OST]](../coverart/freshOST.jpg)
The film "Fresh" much like the "Music Inspired By the Film" accompanying
soundtrack are both largely forgotten over two decades after they were released.
They're each worth discovering though. The movie is an underrated coming of age
tale featuring the titular character Fresh (portrayed by Sean Nelson)
trying to escape from a life of poverty, violence and drug running
using both street smarts and the chess moves he learned from his alcoholic dad
(portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson). These aren't the only actors you'll recognize
in the film - N'Bushe Wright plays Fresh's sister Nichole, Giancarlo Esposito
(yep that's Gus Fring from "Breaking Bad") plays drug dealer Esteban, and so
on and so on. I'm not saying your life will be ruined if you never watch this
movie, but you certainly won't consider it two hours of your life wasted if you do.