VA - Juice - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1992)

This soundtrack boasts a lineup that stands as a veritable who's who of early-'90s hip-hop. Heavyweights such as Naughty by Nature, Salt-N-Pepa, and Cypress Hill all check in with stellar contributions to this remarkably consistent collection. In addition, respected pioneers of the genre also lend their talents to the album, with Eric B. & Rakim's propulsive "Juice (Know the Ledge)" and Teddy Riley featuring Tammy Lucas' slinky "Is It Good to You?" Other notable tracks include Too Short's cautionary tale "So You Want to Be a Gangster?" and EPMD's cooly confident "It's Going Down." Juice showcases a group of performers whose work can be appreciated because of their integrity and rhyming skills rather than their blatant sampling of entire hit songs or video gimmickry. In short, it represents everything that is right about hip-hop.~Juice Review by Brian Egan