During the late-'80s, a strange and wonderful phenomenon emerged: the soundtrack rap. Ushering in an era of largely regrettable movie/music tie-ins, it led to Bobby Brown's cameo in Ghostbusters II, Will Smith's improbably long and richly remunerated career, and helped nobodies like Partners In Kryme have their sole moment in the sun.
They weren't just another track on the Songs From And Inspired By playlist, either - it was an era of reciprocal rights for soundtrack rappers, who'd rap about the goings on of the narrative and in turn often be rewarded with screentime in the movie itself.
Yes, there have been rap songs on soundtracks since then - see our #10 for proof - but there was something about the total integration and melding of film and soundtrack that made the soundtrack rap era so awful hilarious compelling.
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10. LL Cool J - Deepest Bluest (Deep Blue Sea)
There's plenty to like about the utterly ridiculous Deep Blue Sea - mega-brained sharks eat the fuck out of Samuel L. Jackson! Saffron Burrows electrocutes a shark in her underwear!! - but there's nothing better (or worse) about the movie than star LL Cool J's soundtrack rap, with the immortal line, "Deepest, bluest/My head is like a shark's fin". Or was it his hat?
9. Doug E Fresh & The Get Fresh Crew - Spirit (Ghostbusters II)
As was the trend at the turn of the decade, 1990's Ghostbusters sequel was crammed full of rap tunes. Given the far more sinister mood of GB2, it fell to Doug E Fresh & The Get Fresh Crew to provide this vaguely creepy song that freaked out a generation of children (or perhaps just me). Like the best soundtrack rap, Fresh's rhymes are more or less a summary of the film's plot, including Vigo's plans for Dana Barrett's baby. Word.
8. Will Smith - Wild Wild West (Wild Wild West)
It's true, Men In Black was a better effort (in truth, Smith is possibly the king of soundtrack raps), but I think more needs to be done to remind the world of a) how LOL-worthy this song was (Sisquo!), and b) how truly, expensively abysmal Wild Wild West the film was. Did you know the movie is actually described, in retrospect, as a "steampunk action comedy"? Oh, Barry Sonnenfeld, you should be ashamed of yourself. As should I, given I just realised I still know ALL the words :(
7. Vanilla Ice - Ninja Rap (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Secret Of The Ooze)
One of the most profoundly perplexing of all soundtrack raps, the truly shithouse new Jack joint Ninja Rap was just another nail in the career coffin of Vanilla Ice - but that didn't stop him from taking it as seriously as pretty much everything he's ever done. His dedication was repaid with a cameo in The Secret Of The Ooze. Ninja Rap Is Born!
6. Partners In Kryme - Turtle Power (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
Poor Partners In Kryme - they only released two singles: one was this, and the other didn't even chart. Still, when combined with the powers of "the heroes four", they had their moment in the cinematic rap pantheon guaranteed.