Oz: The Soundtrack

HBO’s Oz paints a picture of prison life in all its violent, sadistic glory. The show’s soundtrack, which offers 17 cuts recorded specifically for the album, touches on many of the same nasty themes (though, curiously, doesn’t touch prison sex with a 10-foot pole), which helps lend it cohesiveness if not always quality. Snoop Dogg’s track (“Land of Oz”) is sub-par and Master P’s contribution (“Locked Up”) is about what we’ve come to expect of him (not much). Fortunately, Kool G Rap, Lord Jamar, and Talib Kweli add inspired rhymes to the Oz theme and the increasingly reliable Cypress Hill delivers an impressive, hook-laden, “Can I Live.” But it’s those with something to prove—relative nobodies Devin the Dude and E.S.C.—who really up the ante with the creeping “Can’t Wait” and the angry, soul-fed “Ain’t No Sunshine,” respectively. There’s too much gangsta posturing here for our taste, but you could probably say the same thing about prison, so maybe that’s the point.