He Got Game (soundtrack)

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He Got Game
Hegotgame.jpg
Soundtrack album / Studio album by Public Enemy
Released April 28, 1998
Recorded June 1997 - February 1998
Genre Hardcore Hip Hop,[1] Conscious hip hop [1]
Length 48:10
Label Def Jam
Producer Abnes Dubose, The Bomb Squad, Danny Saber, D. R. Period, Jack Dangers
Public Enemy chronology
Muse Sick-n-Hour Mess Age
(1994)Muse Sick-n-Hour Mess Age1994		 He Got Game
(1998)		 There's a Poison Goin' On
(1999)There's a Poison Goin' On1999
Singles from He Got Game
  1. "He Got Game"
    Released: May 2, 1998

He Got Game is a soundtrack and sixth studio album by American hip hop group Public Enemy, released on April 28, 1998 under Def Jam Recordings.[2] It was released as the soundtrack to Spike Lee's 1998 film of the same name and was the group's last album for Def Jam.[3] He Got Game was produced by members of the Bomb Squad, along with producers Abnes Dubose, Danny Saber, D. R. Period, and Jack Dangers.

The album sold poorly upon its release and peaked at number 26 on the Billboard 200. Its single, the title track, charted at number 16 in the United Kingdom, where the album reached number 50. He Got Game was well received by music critics, who praised its melodic sound and Chuck D's lyrics.

Background

He Got Game served as the soundtrack to Spike Lee's 1998 basketball drama of the same name.[2] A film score of the same name, featuring music composed by Aaron Copland, was also released on April 21.[4]

After a four-year hiatus by the group,[5] Professor Griff and The Bomb Squad reunited with Public Enemy for the album, which features political, sports-derived imagery by Chuck D.[6] According to critic Armond White, He Got Game uses basketball as a metaphor for "the essence of black male aspiration. Disproving the film's suggestion of b-ball as an easy passport out of the ghetto, [Public Enemy] challenge trite assumptions about black luck and skill".[7] The album's production features backup female vocals, church-like chorales, austere beats, strings, and funk samples. The title track overtly interpolates Buffalo Springfield's 1966 song "For What It's Worth" and its vocalist Stephen Stills.[8] It was released as He Got Game's only single in May 1998.[3]

Commercial performance

He Got Game debuted at number 26 on the US Billboard 200 chart on May 11, 1998, and sold 46,282 copies in its first week.[9] Despite hip hop music's increased commercial viability at the time, the album had fallen out of the top 100 by July.[10] In an article for the Los Angeles Times, Robert Hilburn opined that its "relatively lackluster showing" with consumers was due to Public Enemy's image and lyrical content rather than the album's quality:

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Rap audiences tend to be young and want their own heroes. For all its respect, PE is associated with another era in rap. The music, too, may be too restrained for the thug-life tone favored by today's mass rap audience.[10]

In the United Kingdom, He Got Game peaked at number 50 on the UK Albums Chart, while the title track reached number 16 on the singles chart; it did not chart on the US Hot 100.[3]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 4/5 stars[2]
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution A–[11]
Chicago Sun-Times 4/4 stars[12]
Christgau's Record Guide A[8]
Detroit Free Press 3/4 stars[5]
Entertainment Weekly B+[13]
Los Angeles Times 3/4 stars[14]
Rolling Stone 3.5/5 stars[15]
Spin 8/10[7]

He Got Game was well received by music critics.[16] In his review for Rolling Stone magazine, Scott Poulson-Bryant called the album "dense and eclectic, brilliant at moments but sometimes confusing," and found Chuck D to be "inspired again, coming up with blues poetry for the hoops age."[15] Keith Phipps of The A.V. Club felt that, despite occasionally uninformed "lyrical snippets", most of the album has "the sense of urgency and menace that characterized PE's best work ... and the reformed Bomb Squad's sound has expanded in some interesting directions."[17]

In his review for the Chicago Sun-Times, Jim DeRogatis called He Got Game "as hard-hitting as anything PE has done" and said that the group "nods to current tastes with more melodic hooks and less white noise than it has offered in the past."[12] Music critic Robert Christgau credited Chuck D for realizing "the soundtrack concept" and viewed that, although only the Danny Saber and Jack Dangers-produced "Go Cat Go" resembles "the stressful speed of classic PE", the hooks are appropriated "subtly" and "brilliantly".[18] Christgau named it the eighth best album of the year in his list for The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics' poll.[19]

Track listing

  1. "Resurrection" (composed by Chuck D, Masta Killa, DR Period, Hank Shocklee, Keith Shocklee) – 4:20
    • Produced by D. R. Period, Hank Shocklee, and Keith Shocklee; featuring Masta Killa
  2. "He Got Game" (Chuck D, Stephen Stills) – 4:46
  3. "Unstoppable" (Chuck D, Gary G-Wiz, KRS-One) – 3:14
    • Produced by Gary G-Wiz; featuring KRS-One
  4. "Shake Your Booty" (Leon Huff, Ron McNair) – 3:45
    • Produced by D. R. Period, Hank Shocklee, and Keith Shocklee
  5. "Is Your God a Dog" (Corey Brewer, Chuck D, Abnes Dubose) – 5:08
    • Produced by Abnes (Abnormal) Dubose and Corey Brewer
  6. "House of the Rising Son" (Chuck D, Pete Townshend, Kerwin Young) – 3:16
    • Produced by Kerwin Young and Gary G-Wiz
  7. "Revelation 33​1⁄3 Revolutions" (Chuck D) – 4:11
    • Produced by Minnesota, Hank Shocklee, and Keith Shocklee
  8. "Game Face" (Smoothe Da Hustler, Monty Norman) – 3:17
    • Produced by D. R. Period, Hank Shocklee, and Keith Shocklee; featuring Smoothe da Hustler
  9. "Politics of the Sneaker Pimps" (Chuck D, Gary G-Wiz) – 3:16
    • Produced by Gary G-Wiz
  10. "What You Need Is Jesus" (Chuck D, Gary G-Wiz) – 3:29
    • Produced by Gary G-Wiz
  11. "Super Agent" (Chuck D, Abnes Dubose) – 3:35
    • Produced by Abnes (Abnormal) Dubose
  12. "Go Cat Go" (Chuck D, Jack Dangers, Danny Saber) – 3:48
    • Produced by Danny Saber and Jack Dangers
  13. "Sudden Death (Interlude)" (Kerwin Young) – 2:04
    • Produced by Kerwin Young

Personnel

Credits for He Got Game adapted from Allmusic.[20]

Charts

Chart (1998) Peak
position
UK Albums Chart[3] 50
US Billboard 200[21] 26
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums[21] 10

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 http://www.allmusic.com/album/he-got-game-mw0000035394
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "Erlewine" defined multiple times with different content
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Strong 2004, p. 1227.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. (subscription required)
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Christgau 2000, p. 255.
  9. ↑ Farber, Jim. The Next Wave at No.1 'Titanic' Soundtrack Yields to Top Berth to Dave Matthews. New York Daily News. Retrieved on 2010-01-08.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. (subscription required)
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Diehl, Matt (1998-05-01). Review: He Got Game. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on 2010-01-08.
  14. ↑ Johnson, Brett. Review: He Got Game. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved on 2010-01-08.
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Biography: Public Enemy. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2010-01-08.
  17. ↑ Phipps, Keith. Review: He Got Game. The A.V. Club. Retrieved on 2010-01-08.
  18. ↑ Christgau 2000, p. 256.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Credits: He Got Game. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2010-01-08.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Billboard Albums: He Got Game. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2010-01-08.

Bibliography

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External links

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