Fitzpatrick & Ice Cube Musical styles used in this movie were R&B, Soul, Funk, African Style, Reggae, and Rap. In this movie Fitzpatrick and Ice Cube opened up the movie with the Isles Brothers, “Trying to See Another Day” which gives you an easy going intro to the movie. They repeated this style of music throughout the movie when the boys were hanging out or walking around the neighborhood.
They used funk for when the neighborhood drug dealer, Big Worm, lulls up with curlers in his hair In his old school car which was perfect music for him. This funk theme was used throughout the movie for other drug dealer and users In the neighborhood. He decided to use a slow love R&B rhythm for when the pretty girl down the street ran by the guys on the stoop. They used some tempest style, almost Jaws Like music when the neighborhood bully Is questioned about a bike he took from a kid and then knocked the kid out. This Is Debt’s theme and Is repeated every time Debs comes around. Hen the mall characters drive through the ghetto Fitzpatrick seed some Bone Thugs N Harmony rap music to give the ghetto feeling. When Smokey and Craig are on the porch and Smokey is about to smoke marijuana Ice Cube and Fitzpatrick decided to play “Mary Jane” by Rick James, a total pot head song. They also repeated the funk theme for the hoodlum in the neighbor when he was pushing over the garbage cans in the neighborhood. When Craig got high with Smokey for the first time Fitzpatrick played Cypress Hill, a stoner rap group.
Later in the movie when Smokey and Craig got in trouble with Big Worm and he puts a hit out n them Fitzpatrick and Ice Cube played E-A-Ski “Blast If I Have To” as the boys are standing outside and a car does a drive by. At the end of the movie when Craig fights Debs, Fitzpatrick chose to use an African tribal drum beat to build suspense during the fight. Overall I think that Fitzpatrick and Ice Cube did a great Job in choosing music for this film. They incorporated stoner rap music, funk, and to give this pot head film the stoner feeling in the hood. I don’t think there could have been any other music that would have worked as well.