Todd Gilchrist

During the Blaxploitation era, soundtracks were often more important than the movies they accompanied: Though 'Shaft' remains a classic portrait of black empowerment, it’s inseparable from Isaac Hayes’ theme song, and more people have heard Curtis Mayfield’s 'Pusherman' and 'Superfly' than ever saw the movie for which they were created...

For fans of hip-hop, a rapper making the transition into acting comes as little surprise since virtually every aspect of his or her behavior on record, and on stage, qualifies as a something of a theatrical performance. Suffice it to say Hollywood is well aware of this...

A movie that retains its quotability decades later (“I want to shoot you so bad my d--k is hard!”) if not necessarily its dramatic heft, Mario Van Peebles’s portrait of a drug dealer squaring off against DEA agents offers a welcome rejoinder to the drug dealers and pimps filmmakers made into counterculture heroes during the Blaxploitation era...

In all honesty, I’ve still never seen the short film that used this in part as its soundtrack. But as a follow-up to Snoop Doggy Dogg’s massively–popular 'Doggystyle,' it offers an amazing snapshot of Dr. Dre at the peak of his talents, rounding up his golden boy and the ensemble of characters who encircled him at the time...

The Hughes Brothers' debut was a benchmark for hip-hop movies thanks to its unforgiving, utterly gritty portrait of street-gangster life. Its soundtrack exuded similar authenticity, opening and closing with Spice 1’s 'Ni--a Gots No Heart,” and sandwiching tracks from Too $hort ('Only The Strong Survive'), Da Lench Mob ('Guerillas Ain’t Gangstas') and Pete Rock & CL Smooth ('Death Becomes You')

Although 'Wild Style' is another “dawn of hip-hop” entry we considered, its overall quality couldn’t compare to the music from this film, which offered a fictional chronicle of Def Jam Records’ early days. The soundtrack included cuts by Run-D...

Unlike many of the movies that were released around the same time focusing on “urban” stories, Ernest Dickerson’s directorial debut holds up remarkably well, thanks to great performances, a story that resonates with specificity without seeming too dated, and of course its incredible soundtrack...

Despite its vigorous takedown of music-industry politics and an artist’s journey that presages comedy biopics like 'Walk Hard' by decades, 'CB4' managed to attract some heavyweight talent for its soundtrack, starting with Boogie Down Productions...

Rick Famuyiwa’s 'Brown Sugar' is about two characters’ lifelong love of hip-hop, so it stands to reason that its soundtrack captures the essence of what makes hip-hop great. Erykah Badu’s team-up with Common, 'Love Of My Life (An Ode To Hip-Hop),' serves as aequel of sorts to Common’s 'I Used To Love H...

Despite the charismatic presence of Tupac Shakur as its villain, 'Above the Rim' is not an especially memorable movie – with the exception of its soundtrack. As the initial destination for SWV’s remix of 'Anything' featuring the Wu-Tang Clan, its place in the hip-hop soundtrack firmament is guaranteed, but it’s got some g-funk classics from iconic artists that actually surpass a lot of the stuff t