Amazon.co.uk Review
With Ali G's film
Ali G InDaHouse and this accompanying soundtrack, Sasha Baron Cohen seems to be making a more enthusiastic attempt at posterity than anyone who watched The 11 O'Clock Show could possibly have guessed. If nothing else, the lasting impact of Ali G on the nation will certainly be that of entirely inappropriate figures (usually politicians) adopting the slang of a teenage gangsta from Staines. The soundtrack is generally good, veering between all forms of urban music and book ended by G in full flow as a pirate radio MC. Young garage talent features heavily (
So Solid Crew,
Ms Dynamite,
Oxide & Neutrino), classic hip-hop gets a nod (
Public Enemy,
N.W.A,
Afrika Bambaataa) along with more modern efforts (
Foxy Brown,
M.O.P,
Ja Rule and
Nelly) and vaguely misfiring R&B gets a look in. Another Level deservedly don't feature on the radar any more, and Misteeq's cover of Montell Jordan's "This Is How We Do It" isn't particularly good. The real fun to be had from this, however, is to try and second guess Baron Cohen's intentions--is this a coded essay in cultural appropriation from the ghettos of America to the heartland of Britain, or is it simply the songs that the real Ali G would listen to? --
Chris Blenkarn