You don’t have to be old to be funky, as Snoop Dogg and Lil’ J can attest. The two young’uns share space on the “Undercover Brother” soundtrack with ’70s artists such as Earth, Wind & Fire; Kool and the Gang; and the Commodores.
Snoop Dogg & Friends contribute an updated version of Parliament’s signature tune “Give up the Funk (Tear the Roof off the Sucker)”, retitled “Undercova Funk (Give up the Funk),” as the first single off the album, due May 21, according a Hollywood Records spokesperson. The song, which counts former Parliament bassist Bootsy Collins as one of Snoop’s “friends,” is expected to surface at radio in mid-May.
A video for “Undercova Funk,” featuring a guest appearance by avant-garde guitarist Buckethead, was shot last month in Los Angeles by director Gregory Dark (Britney Spears, Outkast). The clip also includes segments with the film’s stars, Eddie Griffin, Denise Richards and Aunjanue Ellis.
Teen rapper Lil’ J’s version of LL Cool J’s 1987 ballad “I Need Love” called “I Need Luv (2002)” and Earth, Wind & Fire’s “Whatever Happened to the Brotherhood” are the soundtrack’s only other newly recorded tunes, save the movie’s theme. Other tracks on the album are from such funk luminaries as James Brown, Carl Carlton and the Average White Band.
“Undercover Brother” picks up where ’70s blaxploitation flicks left off, as crime fighter Undercover Brother trades his Afro and platform shoes for horn-rimmed glasses and khakis to infiltrate an evil, multinational conglomerate intent on overthrowing the government. The film, which also stars Chris Kattan, Dave Chappelle, Neil Patrick Harris and Billy Dee Williams, opens May 31.
“Undercover Brother” Track List, According To Hollywood Records:
- Snoop Dogg & Friends – “Undercova Funk – Give up the Funk”
- Average White Band – “Pick up the Pieces”
- Commodores – “Brick House”
- Wild Cherry – “Play That Funky Music”
- James Brown – “Say It Loud – I’m Black and I’m Proud”
- O’Jays – “Love Train”
- Earth, Wind & Fire – “Whatever Happened to the Brotherhood”
- Gil Scott-Heron – “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”
- Carl Carlton – “She’s a Bad Mama Jama – She’s Built, She’s Stacked”
- Kool and the Gang – “Ladies Night”
- Cheryl Lynn – “Got to Be Real”
- Mary Jane Girls – “All Night Long”
- Stanley Clarke and LaMont Van Hook – “The Undercover Brother Theme Song”
- Lil’ J – “I Need Luv – 2002”
