''Friday (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)'' is the soundtrack to F. Gary Gray's 1995

stoner film Stoner film is a subgenre of comedy film based on marijuana themes, where recreational use often drives the plot, sometimes representing cannabis culture more broadly or intended for that audience. Genre The midnight movie scene in theate ...

Friday Friday is the day of the week between Thursday and Saturday. In countries that adopt the traditional "Sunday-first" convention, it is the sixth day of the week. In countries adopting the ISO 8601-defined "Monday-first" convention, it is the fifth ...

''. It was released on April 11, 1995, through

Priority Records Priority Records is an American distribution company and record label known for artists including N.W.A, Ice Cube, MC Ren, Eazy-E, Master P, Snoop Dogg, Mos Def, Silkk the Shocker, Jay-Z, Paris, Mack 10, 504 Boyz, Brotha Lynch Hung, ...

and consists of

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

and R&B music. Recording sessions took place at Street Knowledge Recording Studio, Dre's Crib, Digital Shack,

Larrabee Sound Studios Larrabee Sound Studios is a recording studio complex in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, North Hollywood, California, originally established in 1969. Facilities Located at 4162 Lankershim Boulevard in North Hollywood, Larrabee has six studios, thre ...

, Image Recording Studios and Yo Mama's House in Los Angeles, at Digital Services in Houston, at Firehouse Studios in New York, at the Archive in Oakland, at the Plant Studios in California, at Luke Recording Studio in Liberty City, and at Ocean 11 Suite 7. Production was handled by film writers

Ice Cube O'Shea Jackson Sr. (born June 15, 1969), known professionally as Ice Cube, is an American rapper, songwriter, actor, and film producer. His lyrics on N.W.A's 1989 album '' Straight Outta Compton'' contributed to gangsta rap's widespread popu ...

and DJ Pooh, as well as

DJ Muggs Lawrence Muggerud (born January 28, 1968) professionally known as DJ Muggs, is an American DJ, audio engineer and record producer. He has been a member of Cypress Hill, a member of the trip hop band Cross My Heart Hope to Die and the leader of h ...

, the

2 Live Crew 2 Live Crew is an American hip hop group from Miami, Florida, formed in 1984. The group was originally composed of DJ Mr. Mixx (David Hobbs), Fresh Kid Ice (Christopher Wong Won), and Amazing Vee (Yuri Vielot), though its most well-known lineup ...

, Angela Winbush,

Bootsy Collins William Earl "Bootsy" Collins (born October 26, 1951) is an American bass guitarist, singer, and songwriter. Rising to prominence with James Brown in the early 1970s before joining the Parliament-Funkadelic collective, Collins established himse ...

Dr. Dre Andre Romell Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper, record producer, record executive, and actor. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and co-founder of ...

E-A-Ski Shon Adams, better known by his stage name E-A-Ski, is an American rapper and producer from Oakland, California. He served as both a rapper and producer for No Limit Records, producing on Master P's early records and also releasing some of h ...

& CMT, E-Swift, N.O. Joe, Ralph tha Funky Mexican, Rashad Coes,

Roger Troutman Roger Lynch Troutman Jr. (November 29, 1951 – April 25, 1999), also known simply as Roger, was an American singer, musician, songwriter, and record producer. He was the founder of the band Zapp who helped spearhead the funk movement and infl ...

and

Ronald Isley Ronald Isley ( ; born May 21, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Isley is the lead singer and founding member of the family music group The Isley Brothers. Early life Born in 1941 to Sallye Bernice (née Bell) and O ...

, with

Sam Sneed Samuel D. Anderson (born February 29, 1968), known professionally as Sam Sneed, is an American record producer and rapper. He originally got his start working as a producer for K-Solo and the Hit Squad. Biography Early years In 1993, he was s ...

co-producing the album's

lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...

" Keep Their Heads Ringin'", and Patricia Charbonnet and Toby Emmerich serving as executive producers. It features appearances from film star Ice Cube,

Bernie Worrell George Bernard Worrell, Jr. (April 19, 1944 – June 24, 2016) was an American Keyboard instrument, keyboardist and record producer best known as a founding member of the Parliament-Funkadelic collective. In later years, he also worked with ...

, Bootsy Collins, CJ Mac,

Cypress Hill Cypress Hill is an American Hip hop music, hip hop group formed in South Gate, California in 1988. One of the first Latin groups to gain mainstream recognition in hip hop, they have sold over 20 million albums worldwide, and have obtained multi ...

, Dr. Dre, E-A-Ski,

Funkdoobiest Funkdoobiest was an American hip hop group from Los Angeles, California, composed of rappers Jason "Son Doobie" Vasquez, Tyrone "Tomahawk Funk" Pacheco and DJ Ralph "Tha Phunky Mexican" Medrano. They were of Soul Assassins. The group has relea ...

Mack 10 Dedrick D'Mon Rolison (born August 9, 1971), better known by his stage name Mack 10, is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and record executive. He was a member of hip hop supergroup Westside Connection along with WC and Ice C ...

, Nancy Fletcher,

Rick James James Ambrose Johnson Jr. (February 1, 1948 – August 6, 2004), better known by his stage name Rick James, was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, James began his musical career in his tee ...

, Roger Troutman,

Rose Royce Rose Royce is an American soul and R&B group. They are best known for several hit singles during the 1970s including " Car Wash", " I Wanna Get Next to You", " I'm Going Down", " Wishing on a Star", and " Love Don't Live Here Anymore". Career ...

, Scarface,

Tha Alkaholiks Tha Alkaholiks, also known as Tha Liks, is an American hip hop trio from Los Angeles. Since the early 1990s they have produced party music with a hardcore hip hop edge, powered by the beats of DJ and producer E-Swift (he was born Eric Brooks ...

The Isley Brothers The Isley Brothers ( ) are an American soul group originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, that began as a vocal trio consisting of the brothers O'Kelly Isley Jr., Rudolph Isley and Ronald Isley in the 1950s. With a career spanning over seven decades, ...

, Threat, and the 2 Live Crew. The soundtrack reached No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' 200, where it held the position for 2 weeks, and the

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip-hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Luminate. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated January 30, ...

chart for 6 weeks. It also spawned the successful Dr. Dre single "Keep Their Heads Ringin'", which made it to No. 10 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and No. 1 on the

Hot Rap Tracks Hot Rap Songs (formerly known as Hot Rap Tracks and Hot Rap Singles) is a chart released weekly by '' Billboard'' in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stat ...

chart. The album was certified double platinum by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

on June 4, 1996.

Music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

s were shot for "Friday" and "Keep Their Heads Ringin'". The title track sparked a feud with the hip hop group Cypress Hill, who claimed that Ice Cube had asked for permission to use their track " Throw Your Set in the Air" and had made a very similar track after being denied permission.

Critical reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and former senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of multiple artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance ...

wrote: "the soundtrack to a lightweight comedy co-written by Ice Cube, the record conveys all the strengths of hit urban radio. Keeping all the good elements of the format -- including the

G-funk G-funk, short for gangsta funk, (or funk rap) is a sub-genre of gangsta rap that emerged from the West Coast scene in the early 1990s. The genre is heavily influenced by the synthesizer-heavy 1970s funk sound of Parliament-Funkadelic (aka P-F ...

of Dr. Dre, old-school soul, contemporary R&B, and

gangsta rap Gangsta rap or gangster rap, initially called reality rap, is a subgenre of rap music that conveys the culture, values, and experiences of urban gangs and street hustlers, frequently discussing unpleasant realities of the world in general th ...

-- the record sounds like a "Best of the '90s" collection". James Bernard of ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' wrote: "No surprises here. Dr. Dre rumbles over his smooth, insistent groove ("Keep Their Heads Ringin'"), Ice Cube sounds angry ("Friday"), Cypress Hill is still obsessed with pot, and E-A-Ski, a

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose. The Association of Bay Area Governments ...

hip-hop artist, contributes the gun-happy "Blast If I Have To". Throw in Rick James and Isley Brothers classics and you've got a listening experience that's familiar and fun". ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' reviewer wrote: "accompanying the new comedy penned by Ice Cube and partner D.J. Pooh, FRIDAY.... s arighteous set".

Accolades

Track listing

;Sample credits *Track 1 contains elements from "Last Tango in Paris" written and performed by

Gato Barbieri Leandro "Gato" Barbieri (November 28, 1932 – April 2, 2016) was an Argentine jazz tenor saxophonist who rose to fame during the free jazz movement in the 1960s and is known for his Latin jazz recordings of the 1970s. His nickname, Gato, is Spa ...

and " The Bertha Butt Boogie Part 1" written by

Jimmy Castor James Walter Castor (January 23, 1940 – January 16, 2012) was an American funk, R&B and soul musician. He is credited with vocals, saxophone and composition. He is best known for songs such as "It's Just Begun", " The Bertha Butt Boogie", and ...

and John Pruitt and performed by the Jimmy Castor Bunch *Track 2 contains elements from " Funk You Up" written by Angela Brown, Cheryl Cook, Gwendolyn Chisolm and Sylvia Robinson and performed by The Sequence *Track 4 contains elements from "So Funkdafied" written by

Jermaine Dupri Jermaine Dupri Mauldin (born September 23, 1972) is an American rapper and record producer. Raised in Atlanta, Georgia as the son of Columbia Records executive Michael Mauldin, he began his career in music at the age of nine. He discovered th ...

, Chris Jasper, Ernie Isley,

Marvin Isley Marvin Isley (August 18, 1953 – June 6, 2010)
– accessed June 2010 was an American musician best known as the young ...

, O'Kelly Isley Jr.,

and

Rudolph Isley Rudolph "Rudy" Bernard Isley (April 1, 1939 – October 11, 2023) was an American singer-songwriter and Christian minister and one of the founding members of The Isley Brothers. Life and career Rudolph "Rudy" Bernard Isley was born on April 1, ...

and performed by

Da Brat Shawntae Harris-Dupart (née Harris; born April 14, 1974), better known by her stage name Da Brat, is an American rapper. Born and raised in Chicago, she began her career in 1992 and signed with Jermaine Dupri's So So Def Recordings two years l ...

10th anniversary edition bonus disc

In 2005, on the tenth anniversary of ''Friday'', Priority Records released an eleven-track bonus disc entitled ''Old School Friday (More Music from the Original Motion Picture)'' alongside the original soundtrack. It was composed of nine songs, which appeared in the film, plus two songs — "The Chase" and "Hangin' in the Hood" — by Hidden Faces, which were not in the movie.

Other songs

Two songs did appear in the film but were not released on any soundtrack: "Hittin' Corners" written by Darrel Johnson and Shaquil Taja-Allah and performed by

K-Dee Darrell L. Johnson, also known as K-Dee, formerly Kid Disaster (born May 24, 1969), is an American rapper most known for his album ''Ass, Gas, or Cash (No One Rides for Free) He came into prominence in the hip hop scene with fellow West Coast ...

, and "Control" written by

Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis James Samuel "Jimmy Jam" Harris III (born June 6, 1959) and Terry Steven Lewis (born November 24, 1956) are an American R&B/ pop songwriting and record production team. Their productions have received commercial success since the 1980s with var ...

and performed by

Janet Jackson Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreogr ...

Personnel

Performers *O'Shea "

" Jackson – performer (track 1), additional vocals (track 8) *Andre "

" Young – performer (track 2) *Nancy Fletcher – performer (track 2) *Barbara Wilson – additional vocals (track 2) *Dorothy Coleman – additional vocals (track 2) *Brad " Scarface" Jordan – performer (track 3) *Bryaan " CJ Mac" Ross – performer (track 3) *Corey "Threat" Lloyd – performer (track 4) *Louis "

B-Real Louis Mario Freese (born June 2, 1970), known by his stage name B-Real, is an American rapper. Since 1991, he has been one of two lead rappers in the hip hop group Cypress Hill, along with Sen Dog. He has also been a part of the rap metal ban ...

" Freese – performer (track 5) *Senen "

Sen Dog Senen Reyes (born November 20, 1965), also known by his stage name Sen Dog, is a Cuban-American rapper who is best known as a member of the hip hop group Cypress Hill and as the lead vocalist for the nu metal band Powerflo. He has nurtured a sol ...

" Reyes – additional vocals (track 5) *Dedrick "

" Rolison – performer (track 6) *

– performer (track 7) *William "

Bootsy William Earl "Bootsy" Collins (born October 26, 1951) is an American bass guitarist, singer, and songwriter. Rising to prominence with James Brown in the early 1970s before joining the Parliament-Funkadelic collective, Collins established himse ...

" Collins – performer (track 8) *

– performer (track 8) *

– performer (track 9) *

– performers (track 10) *Jason "

Son Doobie Funkdoobiest was an American hip hop group from Los Angeles, California, composed of rappers Jason "Son Doobie" Vasquez, Tyrone "Tomahawk Funk" Pacheco and DJ Ralph "Tha Phunky Mexican" Medrano. They were of Soul Assassins. The group has relea ...

" Vasquez – performer (track 11) *Tyrone "Tomahawk Funk" Pacheco – additional vocals (track 11) *Rico " Tash" Smith – performer (track 12) *James "

J-Ro Tha Alkaholiks, also known as Tha Liks, is an American hip hop trio from Los Angeles. Since the early 1990s they have produced party music with a hardcore hip hop edge, powered by the beats of DJ and producer E-Swift (he was born Eric Brooks ...

" Robinson – performer (track 12) *Shon "

" Adams – performer & producer (track 13) *The

– performers (track 14) *

– performer & producer (track 15) *Stewart "Fingas"/"Stu-B-Doo" Bullard – keyboards (track 2) *Preston Middleton – bass (track 3) Production *Ice Cube – producer *Dr. Dre – producer (track 2) *Joseph " N.O. Joe" Johnson – producer (track 3) *Mark " DJ Pooh" Jordan – producer (track 4) *Rashad Coes – producer (track 4) *Larry "

" Muggerud – producer (tracks: 5, 11) *

– producer (track 7) * Angela Winbush – producer (track 7) *Bootsy Collins – producer (track 8) *Ralph "Tha Funky Mexican" Medrano – producer (track 11) *Eric " E-Swift" Brooks – producer (track 12) *Mark "CMT" Ogleton – producer & mixing (track 13) *David " Mr. Mixx" Hobbs – producer (track 14) *Roger Troutman – producer (track 15) *Samuel "

" – co-producer (track 2) *

Luther Campbell Luther Roderick Campbell (born December 22, 1960), also known as Luke Skyywalker, Uncle Luke and simply Luke, is an American rapper, promoter, record executive, actor, and former leader of the rap group 2 Live Crew. He is known for having hel ...

– executive producer (track 14) *Patricia Charbonnet – executive producer * Toby Emmerich – executive producer *Andrew M. Shack – co-executive producer Technical *Dennis Poore – sample clearances (tracks: 1, 2, 4) *Madeleine Smith – sample clearances (tracks: 1, 2, 4) *Mark Spier – sample clearances (tracks: 1, 2, 4) *Keston Wright – engineering (tracks: 1, 2, 6, 8) *Tommy D. Daugherty – engineering (track 2) * Mike Dean – mixing (track 3) *Flip – engineering (track 3) *DJ Pooh – mixing (track 4) * Dave Aron – engineering (track 4) *Rick Freeman – engineering (track 4) *Jason Roberts – engineering (tracks: 5, 11), mixing (track 5) *DJ Muggs – mixing (tracks: 5, 11) *Conley Abrams – recording & mixing (track 7) *Angela Winbush – mixing (track 7) *Nolan Moffitte – engineering (track 12) * Ken Lewis – mixing (track 12) *Steve "Fred 40 to the Head" Fredrickson – recording (track 12) *CMT – engineering & mixing (track 13) *E-A-Ski – engineering & mixing (track 13) *Tom Luekens – engineering (track 13) *Tommy Afont – engineering (track 14) *Ted Stein – engineering & mixing (track 14) *Brian " Big Bass" Gardner – mastering * Frank Fitzpatrick – music supervisor *Nicola Goode – photography *Lee Young – legal representation for Ghetto Bird Productions * Nina Shaw – legal representation for Ghetto Bird Productions

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links