The

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

for the 1996 American

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...

action film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

'' Set It Off'', directed by

F. Gary Gray Felix Gary Gray (born July 17, 1969) is an American director and producer. Gray began his career as a director on numerous critically acclaimed and award-winning music videos, including "It Was a Good Day" by Ice Cube, " Natural Born Killaz" by ...

, consists of a compilation of R&B and

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. Hi ...

music and an

original score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cue (theatrical), cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the ...

composed by

Christopher Young Christopher Young (born April 28, 1958) is an American composer of Film score, film and television scores. Many of his compositions are for horror and thriller films, including ''Hellraiser'', ''Species (film), Species'', ''Urban Legend (film) ...

. ''Set It Off (Music From The New Line Cinema Motion Picture)'', a

soundtrack album A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television show. The first such album to be commercially released was Walt Disney's ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs ( ...

composed of R&B/hip-hop music, was released through

East West Records East West Records (stylized as east''west'') is a record label formed in 1955, distributed and owned by Warner Music Group, headquartered in New York City. History After its creation in 1955 by Atlantic Records, the label had its first hit wit ...

on September 24, 1996. It was produced by

Organized Noize Organized Noize is an American production duo from Atlanta, Georgia, currently composed of Ray Murray, Rick Wade and Sleepy Brown. History Among the hit records they have worked on include TLC's "Waterfalls", En Vogue's " Don't Let Go (Love ...

, 88 X Unit,

Barry Eastmond Barry James Eastmond (born January 11, 1959) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and record producer. Eastmond is an adjunct professor at New York University Steinhardt Performing Arts Department in songwriting and is part of the NYU ...

, Darrell "Delite" Allamby, DJ Rectangle,

DJ Scratch George Spivey (born June 21, 1968), known professionally as DJ Scratch, is an American hip hop music, hip hop DJ and producer from Brooklyn, New York. DJ Scratch is the 1988 New Music Seminar Battle For World Supremacy DJ champion, the 2010 M ...

DJ U-Neek Tim Middleton (born June 15, 1969), known professionally by his stage name DJ U-Neek, is an American Los Angeles–based hip hop record producer. Signed to Ruthless Records along with Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, he was nominated for a Grammy Award for ...

Keith Crouch Keith Edward Crouch is an American songwriter and music producer. The nephew of gospel singers Sandra and Andrae Crouch, Crouch began his career as a songwriter at the age of fifteen and landed his first gig at seventeen. From 1993 to 1994, he p ...

, Swoop & Bright Productions and

The 45 King Mark Howard James (October 16, 1961 – October 19, 2023), professionally known as The 45 King and also known as DJ Mark the 45 King, was an American hip hop producer and DJ from The Bronx, New York. He began DJing in the mid-1980s. His pseudon ...

. It features contributions from the film star

Queen Latifah Dana Elaine Owens (born March 18, 1970), known professionally by her stage name Queen Latifah, is an American rapper, singer, and actress. She has received various accolades, including a Grammy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe ...

, as well as Backbone,

Billy Lawrence Billy Lawrence is an American R&B/Soul music, soul singer-songwriter, record producer, and arranger. Discography Albums Singles References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrence, Billy 1971 births 21st-century American singer-songwriters 21st-cent ...

, Blulight,

Bone Thugs-n-Harmony Bone Thugs-n-Harmony (formerly known as B.O.N.E. Enterpri$e and also referred to as simply Bone Thugs or Bone) is an American hip hop group formed in 1991 in Cleveland, Ohio. Consisting of rappers Bizzy Bone, Wish Bone, Layzie Bone, Krayzie ...

Brandy Brandy is a liquor produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35–60% alcohol by volume (70–120 US proof) and is typically consumed as an after-dinner digestif. Some brandies are aged in wooden casks. Others are coloured ...

Busta Rhymes Trevor George Smith Jr. (born May 20, 1972), known professionally as Busta Rhymes, is an American rapper, singer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the moniker Busta Rhymes, after National Football League, NFL and Canadian Football Lea ...

Chaka Khan Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan ( ), is an American singer. Known as the " Queen of Funk", her career has spanned more than five decades beginning in the early 1970s as the lead vocalist of ...

, Chocolate, Cool Breeze, Da 5 Footaz,

En Vogue En Vogue is an American vocal girl group whose original lineup consisted of singers Terry Ellis, Dawn Robinson, Cindy Herron, and Maxine Jones. Formed in Oakland, California, in 1989, En Vogue reached No. 2 on the US Hot 100 with the singl ...

Gladys Knight Gladys Maria Knight (born May 28, 1944) is an American singer and actress. Knight recorded hits through the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with her family group Gladys Knight & the Pips, which included her brother Merald "Bubba" Knight and cousins Will ...

, H Squad,

Lumberjacks Lumberjack is a mostly North American term for workers in the logging industry who perform the initial harvesting and transport of trees. The term usually refers to loggers in the era before 1945 in the United States, when trees were felled us ...

MC Lyte Lana Michele Moorer (born October 11, 1970), better known by her stage name MC Lyte, is an American rapper. Considered one of the pioneers of female rap, MC Lyte first gained fame in the late 1980s, becoming the first female rapper to release a ...

Ray J William Ray Norwood Jr. (born January 17, 1981), known professionally as Ray J, is an American R&B singer, songwriter, television presenter, and actor. Born in McComb, Mississippi and raised in Carson, California, he is the younger brother o ...

Seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, also called "true seal" ** Fur seal ** Eared seal * Seal ( ...

Simply Red Simply Red are an English soul music, soul and pop band formed in Manchester in 1985. Band leader, singer and songwriter Mick Hucknall was the only original member left by the time Simply Red initially disbanded in 2010. They have released thir ...

Tamia Tamia Marilyn Washington Hill (born May 9, 1975) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Windsor, Ontario, Tamia performed in various singing and dancing competitions as a child. In 1994, after signing a development deal with War ...

and X-Man. The soundtrack was a huge success, debuting number four on the ''Billboard'' 200 and number three on 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, ...

charts in the United States. It was certified 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 November 12, 1996 for selling 1,000,000 copies in the US alone. The album produced seven charted singles: "Set It Off", "

Don't Let Go (Love) "Don't Let Go (Love)" is a song by American R&B group En Vogue. It was produced by Organized Noize for the ''Set It Off'' soundtrack (1996), also appearing on the group's third album, '' EV3'' (1997). It was released to radio on September 23, 19 ...

", "

Days of Our Livez "Days of Our Livez" is a single by Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. The instrumental is primarily based on samples of " Tender Love" by Force MDs and " Making Love in the Rain" by Herb Alpert. It was released on the soundtrack to the movie '' Set It Off' ...

", "

Angel An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

", "

Come On Come On may refer to: Music * ''Come On'' (EP), by Elf Power, 1999 * "Come On" (Billy Lawrence song), 1997 * "Come On" (Christine Anu song), 1995 * "Come On" (Chuck Berry song), 1961; covered by the Rolling Stones, 1963 * "Come On" (CNBLUE so ...

", "

Let It Go "Let It Go" is a song from Disney's 2013 computer-animated feature film '' Frozen'', whose music and lyrics were composed by husband-and-wife songwriting team Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez. The song was performed in its original show ...

" and "

Missing You Missing You, Missin' You, or Missing U may refer to: Film and television * ''Missing You'' (2008 film), a Singaporean film * ''Missing You'' (2016 film), a South Korean film * ''Missing U'' (film), a 2013 short animated film by Brooke Wagstaff ...

", along with accompanying

music videos 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 ...

. A music video was also directed doe the song "The Heist", even though it was not released as a single.

Track listing

Personnel

*Dana "

" Owens – vocals (tracks: 1, 8) *

Andrea Martin Andrea Louise Martin (born January 15, 1947) is an American and Canadian actress, best known for her work in the television series '' SCTV'' and '' Great News''. She has appeared in films such as '' Black Christmas'' (1974), '' Wag the Dog'' (1 ...

– vocals (track 1) *

Ivan Matias Ivan Matias is an American singer, songwriter, producer, arranger, hip hop ghostwriter, and entrepreneur. He is primarily known for writing and producing hit songs for artists like En Vogue ("Don't Let Go (Love)"), Angie Stone ("Wish I Didn't M ...

– vocals (track 1) *

Brandy Norwood Brandy Rayana Norwood (born February 11, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, model and actress. Born into a musical family in McComb, Mississippi, Norwood was raised in Carson, California, beginning her career as a backing vocalist ...

– background vocals (track 2) *

Marilyn Washington Hill – background vocals (track 2) *

– background vocals (track 2) *

– background vocals (track 2) *Cindy Mizelle – background vocals (track 2) *

Gordon Chambers Gordon Anthony Chambers (c. 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and record producer who has written songs for more than 75 recording artists including Angie Stone, Yolanda Adams, The Isley Brothers, Brandy, Trey Songz, Chaka Khan, Patti LaBell ...

– background vocals (track 2) *Lajuan Carter – background vocals (track 2) *

– vocals (track 3) *

– vocals (track 4) *Trevor "

" Smith – vocals (track 5) *Meka – vocals (track 5) *Blulight – vocals (track 6) *Dee Johnson – background vocals (track 7) *

Lauryn Hill Lauryn Noelle Hill (born May 26, 1975) is an American musician. She is celebrated as one of the most influential musical artists of her generation. Hill is credited with breaking barriers for female rappers, contributing to the popular music, m ...

– background vocals (track 7) *Sarah Brown – background vocals (track 7) *

Wyclef Jean Nel Ust Wyclef Jean ( ; born October 17, 1969) is a Haitian rapper, singer, and record producer. Born in Haiti, Jean emigrated to the Northeastern United States, United States as a child. He gained fame as a founding member of the Fugees, a Ne ...

– rap vocals, guitar, producer & mixing (track 7) *Nichelle "

Nikki D Nichelle Dayveena Strong (born September 10, 1968), known by her stage name Nikki D is an American rapper. Career Strong signed with Def Jam in 1989 and released her debut single "Lettin' Off Steam" the following year. It was produced by Sam S ...

" Strong – additional vocals (track 8) *Robert "

T-Mo Robert Terrance Barnett (born February 2, 1972), better known by his stage name T-Mo Goodie (or simply T-Mo), is an American rapper from Atlanta, Georgia. He is best known for being a member of Southern hip hop quartet Goodie Mob. He is also on ...

" Barnett – vocals (track 9) *Willie "

Khujo Willie Edward Knighton Jr. (born March 13, 1972), better known as Khujo, is an American rapper. He is one-fourth of Goodie Mob (along with T-Mo, Cee-Lo, and Big Gipp), and one-half of The Lumberjacks (with T-Mo). Life and career Khujo was b ...

" Knighton – vocals (track 9) *Frederick " Cool Breeze" Bell – vocals (track 9) *Jamahr "Backbone" Williams – vocals (track 9) *

Billy Lawrence Billy Lawrence is an American R&B/Soul music, soul singer-songwriter, record producer, and arranger. Discography Albums Singles References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrence, Billy 1971 births 21st-century American singer-songwriters 21st-cent ...

– background vocals (track 10) *Lana "

" Moorer – rap vocals (track 10) *Darrell "Delite" Allamby – background vocals (track 10) *William Raymond "

" Norwood, Jr. – background vocals (track 11) *Dorian Abney – background vocals & handclaps (track 11) *

– background vocals, keyboards, drums, handclaps, producer, arrangement & recording (track 11) *

Rahsaan Patterson Rahsaan Patterson (born January 11, 1974) is an American singer and actor, best known for portraying "The Kid" on the 1980s television show ''Kids Incorporated.'' Career 1984: ''Kids Incorporated'' After appearing in a school talent show in 1984 ...

– background vocals (track 11) *Sherree Ford-Payne – background vocals (track 11) * Seal Henry Olusegun Olumide Adeola Samuel – vocals (track 12) *Amber "Cobra Red" Hopson – vocals (track 13) *Danielle "Neb Luv" Hollis – vocals (track 13) *Ericka "Knee-Hi" Martin – vocals (track 13) *Jamali "Jah-Skillz" Carthorn – vocals (track 13) *Kim "K-Bar" Savage – vocals (track 13) *Cynee' – vocals (track 14) *Chocolate – rap vocals (track 14) *Martin Terry – guitar (tracks: 1, 3) *Marvin "Chanz" Parkman – keyboards (track 1), grand piano (track 3) *Phil Hamilton – acoustic and electric guitar (track 2) *Alfred Brown – strings contractor (track 2) *

– keyboard and drum programming, producer, arrangement, strings conductor & engineering (track 2) *Eric Rehl – synth programming (track 2) *Tomi Martin – guitar (track 3) *Preston Crump – bass (track 3) *"Lil' John" Roberts – live drums (track 3) *Andy Wright – additional guitar (track 7) *

Jerry Duplessis Jerry "Wonda" Duplessis (born August 9, 1975) is a Haitian record producer and musician. His first major success came as the producer of the Fugees' 1996 album ''The Score (Fugees album), The Score''. He served as the bass guitarist for the grou ...

– bass & co-producer (track 7) *Skinny Miracles – piano & organ (track 9) *Glenn McKinney – guitar (track 11) *Roy Pennon – bass (track 11) *Spyda, Inc. – bass (track 13) *

– producers (tracks: 1, 3, 9), bass and drum programming & mixing (tracks: 1, 9), co-executive producers *Tim "

" Middleton – producer, recording & mixing (track 4), A&R direction (tracks: 4, 5) *Swoop & Bright Productions – producer (track 5) *George "

" Spivey – producer (track 6) *Prakazrel "

Pras Prakazrel Samuel Michel (born October 19, 1972), known professionally as Pras (), is an American rapper and record producer. He is best known as a member of the hip-hop group Fugees, which he formed with fellow New Jerseyans Wyclef Jean and Laur ...

" Michél – co-producer (track 7) *

– vocal producers (track 7) *Mark "

" James – producer (track 8) *Scott " DJ Rectangle" Kluesner – producer (track 13) *Mychal-Kaye Simmons – producer (track 14) *Victor Nathan Taylor – producer (track 14) *Blake Eiseman – recording (track 1), engineering (tracks: 3, 9) *Kevin Parker – recording (track 1) *Louis Alfred III – recording (track 1) *Michael Cehelnic – recording assistant (track 1) *Michael "Mike Fresh" Wilson – recording assistant (track 1), engineering assistant (tracks: 3, 9) *Dexter Simmons – mixing (tracks: 1, 9) *James Jay Nicholas – mixing assistant (track 1), engineering assistant (track 9) *Erik Zobler – mixing (track 2) *Bill Smith – engineering (track 2) *Carl Nappa – engineering (track 2), mixing (track 10) *

Manny Marroquin Manny Marroquin (born September 21, 1971) is a Guatemalan-American record mixing engineer. He has been credited on albums for high-profile pop, R&B, hip hop and rock acts. He has worked with artists including Rihanna, Kanye West, Katy Perry ...

– engineering (track 2) *Stan Wallace – engineering (track 2) *Colin Sauer – engineering assistant (track 2) *Greg Pinto – engineering assistant (track 2) *Kevin Stone – engineering assistant (track 2) *Rick Alvarez – engineering assistant (track 2) *Steve Genewick – engineering assistant (track 2) *

Neal H Pogue Neal H Pogue (born December 27, 1963) is an American producer, audio engineer and mixer originally from Roselle, New Jersey, and based in Los Angeles. Pogue is a multi-time Grammy Award winner, having first won for his engineering and mixing ...

– mixing & engineering (track 3) *Aaron Connor – recording & mixing (tracks: 4, 5) * Virgil L. Davis Jr. – recording (track 4) * Rick St. Hilaire – engineering (track 5) *Warren Riker – engineering (track 7) *Chris Hilt – engineering (track 8) *Chris Theis – recording (track 10) *Rich Travali – mixing (track 10) *Booker T. Jones III – recording & mixing (track 11) *Eugene Lo – recording & engineering assistant (track 11) *Gregg Jackman – mixing & engineering (track 12) *Justin Vickerman – engineering assistant (track 12) *Tim Anderson – mixing (track 13) * Tom Coyne – mastering *Brian " Big Bass" Gardner – mastering (tracks: 4, 5) *

Sylvia Rhone Sylvia Rhone (born March 11, 1952) is an American record company executive. Since 2019, she is the Chairman and CEO, chair and CEO of Epic Records, a label owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Rhone served previously in senior positions at Vested ...

– executive producer *

Toby Emmerich Toby Emmerich (born February 8, 1963), is an American producer, film executive, and screenwriter. He formerly served as the chairman of the Warner Bros. Pictures Group. Early life and education Emmerich was born to Constance (née Marantz) and ...

– executive producer *Dana Sano – executive producer *Lori Silfen – executive producer *Tomica Wright – executive producer (tracks: 4, 5) *

Trevor Horn Trevor Charles Horn (born 15 July 1949) is an English record producer and musician. His influence on pop and electronic music in the 1980s was such that he has been called "the man who invented the eighties". Horn took up the bass guitar at an ...

– executive producer (track 12) *Chris "F.U." Tyson – executive producer (track 14) *Merlin Bobb – co-executive producer *Pilar McCurry – supervisor *Kim Spikes – A&R coordinator *Mark Haddad – A&R coordinator *Rick Brown – A&R coordinator

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Film score

''Set It Off (Original Motion Picture Score)'', a film score album by American composer

, was released on November 19, 1996 through

Varèse Sarabande Varèse Sarabande is an American record label, owned by Concord Music Group and distributed by Universal Music Group, which specializes in film scores and cast recording, original cast recordings. It aims to reissue rare or unavailable albums, as ...

. It features contributions from singers Lori Perry, Roy Galloway and

Peggi Blu Peggi Blu (May 26, 1945 – May 19, 2024) was an American singer. She was the 1986 "Star Search Grand Champion (Female Vocalist)" and the winner of the 2013 Malibu Music Awards ("Vocal Coach of the Year"). She is best known as an ''American Id ...

, as well as musicians George Doering, Nick Kirgo, John Goux, Mike Lang, Carl Vincent, Brandon Fields, Michael Vaccaro, M.B. Gordy,

Steve Schaeffer Steve Schaeffer is a Hollywood studio musician who has played on more than 1,000 feature films and original soundtracks. Partial filmography *''Inside Man'' (2006) *''Blade Runner'' (1982) *''Bowfinger'' (1999) *'' The Big Kahuna'' (1999) *''The ...

, Mark Zimoski, Pete Anthony and Sandy de Crescent.

Track listing

Personnel

– composer, producer, orchestration *Lori Perry – vocals (tracks: 1, 12) *Roy Galloway – vocals (tracks: 2, 5, 10) *

– vocals (track 4) *George Doering – guitar *Nick Kirgo – guitar *John Goux – nylon string guitar (track 1) *Carl Vincent – electric bass *Mike Lang – keyboards (track 1) * Brandon Fields – saxophone *Michael Vaccaro – saxophone *Marvin B. Gordy III – drums *

– drums *Mark Zimoski – electronic percussion, synth programming *Pete Anthony – orchestra conductor, orchestration *Sandy de Crescent – orchestra contractor *Robert Fernandez – mixing * Christopher Kennedy – editor *John Van Houten – electronic coordinator *David Reynolds – supervisor

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1996 soundtrack albums Contemporary R&B soundtracks Varèse Sarabande soundtracks East West Records soundtracks Albums produced by the 45 King Albums produced by Organized Noize