If there's anyone who cannot be stopped in the rap game, it's Master P, and the star studded soundtrack to his latest film, I Got The Hook Up, is a clear indication of that regardless of the fact that most of the album is heavily mediocre. Like taking a trip through the mind of an average brother in a beat up Buick rolling in a sleeveless t-shirt and saggin' Ben Davis pants somewhere between Hotlanta and Oaktown, this album will be a huge hit amongst its core audience, even though it offers a little something for all hip hop heads in the form of the few gems amongst the coal.

Five songs of the soundtrack's 21 are excellent and have something for all hip hop heads: Ice Cube gives a stunningly honest and depressing view of life as a "gangsta" in "Ghetto Vet," where his character ends up in a wheelchair, alcoholic, addicted to drugs and nihilistic -- much like what often really happens -- over a haunting piano line. MJG reunites with partner 8-Ball for a saucy taste of Memphis funk on "Let's Ride," a bluesy guitar track makes the okay lyrics of UGKs shine on "Bump & Grill," Skull Dugrey convincingly channels the spirit of Goodie MoB on "Drama," and in one of the years wildest songs, Mystikal and ODB get "rowdy rowdy" on "Who Rock This."

Three songs (P's don't-let-me-work-alone solo title cut, crooner Mo B. Dick's "I Don't Want To Go," and the yawner "Would You Hesitate" by C-Murder) will have you leaping for your fast forward button or your jugular, but the rest of the album simply leaves you thinking, "ah, that's aight" or "hm, that coulda been better." For instance, the scratchy sounding, abrasive "Shake Somethin'" fits Mystikal's insanely great style, but the topic matter (hitting on a stripper, played by Mia X) really seems out of place on what is much better suited for a battle rhyme track. The Jigga, Jay-Z, sleepwalks through "What The Game Made Me" much like Snoop does on "Hooked" and Bone does on "Hook It Up." Amongst the horde of songs, it's hard to pick the wheat from the chaff here.

Overall, this album is only a must have for clones of No Limit Soldiers, and very consciously limits itself to its core audience with its selection of songs and artists. This is an unapologetic gangsta rap album that's more than ecstatic, but passionate about talking about shootin,' lootin,' and drug sellin -- and there's something admirable about maintaining such a fatalistic viewpoint in the eye of a slowly changing rap game. I Got The Hook Up's soundtrack will more than likely serve as a signpost for the pinnacle of gangsta rap music as it inches towards popular extinction.