This came out in 2003 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
Co-starring rapper DMX (as a gangster whose daughter is kidnapped during a jewel heist) and martial artist Jet Li (as an agent out to recover the gal and the stones), Cradle 2 the Grave sounds like your typical action-packed buddy pic. Which makes it the perfect movie for a rap soundtrack.
After all, most rap is preoccupied with bang-bang and bling-bling. And so often it’s a group effort, with stars dropping in on each other’s cuts. Cradle 2 the Grave won’t disappoint — or surprise — on either count. Anchored by DMX — who unleashes his growling rhymes and barking bellow on the solidly whomping X Gon’ Give it to Ya — this hard-hitting 19-song offering pairs 50 Cent with G-Unit (on the smoothly sinister Follow Me Gangster), CNN and MOP, Foxy Brown and Althea (on the silky ballad My Life), Jinx and Loose, Fat Joe and Youngn’ Restless, and a three-way match between Eminem, Obie Trice and DMX on the unsurprisingly dark ’n’ violent Go to Sleep. Toss in a few distinctive solo joints from Drag-On (the Pusherman-inspired Fireman) and the big-lunged Bazaar Royale (What’s it All For?) and you’ve got a soundtrack that entertains without destroying valuable brain cells. Unlike your typical action-packed buddy pic.
