At the time of its release, the various artists collection containing music from the motion picture Barber Shop boasted two tracks,
Fabolous and
P. Diddy featuring Jagged Edge's "Trade It All Part 2," and
Ginuwine's "Stingy," that were rising on the R&B Top 40 charts, which seemed to bode well for this collection of rhythmic urban music. Typically, not a note of
Terence Blanchard's score to the film was included, but there were three tracks on the album, Best Man's "I See You," Jordan Brown's "Better to Leave," and
Collin's "Baby, Baby, Baby," not actually featured in the film, and
P. Diddy and the Family's "And We" was presented in a different version from the one contained in the film. That last track was one of several marred by awkward and not very deceptive "clean" edits that managed to mangle the songs' rhythms without actually obscuring the vulgar intent of the lyrics. Much of the album, however, consisted of romantic ballads, and the package concluded with two old-school favorites:
Marvin Gaye's "Got to Give It Up (Part 1)" and
the Staple Singers' "I'll Take You There." The album opened and closed with dialogue excerpts from the film that suggested it was a comedy keyed to the questionable macho wisdom that might be overheard in an establishment largely frequented by men. ~ William Ruhlmann