R&B, funk and hip-hop were always a major interest of producer/music industry veteran Jay Warsinske, who founded Solid Entertainment in the late '80s -- so it was only natural that he launched a rap-minded subsidiary, Street Solid, ten years later. One of Street Solid's late '90s releases was this soundtrack to the film Fakin' Da Funk. West Coast rap is a heavy focus on this 18-song CD, and it's hard to miss the strong California flavor of such appealing cuts as Above the Law's eerie "Smoke," Mellow Man Ace's gritty "Fakin' da Funk" and former Lench Mob member Shorty's infectious "Califunk." But not everything on the album (for which Warsinske serves as executive producer) is West Coast-sounding. Bronx native Father MC's R&B-minded "Could Care Less" is very New York, while Twa-Zay's fast, hyper "Gimme Some of Dat" is very much in the Florida bass/booty rap vein. Although this album isn't heavily socio-political, one of its best songs is Bootleg's "Please Forgive Me," a riveting, 2Pac Shakur-ish number that finds a remorseful father regretting the fact that he turned his back on his kid. A few pop/adult contemporary ballads are heard at the end of the disc, but on the whole, Fakin' Da Funk is for the hip-hop audience. ~ Alex Henderson