Oh, Manchester, So Much To Answer For

When it rains, it pours, apparently, especially for Beyoncé fans this year. Not only is she ruling the world with "Crazy In Love" (still the single to beat in '03) and Dangerously In Love (better than you think, not as good as she thinks), now comes news that the soundtrack to her film The Fighting Temptations is Beyoncé-packed. Lead single/quasi-title track "Fighting Temptation" is good-not-great. It reminds me quite a bit of Lil' Kim's "Not Tonight" femme-fest from a few years back, collecting a crew of female rappers (or, as I prefer to call them, rapstresses) to spit all over an R&B-based hiphop track. In this case, the rappers are Missy Elliott, MC Lyte, and Free (of BET's 106th and Park, album apparently forthcoming). Unfortunately, a) Beyoncé's reduced to a hook singer on what's ostensibly her single, b) Free is fine, but only fine, c) Missy might've done this track in her sleep. Fortunately, anytime MC Lyte rears her head is great, and this is no exception. Maybe "Crazy In Love" has simply spoiled me. It's certainly set the bar ridiculously high, much like the all-time greatest femme-rap track did - that's unquestionably the Puff Daddy Remix of Total's "No One Else," featuring Foxy Brown, Lil' Kim, and Da Brat. Boo-yah!