Review: 'Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins' Soundtrack

The soundtrack to the Martin Lawrence movie Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins is a very accessible, all-ages album that's sophisticated without being boring or old-fashioned. This collection of 11 new and previously-released material, which was released on Feb. 5, 2008, is filled with gems by well-known artists like Jill Scott, Rick James and Joe, but it's the lesser-known performers, the ones whose names might not be familiar to the average music fan (Algebra, Keite Young, Kindred The Family Soul) that really make this soundtrack worth listening to.

The lead single to this soundtrack - and arguably its best song - is the ode-to-relatives "We're Family," by Joe (credited here under his full name, Joe Thomas). It's this mid-tempo, danceable song that sets the tone for the album (as well as the movie) by reminding people to not only chase their dreams, but to also not forget, or turn your back on, your family once those dreams have been achieved.

Among the album's other stellar new (and nearly-new) material is the upbeat love song "Meant to Be" by the husband-wife duo Kindred The Family Soul and "Thinkuboutmi," a funky Sly Stone-meets-Van Hunt type jam by the phenomenal Keite Young that was originally on Keite's 2007 album, The Rise & Fall of Keite Young. Also worth mentioning are Carlton Thompson's family ode "Roots," a beautifully simple acoustic song that's accompanied only by handclaps and vocal sound effects; and "At This Time," a slow-simmering acoustic guitar-driven slow jam by a young female singer named Algebra who on this song, bears a strong vocal similarity to fellow Atlanta-area native India.Arie.

There's three classic R&B songs that close out the album, Maze's "Before I Let Go," Rick James' "Super Freak" and Brick's "Ain't Gonna Hurt Nobody," all of which fit the general flow and mood of the album. If there's one song that sounds out of place, it's the instrumental Jazz track, "Snow Hill" by Cliff Lee. It's by no means a bad song, but sticks out like a sore thumb on an album of otherwise sassy, buoyant songs.