Various Artists

Like its companion film, the Bad Boys IIsoundtrack is a big-budget affair featuring today's top stars. Predictably, the record shot straight to No. 1 upon release, and it appears to have a shelf life that will outpace its celluloid counterpart. Issued on Sean Combs' Bad Boy imprint, the compilation is weighted by the executive producer's platinum-planked influence. A little Puffy isn't necessarily a bad thing -- love him or loathe him, Combs was responsible for some of the finest hip-pop moments of the past decade. "Shake Ya Tailfeather," an instahit that teams J-Lo's ex with St. Louis denizens Nelly and Murphy Lee, is a fantastic party jam. (Murphy gets the best line: My rats come in packs like Sammy and Dean Martin/And I got so many keys you'd think I'm valet parking.)

"Show Me Your Soul" unites Diddy, Lenny Kravitz and Pharrell Williams, which sounds interesting on paper, but Puffy's monotone rap is pedestrian and Kravitz's vocal contributions are annoying filler, as if he were overdubbed at the last minute to get his name added to the track. "Realest Niggas," a highly anticipated collaboration between 50 Cent and the Notorious B.I.G., scrapes the bottom of Biggie's barrel -- the deceased MC's verses are lifted straight from "Niggaz," which appeared on the posthumous release Born Again. The Neptunes' patented production on Jay-Z's "La, La, La" has lost every ounce of its bounce -- if the Virginia knob twisters don't find a new drum sound soon, they're going to thump themselves right out of business. Snoop Dogg fizzles on "Gangsta Shit," and Fat Joe embarrasses himself on the featherweight "Girl, I'm a Bad Boy." Justin Timberlake outsouls the whole crew with "Love Don't Love Me," a Princely rumination buoyed by an aberrant keyboard sound. But when Justin Timberlake has to save the day, an album's already well beyond repair.