Need For Speed Unbound has brought a lot of controversy with it. The graphics are too cartoony for some, others don’t like the overly arcadey driving and others (deservedly) say the dialogue is a cringe compilation of embarrassment. The one stand-out factor that most agree on is the soundtrack. Many capital G Gamers have put aside their differences, laid down their arms in the console wars and entered into a sort of Christmas Eve truce over their shared hatred of the soundtrack.
I myself played this game and muted the soundtrack after one race. Afterwards I went online and saw The DiscourseTM surrounding the OST. So I decided to listen through the entire soundtrack using the official Spotify playlist, to see if it really is as terrible as everyone says. I’ll be giving each song a ranking from one to ten and at the end I will crunch the numbers and give the soundtrack itself a rating.
Here's the official Spotify playlist so you can listen along.
1. Shittin’ me
The game’s theme song. It’s proudly displayed in the intro, so it must be good. The beat is good and A$ap’s flow is interesting. He switches between a slow style and every now and then starts spitting like he has something to prove. It’s standard trap, but good trap. A nice start to the soundtrack. I’d rate it a 7/10. With a better hook this would have been a 9. Maybe this soundtrack isn’t as bad as everyone says.
2. Yodaka
Weird song. Bizarre energy. When the beat is there it’s good, but the beat keeps dropping out. It’s like trying to stay connected to one-bar airport wi-fi. When it’s there, it gets the job done, but it keeps cutting in and out too often. The backing vocals are really annoying and get grating fast. I think the song would be way better without the constant “UH”s in the back. The hook is awful as well. Doesn’t fit in the game either. Doesn’t make me feel like doing 100 on the freeway. Conflicted on this one, it’s equal parts good and terrible. A 5/10.
3. Apricots
Very annoying. The main vocals are repetitive and mind-numbing. It’s like CIA torture music- not that the CIA tortures anyone, they’re good boys- but if they did torture, they’d probably use this song. Hypothetically speaking. In Minecraft. It starts as a boring, barely instrumented droning track with the vocals drilling themselves into your brain. Suddenly, this grating synth comes in demanding center stage. It’s mixed way too high compared to everything else. The track itself does not fit into a racing game. It’s too boring to race to, and despite the fact that it’s so boring and repetitive, it doesn’t work as background noise because it’s so annoying and grating that you can’t ignore it. It runs up to you, grabs your face and DEMANDS you pay attention. Terrible. 2/10
4. طارد
Perfectly serviceable elevator music or background noise. The beat is nice and bouncy, if a little bare, and the flow is pretty nice even though I don’t understand the lyrics. The hook is pretty much non-existent, but at least it’s not terrible. It’s a very not-awful song. It didn’t make me want to rip my hair out. The bridge is the worst part. It’s like speeding down the highway then suddenly slamming the emergency brake. Thing is, this isn’t an elevator game, it’s a racing game. This doesn’t make me want to get in a car and speed, it makes me want to sit down and have a nice cold drink. At least it’s enjoyable. 6/10.
5. Boih
This is criminal. It starts with the singer doing some trill bird noise and then comes in with one of the most ridiculous vocal deliveries I have heard in a while. A common thread I’m noticing here, other than the awful hooks, is the fact that a lot of these songs are annoying. Very grating. A lot of very repetitive phrasing, random noises, high pitched instrumentation, things that are mixed too high. In this song’s case it’s the random RRRRRRR bird noises every now and then. The hook is awful again. This is meme music. Halfway through it switches up and the singer starts doing her best to “sing” and fails spectacularly.
It does fit nicely into a racing game, as it makes me want to get into a sports car and drive as far away as possible from it. No thanks. 1/10.
6. Autobahn
More elevator music. I don’t have anything to say about this one. It’s nothing. 4/10. Boring. Does it belong in a racing game? I don’t know. It barely registers as a song.
7. Be a Hoe/Break a Hoe
It’s surprisingly not terrible. It has the same problem as a lot of the other songs before it, in that it’s boring. The track is just a slow, thumping distorted bass, the bog-standard trap hi-hats and the drums. It doesn’t really have a melody or anything else, so the vocals are front and center. It’s not terrible. The beat is very bare and repetitive, but the flow is good. Too slow and heavy to race to. 6/10. Hey alright.
8. TAPPAT DET HELT
The title of the song is screaming so it must be some high-energy banger. It does have more energy than the others. The hook is terrible, keeping with the tradition. The instrumentation drops out for the hook and the singer sounds like a joke. I can’t take his vocal delivery seriously. The other rappers do a good job of picking up his slack. The faster pace really carries this, especially compared to the lullabies that came before. This one is good to race to. 7/10.
9. Несправедливо
This is a complex, nuanced track. It’s awful, but in a fun way. It’s very basic, the vocals are a complete joke, but the energy is infectious. It’s like a stupid one-hit wonder meme song that you can’t resist dancing to. During the last third of the song the vocals switch up to something I can only describe as “Russian Busta Rhymes”, which is not something I thought I needed to hear. Near the end you get a gang chorus of “weeelcome to my hooood”, which sounds ridiculous but you and your friends would start singing along to it if it came on. It’s stupid, yes. Stupid fun. I might be completely wrong, but some parts of the vocal melody remind me of Yelle’s Ye Veux te Voix. 8/10. Good to race to.
10. Ascencsion
Sounds like something out of the SIFU soundtrack. Not bad, but it takes too long to get going. You’ll be on the last lap of the race before this track gets into full swing. It’s not bad, but very unfitting. 6/10.
11. Babushka Boi
A$ap Rocky is back with a beat that sounds like someone fell asleep on a Casio keyboard. The lyrics are pretty bad and repetitive. A$ap’s flow is slow and uninteresting. Way worse than his other song. 4/10. Would not listen to this, wouldn’t race to it.
12. THIEF IN THE NIGHT
Another track that’s screaming at you. This one is incredibly repetitive, boring and sleepy. It would probably be called a “vibe” by kids who think they’re edgy because they listen to Billy Eilish. Horrible. 2/10.
13. SIRI
Great energy on the vocals. This soundtrack tries to go for “eclectic” by putting in artists from all over the world, and all it does is highlight how they all sound the same. Don’t have much to say on this one. 6/10. It’s okay.
14. Eyez on Em
A track by ICYTWAT. Might want to get some thermal underpants so he can be just TWAT. What is this demo-ass track? This is what a producer makes as a warm up before making a real song. It has that trendy distorted bass that clips out, a boring melody and a horrible vocal delivery with some laughable reverb. This makes me feel like I am locked at home with a terrible cold and there’s nothing on TV. Absolutely dreadful. 2/10. I would not race to this but I would e-race it from my memory if I could.
15. Fun
Terribly autotuned vocals and a generic bouncy track. This is the sort of thing you’d hear in the supermarket and pay no attention to. Repetitive, like these reviews. I keep saying the same thing over and over again, but it’s because these songs are the same thing over and over again. 3/10. Ironically, it’s not very a fun track hyuk hyuk hyuk!
16. Jene sai pas
Did you know that French trap sounds just like American trap? Now you do. Boring, sleepy etc etc you know the drill. It’s not grating to the ears but it’s not interesting either. Would not race to, would not listen to. 4/10.
17. Vampire
Oh boy here we got Danny Brown! Please let this be good. Please. It’s Payday featuring Danny Brown. Payday sounds like MC Chris, and it’s giving me flashbacks to the late 2000’s, not in a good way. Especially in the hook, which is just “I’m a vampire and I might just bite you” over and over. We’re back to the NFS Unbound tradition of terrible hooks. Danny Brown’s voice is filtered and mixed weird in the track so you can’t really get the full brunt of his manic energy. His verse is lame and phoned in, too. You know a track is butt cheeks when Danny Brown can’t salvage it. 4/10. Wouldn’t race to it.
18. Where is My Mind?
A terrible, amateurish hip hop cover of “Where is my mind” by The Pixies. Completely butchers it. The singing sounds really bland and generic. I can only describe it as Disney Channel. Absolutely dreadful. Too slow and boring to race to. I don’t care much for the original Pixies song, but they got done dirty with this cover. 1/10. Apparently it was on an Apple commercial. Makes sense. This sounds like advertisement pop.
19. In meinem Benz
Im in meinem Benz! Hans! Don’t scratchen meinem Benz! I Justen haden ze benz detailedensen! I can’t take this seriously. Another dreary, slow, dragging trap beat. How original. I am getting really tired of this. The “IN MEIN BENZ” in the hook sounds ridiculous. Would I race to this? No. 5/10.
20. Cryptic Speech
I like this one. The thumping, driving bass, the way it builds up slowly, its dark mid-tempo energy. It kind of sounds like a song from the old Need For Speed games. The old, OLD games on the original Playstation. Would race to. A bit repetitive. 8/10.
21. Ey paavi
This sounds like someone recorded a conversation while an unrelated, unfinished song played in the background. It doesn’t really have a direction. It’s just the beat existing there on its own and some random talking and singing thrown on top. Again, it doesn’t sound intentional. It has some interesting instrumentation but there’s nothing to get behind and it comes off as just annoying. 1/10. If this were a race track it’d be an unfinished course through a residential neighborhood where no one knows there’s a race about to happen.
22. Palace
Another A$ap Rocky track. It’s pretty good. It has a grandiose, epic feeling to it thanks to the sweeping, reverbed choir vocals in the back. The vocals combined with the slower tempo gives it an airy, hazy atmosphere. It’s alright, but it isn’t really something to race to. 6/10.
23. Check The Lock
This song is really good. Really REALLY good. Took me by complete surprise, because it’s a genuinely great track. The dark, creeping instrumental perfectly sets the mood for the lyrics about a paranoid man on edge. The storytelling in the lyrics is top notch, describing all the precautions the main character takes to keep himself safe from some unknown threat. He takes Xanax to calm down, but they don’t help. He checks the lock every time he walks by the door. The only racing you’ll do to this song is your mind racing. Check the lock. You sure it’s locked? Better make sure one more time. 10/10.
24. Linda
As the punchline to some cosmic joke, right after possibly the best track on the whole soundtrack comes Linda. An annoying, bouncy, poppy abomination that sounds like a clown autopsy. The singers’ vocal flows are horribly annoying, choppy and grating. This song sounds like an alarm at 5 in the morning when you have to work on a Saturday. This was the track that made me mute the game’s music when I first played it. Would race away from it at light speed. 1/10. Make it stop. Please.
25. Split
This is horrible. Casio keyboard demo-ass sounding track with some rapping that has to be a bad parody. Dogshit. 1/10.
26. BIG PERSONA
Getting some Tyler after all this gutter slime is a real treat. The instrumental sounds like an old Odd Future track. The hook is repetitive but the horns and Tyler’s delivery really sell it. A bit slow tempo for a racing game, but it’s one of the better tracks. Maxo Kream’s verse is mid. 8/10.
27. Racked
Another sleepy trap beat with distorted bass and terrible lyrics/flow. The flow on this one is particularly ass. Full on booty buttcheecks. Here we have the return of the “someone fell asleep on a Casio” type beat. Two minutes in it switches up and sounds like someone was scanning through radio stations in the 90’s. It’s an interesting musical idea but it goes nowhere, like everything else in this song. Dishwater. 2/10.
28. Hout
A track by Rozzma. Rozzma what? Is this a ligma? Rozzma balls? That doesn’t make any sense. Sounds like a rejected track from Yeezus. Very repetitive. Would not race to. 4/10.
29. Villano Antillano: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 51
Starts out like it’s going to be yet another slow trap beat, but with a good flow. Suddenly, it breaks out into a house beat which is insanely bouncy and danceable. Then out of nowhere it does a 180 into a filthy breakdown that builds back up into the dance beat. A great track and a real surprise. It’s also one of the few that works for a racing game, since it’s so energetic. If only the rest could be half as good as this. 8/10
30. She Will Be
Two good songs in a row? Knowing this soundtrack, this means that the next few are going to be some real stinkers. It has a very large sound to it thanks to the choir vocals which give it a grand sound like A$ap’s Chapel, but not as grandiose. The high pitched choppy vocals are a bit grating. Kind of works for a racing game. Pretty nice. 8/10
31. Neo Gal Wop
Great. More low-tempo trap with clipped bass. The only thing I can say about this one is that it keeps saying “Gal” in Japanese, which reminds me of Gal o Sengen. Would rather be listening to that one. In fact, forget Neo Gal Wop. This is now a review of Gal o Sengen. It has a great beat with some fun energy and an incredibly catchy chorus. The verses go hard, too. Go listen to it, it’s a solid 9/10. Neo Gal Wop, on the other hand? Absolutely forgettable. Something something racing game. Gal o Sengen would have been a way better pick. 4/10
32. WISH YOU WELL
Okay! You don’t have to yell. Wow, this is a surprise. This track manages to seamlessly blend old school thrash metal with soul music! Okay it doesn’t. You got me. It’s trap again. Bet you didn’t see that one coming. Low tempo trap? Wow what a novel concept if only we had fifty more of these on the soundtrack.
I get that complaining about trap in this game seems out of touch. Of course it’d be full of trap. That’s what hip hop has been since 2010 and EA’s suits target this series to “the urban youths” so they’re gonna stuff it with trap like some unfortunate musical thanksgiving turkey getting jammed full of “urban” stuffing. Awful, soggy stuffing. It’d be like complaining about there being too much punk on the Tony Hawk Pro Skater soundtrack. “Bet you don’t complain about that, because you like punk, you doddering old fool” In a sense, yes, but the THPS soundtrack has more variety, more genres and even within its same genre it has more styles. This all sounds the same and the walls are starting to swirl.
What was I waffling about?
This dumb song. Right. The verses have a flow that can only be described as anemic. Amir Obe says three or four words and then drops out. It’s like he’s rapping from bed. The production on this song sounds more complete than a lot of the others before it, but it’s still pretty dull. The hook is alright at least. Would not race to this. Again, it’s slow. Car go fast, song go slow, song no go with car. 6/10.
33. Shabba (feat. A$ap Rocky)
Rocky is back. This is where all of EA’s money went for this game on A$ap and licensing his songs. The track is alright. There’s not much I can keep saying about trap meant for zoomers to “vibe” to. It inspired Pink Guy’s Trap Dumplings, so that’s something interesting. 6/10.
34. Kolo Kolo
More trill bird noises. This is a Crash Bandicoot type beat. Hakuna matata ratatatata. Someone said this on a song, recorded it and EA paid real money to license this. It’s incredibly repetitive and mind numbing. The little singing interlude is alright, but it leads right back into hakuna matatata ratatata. I don’t like Hakuna matata ratatatata and I don’t really think it fits into a racing game. Maybe Crash Team Racing. Hakuna matata ratatatata. Hakuna matata ratatatata. Hakuna matata ratatatata. Hakuna matata ratatatata. Hakuna matata ratatatata/10.
35. Arab Femcee Cypher
An alright cypher over a rickety beat. Wouldn’t mind driving to it. 5/10.
36. Trophy
This deserves a trophy. It’s annoying even by NFS Unbound standards. I hate Charli XCX’s vocals in her other songs, and in this one they aren’t any better. She contorts her voice into this terrible falsetto and she barks the words out in little bursts of pain. Piercing doesn’t do it justice. She is the only person that needs a pop filter for vowels. It doesn’t help that there’s this grating synth that’s about as pleasant as having a fly stuck inside your ear. Every few seconds the beat changes up and brings in a new element to wear on a different nerve. The hook is repetitive and horrific. This is true CIA torture music. Not in Minecraft. This is what they play on the PA system at Guantanamo Bay. This is the last thing a terrorist hears before their brain melts. 0/10 my ears are ringing.
37. Versace Hottie
You’d think that anything would sound great after hearing that last song, but no. The bar is still on the ground and it hasn’t been cleared. This one starts with a repetitive incantation of “Versace hottie I don’t like nobody”. If repeating something over and over wasn’t bad enough, it also gets higher in pitch each time. Then the beat “drops”. It drops the same way you’d drop Algebra class after failing the first exam. It drops the same way a drunk would drop his soiled underpants to the floor, with a wet thud. Nokia’s vocal delivery sounds like someone trying too hard and at times she sounds exactly like Nicki Minaj to the point where I had to look up if she was on the track (she isn’t). Would I race to this? Race? Game? What? 2/10
38. TIME
More low tempo trap. This time with a corny flow and whack bars. Speaking of bars, it’s still on the ground. This is garbage. 1/10
39. Money
Somebody say HEEEEEEEEY SKIP THIS TRACK. The beat kind of sounds like something from the Beastie Boys but without the charm. I don’t want to race to this. 3/10.
40. Worry no More
At least this sounds different. Sounds like a pop song you’d hear on the radio and not mind. The hook takes up most of the song, and it’s not awful. It has a catchy melody. Too slow to race to. I’m thankful that it didn’t make me want to fill my ears with rubber cement. 5/10.
41. The God Hour
EA is really getting their money’s worth with A$ap Rocky here. Another low tempo trap track. This time with the iconic migos triplet flow. It has some nice strings in it and an okay synth melody. The choir vocals are a nice, subtle touch. It’s well produced and listenable. Music for cruising, not racing. 6/10.
42. HEY NEIGHBOR!
This stinks. If this song were a person it’d be a really edgy middle school girl who thinks wearing black scares her dad. It doesn’t, her grades do. Listening to this made a Gir plushie materialize in my room. Too slow to race to. 3/10.
43. SLIME
A very basic, dull beat with some bog-standard rapping over it. There’s a discordant piano that comes in during some points that sounds like a nightmare. I’d say this song needs to try harder, but it’s already trying way too hard. 2/10.
44. Curse 4 U- Joojoo
This song gives off the same feeling of drinking energy drinks when you haven’t slept in three days: tired while having a quiet panic attack. The track is going at 100 miles an hour to nowhere. I appreciate the energy at least. The “I’m a little teapot” part is a plate of cheeks. Good for racing. 6/10.
45. Front to Back
A good electronic track with a long build up into a nice drop. Kind of repetitive but it has enough variety thrown in here and there to keep it from becoming stale. Not much to say other than “I think it’s neat”. Kind of fits for racing. 7/10.
46. Stay “100”
Another sleepy trap “vibe” that alternates between drowsy bars and migos flow. Chat GPT trap. AI-Core. Even the title and main theme of the song “staying 100” is a tired cliché. No racing. 3/10.
47. Tloki
Not terrible, but I was left waiting for the song to start. The way it builds up you’re anticipating a bomb drop but it sort of keeps going. The rapping has good energy and flow. I have no idea what they’re saying, but it sounds okay. If it had a bit more “oomph” to it, it’d be a real ass-shaker. As it is now, it’s just a toe tapper. Maybe a head bobber. Okay energy to race to. Not awful but it had potential (to go either way) 6/10.
48. Ice Cream
I scream, you scream, we all scream for the police when this song comes on. “I like a ice cream”? I like a to put a stop to this. The instrumental isn’t bad. It sounds like something out of an N64 game, bright and a little nostalgic, but man those vocals. They’re infuriating, but that’s keeping with the theme of the rest of this soundtrack of being as grating as humanly possible. I would race to this in Snowboard Kids if it weren’t for the criminal vocals. 3/10.
49. Blessing me
Where is the rest of the track? When it’s not low-energy trap it’s minimalist dance music with two instruments. Do they charge per instrument or something? This isn’t terrible, but it’s not good either. Would not race to. 4/10.
50. Forever Been Steppin’
Trap. Lil Eazzyy sounds hungry on the track like he skipped lunch AND dinner. His flow goes well with horns in the instrumental. It goes hard. The weird alien theremin bits are an interesting choice. Would vroom to. 8/10.
51. Ropn (Gory)
Trap from Ukraine. It sounds like trap from the US. They took the time and effort to get artists from all over the world but made sure they all sounded the same. This is like eating at a McDonald’s in Greece and saying you had authentic Greek food. Sure, it was in another country, but it’s the same thing. The exact same thing. 5/10.
52. SXUTHSIDE
Did you want to hear the migos flow in French? Here you go. It’s triplets flow, but in French. Hon hon hon oui Versace Versace Medusa Baguette like ‘luminati. As if to complete the NFS Unbound song bingo, it also has a sparse, minimalist instrumental! Absolutely nothing. 4/10.
53. Life Signs- Roll Mix
A good jungle track with a nice drumline type beat. Sounds like something that would be in the original PS1 Need For Speed games. The interlude near the middle is a nice change of pace and has a great build up back into the track. After that the track keeps some of the dreamy accents of the interlude with an ethereal synth floating in the background. A pleasant track. Would race to. 7/10.
54. Azo Toke
AZO TOKE AZO TOKE AZO TOKE AZO TOKE AZO TOKE AZO TOKE AZO TOKE AZO TOKE AZO TOKE AZO TOKE AZO TOKE AZO TOKE AZO TOKE AZO TOKE KOKOKO WEE WEE KOKO WO KOKOKO WEE WEE KOKO WO KOKOKO WEE WEE KOKO WO DA AZO TOKE AZO TOKE AZO TOKE AZO TOKE AZO TOKE AZO TOKE AZO TOKE AZO TOKE AZO TOKE AZO TOKE AZO TOKE AZO TOKE AZO TOKE AZO TOKE AZO TOKE AZO TOKE/10.
55. Militant
Finally something different. This is what I’m saying: you have rappers from all over the world doing the exact same thing they do in the US. Here we have rap from the UK and it sounds like it should- it’s Drill music. UK Drill. As in, it has a unique style because it’s from a specific place. It’s still rap, it sounds like a lot of other UK Drill, but it’s something you don’t get in the US. It has all the hallmarks of the genre: hard choppy flow, huge bass and a simple melody backing the whole thing up. It’s perfectly serviceable and something actually different. 7/10.
56. Slay3r
I am not even going to pretend I like Playboi Carti. I think you have to have been born after the year 2000 to enjoy this. The track is boring, the hook is terrible and Carti sounds like a 13 year old re-learning how to talk. 2/10.
57. The Door
Whoops I think I put on the Ruiner soundtrack by mistake. This is a dark, creeping track with a thumping, driving bass that makes you want to go out into a neon-lit city and bust some heads. Some good breaks, build ups and drops here. Fits well in a racing game just as well as it would in Ruiner. Takes forever to start. By the time the beat drops you’re already crossing the finish line. 7/10.
58. Taco
A fun instrumental with great flow and good rhymes that settles into a nice groove. Two good tracks in a row? Is this the soundtrack’s redemption arc? The energy makes it good to race to. 8/10.
59. Dame mais
A nice, danceable reggaeton song. The beat is a bit simple, again with the minimalist instrumentation, but the bouncy drums carry it well. It has a good bass, too. The harmonized singing in some parts is pretty bad. It’s a good, catchy song. If it had a little bit more energy it would raise it a whole point and make it more suitable for racing. Not bad. Three good tracks in a row? I’m preparing myself for an absolute dump coming up. 8/10.
60. Carbon Footprint
The flow is good, good energy, pretty good except for the main beep bloop melody that gets old really quick. It’s pretty distracting. Not awful, but not good either. Nice tempo for racing. 4/10. The streak is broken.
61. SPAZZ OUT
A track that’s 1:51 and starts at 1:05. More “vibin” trap with clipped bass and lame bars. I think it’s trying to go for a creepy gothic feel with the minimalist instrumentation and cheesy as hell crow sound effects. About as creepy as a plastic skeleton from Spirit Halloween. Low effort and sleep-inducing. Thankfully, it’s short. Should have been one minute and fifty one seconds shorter. Not fit for racing, not fit for consumption. 2/10.
62. Eyes Closed
A very understated wobble track. VERY understated almost to the point of being ambient. Not awful, but just sort of there. Not terrible to race to. 6/10.
63. Strangers
More A$ap Rocky but this time on a track produced by Danger Mouse with Black Thought and Run the Jewels. The track is excellent, as expected from Danger Mouse, everyone is bringing fire verses, it’s all good. A genuinely good track. Does it fit a racing game? Kind of torn on that one. The energy is there in the verses, but the track itself is more for cruising than racing. Still great 9/10.
64. Mmaso
This track sounds like you’re standing next to a fridge with a noisy compressor with a crazy street preacher screaming behind you. The mix absolutely awful. The guy just screams MASO over and over, and the way it’s mixed it sounds like he’s standing behind you yelling while the track plays. He’s there incidentally. His screams and the ‘track’ are two separate entities that don’t sound like they go together. It’s like when you’re listening to music and a website autoplays a video out of nowhere. Like I mentioned before, the “instrumental” itself is just noise. A grating whirr that sounds like a washing machine on a spin cycle. Absolutely dreadful, would not race to, would not listen to, would not play it for my worst enemy. It’s tied with Trophy as the worst thing on this soundtrack. 0/10. I need an aspirin.
65. Renegade
As an apology for that last stinker, here comes RENEGADE. An absolute banger. Mmaso was ass, this one’s an ass-shaker. It’s hard not to get up and make a fool of yourself to this one when the beat drops. Pure energy. Perfect for racing. Listening to this during a race should count as a performance enhancer. 10/10.
66. BOOTY
Now they got K-trap here. Listening to this soundtrack for so long has completely shattered my taste in music, because this doesn’t sound terrible. It’s another barely instrumented trap track, but I think the fact that it has a slight bit of energy makes it more tolerable. That, or I am finally breaking. Probably the latter. 6/10.
67. Punya Paap
One of the better trap tracks here. Goes pretty hard, would race to. Not much to say about it. 7/10.
68. Deal Wiv It
The instrumental is pretty good. An indie sounding ditty with a clean bassline. Not a big fan of the spoken word, but the rest of the track is pretty good. It’s even alright to race to. Can’t complain much on this one, really. 7/10.
69. Empire
Nice. Another sparse trap cut. It took me an embarrassing amount of time to realize it wasn’t in English. Thought it was a side effect of this soundtrack. “I guess I don’t understand English anymore. Cool”, but it’s Chinese. The track is boring but the vocals are going hard. If I could speak Chinese I bet these lyrics would be straight fire. Not awful, alright energy. Certainly not the worst and pretty okay to race to. 6/10.
70. Shout Like
A club banger like Renegade, but unlike that other track this one’s not an ass shaker. The ass remains inert. One of the better tracks for sure, just not as electric as Renegade. Perfect for racing. 7/10.
71. WICKED
It’s well produced and inoffensive. Too slow for a race. 6/10.
72. Vroom Vroom
Finally, the final track. It sounds different from the other tracks. Good instrumental and good energy on the rapping. Well produced, sounds nice, good instrumentation, it isn’t repetitive or annoying. I think this is from another soundtrack. I wouldn’t mind it if more songs in this game sounded like this. Good for a race, too. Glad that it ended on a high note. 7/10.
Conclusion
The soundtrack is bad. It gets a 347 out of a possible 720 points for a 48%. That’s a failing grade. This OST is going to summer school.
The median score is 5/10, absolutely mid.
Highest rated: Check the Lock and Renegade
Lowest Rated: Trophy, Mmaso and Kolo Kolo
AZO TOKE AZO TOKE: Azo Toke
It’s pretty bad, but it’s mostly boring. It does two things that annoy me: It has very little variety and hardly any song sounds like something that belongs in a racing game.
I mentioned it while reviewing some of the tracks, but they went out of their way to pick artists from all over the world, but only went with the ones that sounded the same. A lot of this is completely indistinguishable from American trap music. Since the soundtrack repeats itself so much, I will repeat myself as well: It’s like going to Greece, eating at a McDonalds and saying you got authentic Greek food. Sure, you ate in a different country, but you had something that you can have anywhere else in the US. One of the worst offenders is the track SXOUTHSIDE, which sounds like a soundcloud track that someone threw into google translate and switched it to French. If you’re going to go the diversity route, make sure to highlight actual diversity. They could have made the OST completely out of A$ap Rocky tracks and there wouldn’t have been much of a difference in variety.
The other thing is that they don’t sound like something to race to. Where’s the energy? This is a RACING game. In a race, you go fast. The whole point of the game is to tune your car to make it go fast. Why would I want to race around bumping something with the tempo and chutzpah of a lullaby?
When it’s not boring it’s being outright annoying such as with Trophy and Boih. Maybe for the next NFS they can do away with the music altogether and have a soundtrack that’s nothing but crying babies, police sirens and alarm clocks going off. It would be an improvement.