Kicking Joker to the curb, beloved DC Comics character Harley Quinn finally received the marquee treatment with her own movie, 2020's Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn). The accompanying soundtrack,
Birds of Prey: The Album
, follows 2019's female-centric
Charlie's Angels
compilation, highlighting a crop of up-and-coming hip-hop, R&B, and pop artists with a bombastic, party-starting set that compliments the onscreen antics of the titular anti-hero. Rappers
Doja Cat
("Boss Bitch") and
Megan Thee Stallion
("Diamonds" with
Normani
) slide up beside pop singer/songwriters
Charlotte Lawrence
("Joke's on You") and
Maisie Peters
("Smile"), while R&B singer
Summer Walker
delivers smooth gem "I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby" and
Jurnee Smollett-Bell
(who plays Black Canary in the film) transforms
James Brown
's classic "It's a Man's Man's Man's World" into an appropriately girl-power anthem. While the set sticks close to cool rhythmic numbers fit for parties and mischief,
Halsey
's throat-shredding contribution, "Experiment on Me," provides the best dose of mayhem, a corrosive shot to the system that's backed by
Oliver Sykes
and
Jordan Fish
of metalcore outfit
Bring Me the Horizon
. While the album whips around genres at breakneck speed, everything fits together nicely, an ideal blend of energy, menace, and danger from a team of badass women. As Memphis emcee
Jucee Froot
shouts on album highlight "Danger," "It's a all girls party and no boys can come!" ~ Neil Z. Yeung