The Fast and Furious films team up superstars, just like the ever-expanding casts. The songs bring together several popular artists, especially in the hip-hop and pop genres.
Over time, some of these songs have gained an iconic status, such as the titular song in There Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, which has become more popular than the film itself. Ludacris's "Act a Fool" has so much energy and perfectly mirrors 2 Fast 2 Furious vibrant filmmaking. Then, of course, "See You Again" adds a significantly emotional touch to Furious 7. However, there are so many other great hype tracks and reggaeton songs from the series, and the best Fast & Furious songs aren't only the ones that were exclusively made for the movies.
20 "Pump It Up" By Joe Budden
2 Fast 2 Furious
While most people know Joe Budden now for his podcasting, he was once a top rapper, and he had a song on the 2 Fast 2 Furious soundtrack. The bouncy and fast track was a nice fit for the film. It flipped a horn sample from "Soul Vibrations" by Kool and the Gang. The track is a club-ready anthem that is played over the end credits of 2 Fast 2 Furious, rather than over a specific scene.
While later songs added to the film's end credits often have a little more meaning to them, this was added with a little more of the atmosphere of the film's story. With the entire idea of Paul Walker and Tyrese Gibson first meeting and working together, this was a welcome song to play over the credits to fit the attitude that the film had, which was completely different from the first movie. The song was certified gold in the United States and ended up peaking at No. 10 on the U.S. Hot Rap Songs chart.
19 "Rollin' (Urban Assault Vehicle)" By Limp Bizkit, DMX, Method Man & Redman
The Fast And The Furious
Before things moved more to rap and Latino hits in later movies, the first film specifically was full of hard alternative rock tracks. This includes the song by the long-derided alt-rock band Limp Bizkit. This was actually a remixed version of the hit song "Rollin'," with the subtitle "Urban Assault Vehicle" added to it. This wasn't just Limp Bizkit singing the song, as they added some of the era's top rap stars to them, including the late DMX, Method Man, and Redman.
Limp Bizkit's "Rollin'" was also used in WWE for former world champion Undertaker from 2000 to 2002.
The song played over the scene before the nighttime drag race in this first film. It was a perfect addition to The Fast and the Furious since its fast beat and aggressive rap verses got people more than ready to see some illegal street racing. While the song doesn't have the same reputation as it once did, at the time, there weren't many better choices for a movie and scene like this one.
18 "Blanco" By Pitbull Featuring Pharrell Williams
Fast & Furious
"Blacno" from Pitbull is the song that opens up the fourth movie in The Fast and the Furious franchise. The movie opens with a huge, dangerous heist where Dom and his crew hijack fuel tankers in the Dominican Republic in a daring move where they have to knock tankers off the main truck and hook them up to the crew's cars. By the end, Dom and Letty barely escape an explosive death in one of the franchise's most inspired opening scenes.
The film then flips to a moment later in the future with street racing at night in Panama City, and the entire scene opens with "Blanco" playing as a fun, upbeat party song to show the difference between this lifestyle and the high-risk heist lifestyle that Dom is often involved in. This fast-paced and fun song, with a verse by Pharrell Williams, is a great way to shift focus to the other side of Dom's life, and it was a perfect start to this new chapter for The Fast and the Furious.
17 "Superstar" By Saliva
The Fast And The Furious
Brian was still an undercover agent in the first The Fast and the Furious movie and he was trying to prove himself to Dom. Brian got himself a souped-up Supra, and then he and Dom went out for a drive. They came upon a wealthy snob in a Ferrari, and Brian said it was a nice car and asked how much it retailed for. The guy remarked, "More than you can afford," so Dom told Brian to "smoke him." Brian not only did that, but he drove so fast and in control that Dom looked at him impressed.
Brian had just made himself a "superstar" in Dom's eyes.
The race started out with the opening to this Saliva song, but when Brian got the lead and just poured it on, while Dom held on tight and looked a little scared, the chorus "Make me a superstar" played over the soundtrack. The Fast and the Furious had a lot more alt-rock than later releases, but this was a perfect song to show the aggression of street racing and held further meaning since Brian had just made himself a "superstar" in Dom's eyes.
16 "Debonaire" By Dope
The Fast And The Furious
This hard rock song by Dope was playing over the scene where the FBI agents were heading in for their big bust of Dom and his crew. It intercuts with the crew eating and the FBI showing up to arrest everyone. Brian was in tow as one of the arresting officers for the various busts. At the same time, Dom was kissing and having some romantic moments with Letty oblivious to what was happening across town. The song was a hard rock background to the FBI, showing their might.
At the same time, this was also a look at Brian's wide-eyed FBI agent and Dom's cool attitude, which he exhibited while not knowing the FBI was bringing down his crew. This was not the only time that the hard beats of "Debonaire" were used in entertainment; it was also a song played in Scream 3 and, for professional wrestling fans, was Rhino's entrance theme when he wrestled in ECW.
15 "Bang" By Rye Rye Featuring M.I.A.
Fast & Furious
"Bang" is one of the coolest and most stylish songs in the Fast & Furious franchise, though it might not be quite as well-ed as other tracks. The song might not be part of any specific street racing or action scene in Fast & Furious, as it plays as the credits roll, but it's a perfect upbeat song that perfectly captures the mood of the whole film. As the Fast & Furious series has always been about style and urban culture, especially in 2009, the song perfectly mirrors that too.
The track is by Rye Rye and M.I.A., two female rappers who were absolutely at the top of their games in 2009, and M.I.A. was especially leading the rap zeitgeist. The final credit scenes from all the Fast and Furious movies always feature some great picks, and this was just another example of keeping the "mood" of the film, so the audience has no problem jamming through the end credits.
14 "Exotic Race" By Murci Featuring Sean Paul & Dixson Waz
F9
It seemingly isn't a Fast & Furious movie unless there's a Spanish-speaking hype track. "Exotic Race" is that token song, and it's one of the best in the series. Sean Paul featuring on a Fast & Furious soundtrack is long overdue, as his phenomenal popularity as a rapper in the 2000s made it a shock that he didn't appear in the series until 2021.
However, he featured in F9 in the best way possible, as "Exotic Race" has so much unstoppable energy. The song plays when Dom and the crew arrive in Montequinto in F9, driving armed tanks and giant vehicles, and the hype is on another level, making it one of the best Fast and Furious songs. The scenes with the fast car chases and action rarely need anything other than the stunts to sell the moment, but the songs always make it just a little bit better.
13 "Toretto" By J Balvin
Fast X
It comes as a surprise that it wasn't until 10 movies in that a song called "Toretto" was commissioned for the franchise. The series has become all about Dom having almost superhero-like powers and turning into a mythic figure, so it only makes sense that he has his own theme song of sorts. While the song isn't particularly specific to the character when it comes to the lyrics, J Balvin brings his typical reggaeton beats and rhythm to the song, which is Toretto all over.
It represents Dominic Toretto's Latin American roots and his love of places like Brazil, and it fits perfectly with those sequences in Fast X. Forget about the song's title, because this was an instance where the track was just so good that it worked even if it didn't have the name of the main protagonist in the title. The song never hit any of the music charts, but it remains instantly recognizable by fans of the movies.
12 "Deep Enough" By Live
The Fast And The Furious
"Deep Enough" has become iconic in Fast & Furious history and is easily one of the best Fast and Furious songs. The track plays at the beginning of the first movie when Brian is introduced in his green Mitsubishi Eclipse, then drives to Toretto's Market in a Ford Lightning, and continues to play during Brian and Mia's iconic tuna sandwich conversation.
The lyrics have nothing to do with the movie whatsoever, as the rock song's lyrics, "I wanna know are those replacement hips, is that a Swatch Watch, do you know what time it is?" hilariously plays as Brian walks to the market, but that's what makes it so entertaining. At this time, it was all about just putting banging tracks onto the soundtrack, and this one gets the blood pumping in the audience, even if it has nothing to do with the storyline at the time.
11 "Better As One" By The Heavy
Hobbs & Shaw
"Better as One" has become one of the most memorable Fast & Furious songs, and it's thanks to the Hobbs & Shaw sequence that's the most outright comedic scene in the franchise. The song plays over a split-screen sequence of the titular characters' very different but very similar morning routines. They both have eggs for breakfast, though Hobbs has his raw, and they both drive very different vehicles but clearly have a ion for cars.
They both even steal drinks from their respective bars at the end of the montage. Not only is "Better as One" a groovy soundtrack, but the title foreshadows the characters teaming up, too. The song wonderfully parallels these two characters, who are so very different but who are also very similar to each other in the long run. This is one track that is more about the scene it plays over than the song itself, but it is still very memorable.
