The Opening Scene Of ‘New Jersey Drive’ Is One Of Cinema’s Best Thanks To “Funky Piano”

The perfect marriage of sight and sound

A great opening scene is tough to pull off whether on film or on record. Think the gun shots in Goodfellas, “The Genesis” on illmatic, or the second engines start purring in Mad Max: Fury Road. The opening sets the tone for what’s to follow and needs to get everyone’s attention. With any given flick, a dope opening combines sight and sound, making it a feast for our eyeballs as well as our lower intestines. In the pantheon of movies, we talk about the opening of Scream, Touch of Evil, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Belly — yes, I didn’t stutter — or the aforementioned Goodfellas as perfect grand openings. But one is often omitted and dammit, that ends today.

Thanks in part to the E. Bros’ “Funky Piano,” New Jersey Drive has one of the greatest openings in film history and its time we all give it its props. It’s the result of a perfect marriage between sight, sound, and subject matter.

For the uninitiated, 1995’s New Jersey Drive is about a group of high school kids caught up in the booming carjacking scene of — you guessed it — New Jersey. The Newark boys juggle a life of joyriding in the streets with trying to find a way out of their situation, as is typical for most coming-of-age stories about black teens in the ’90s. The flick also examines the fragile relationship between police and black neighborhoods, sadly still one of its most relevant points all these years later. Its tone is one of the movie’s strengths and the opening scene sales it almost better than any bit of following celluloid. And it all starts with the music.

It’s a simple scene that starts with our main character narrating. He’s reminiscing on how he got to this point and then the piano keys fade in ever so slightly. It then cuts to a pair of black Tims walking on a New Jersey street, with the music getting louder and louder until those east coast drums kick in and just like Dorothy, we’re not in Kansas anymore — especially those of you who live/lived in Kansas at the time.

Even if you weren’t from Newark, never been near Newark, or can’t even spell Newark, this has to be what it felt like to be there during that time period. The melody combined with seeing these dudes on screen smoothly snatch someone’s ride then speed off into the night tells us everything we need to know about their world. The low angle shows how dirty the streets are, how a specific type of boot is mandatory, and as the camera slowly pulls out while the music gets louder, it all works together to paint a distinct picture.

Director Nick Gomez uses music the same way Tarantino or Scorsese do in that it not only informs character, but becomes a character as well. It informs time, place, and choices just as much as the actors do. Knobody’s beat breathes and sets up the rest of the movie, letting us know the ride ahead will not be fun, it might be tragic, and it may even be a little scary. The song is perfect for a cold east coast night and apt for anything concerning Newark, New Jersey in the mid ’90s.

I feel like I’m not being the good little rap nerd I should be when I say I don’t know much about the E. Bros. I do know they were signed to Tommy Boy, which is why they were on the New Jersey Drive soundtrack; a soundtrack so popular when it came out, they released two volumes. Just peep who was on it: Naughty By Nature, Boot Camp Clik, O.C., Organized Konfusion, Redman, Outkast, Keith Murray, Queen Latifah, and it also gave birth to Total’s “Can’t You See” featuring the Notorious B.I.G. Needless to say, the soundtrack was a monster.

But even with all those cats, even though “Headz Ain’t Ready” is Boot Camp Clik at their best, no song epitomizes the flick better than “Funky Piano.” On the real, I’d bet anyone a steak dinner no song encapsulates a movie better than the this joint.* Not “Misirlou” from Pulp Fiction, not “Rags to Riches” from Goodfellas, not even “Fight the Power” from Do the Right Thing. “Funky Piano” is New Jersey Drive.

This is a movie probably more known for its soundtrack than anything else and, while that says a lot about the quality of the music attached to it, it also does a disservice to the movie itself. That opening scene teaches us the flick and tunes attached to it are one entity, forming a symbiotic relationship more beneficial than the one Spider-Man had with the black costume.

New Jersey Drive deserves your love and those first five minutes belong in the pantheon.

*By music, I’m strictly speaking on soundtrack songs, not scores. Which is why I’m not including The Godfather or Batman in this discussion.

Marcus Benjamin is a danger to the public, an alum of American University, St. John’s University, a screenwriter, and has an intense relationship with words. Witness his tomfoolery on Twitter, @AbstractPo3tic.

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