James Brown and 2Pac 'Unchained' for Film Track

Late funk master, rapper get mashed up for Tarantino's latest

By Rolling Stone | Rolling Stone – Mon, Dec 10, 2012 5:15 PM EST

Quentin Tarantino's upcoming Django Unchained boasts a bold, flashy theme song to match the slick gunplay from Jamie Foxx, Leonardo DiCaprio and Christoph Waltz. For "Unchained," James Brown and Tupac Shakur get mashed up hard, banging like Django's six-shooter as 2Pac's hook from "Untouchable" stomps over the bright, brassy funk of Brown's "The Payback." The result – mixed by Tupac's engineer Claudio Cueni – is a victorious anthem that feels like emerging from a gunfight unscathed.

The 50 Greatest Hip-Hop Songs of All Time

Django Unchained opens December 25th, and the soundtrack is due December 18th.

Photos by KMazur/WireImage for Universal Music Group; Steve Eichner/Getty Images

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