The soundtrack, released by Death Row and Interscope Records on March 22, 1994, was executive produced by Suge Knight.

[5] The cassette version of the soundtrack contained three extra tracks that could not fit on the CD due to time constraints: "Pain" by 2Pac (with Stretch), "Mi Monie Rite!"

by Lord G, and "Loyal to the Game" by 2Pac, Treach from Naughty By Nature, and Riddler.

"Pain" was initially rejected for use in the film by Dr. Dre, but at the request of recording engineer Norman Whitfield Jr., the track was recut and remixed for the film by record producer Isaias Gamboa.

Under Death Row, Above the Rim soundtrack was the third album under the label to reach number-one on the R&B Albums chart where it stayed for ten nonconsecutive weeks (Heavy D & the Boyz's Nuttin' But Love interrupted that streak for one week), while it went to second place on the Billboard 200 chart.