Artist: Gang Starr
Title: Believe Dat / Bust a Move / To Be a Champion - 12"
Label: Wild Pitch - 1987
Producer: JV Johnson, DJ Mark the 45 King
The almighty Gang Starr without DJ Premier is like Burt Reynolds without his wig, but as that may be, this is still a very collectable record. Guru, or Keith E MC as he was called then, sounds mad young on this record, but even then he displayed some of the microphone skills that would take his career five albums and over ten years later. Lyrically Keith E doesn't drop knowledge or kick wisdom like he's prone to do now; he just kicks original B-boy rhymes. But as always, he could rhyme about brushing his teeth and still captivate audiences with his unique flow. Keith E's lyrics are the highlight of this record, as musically it isn't very good. "Believe Dat" uses a sample from Average White Band's "Picking Up the Pieces" with part of the break replayed live. The other two cuts were produced by 45 King who did not live up to his innovative quality of production on "Bust a Move" or "To Be a Champion"; they're basically James Brown riffs looped continuously and sound rather monotonous.

Artist: Marley Marl featuring MC Shan
Title: Marley Marl Scratch - 12"
Label: NIA - 1985
Producer: Marley Marl
With all the modern production techniques, it's very easy to forget where it all came from in the beginning — a DJ, two turntables, and mad scratch skills. Over the Marley produced track and plenty of cuts, fellow Queensbridge native Shan comes off with a "Sucker MCs" style delivery, touting Marley's formidable skills: "The man Marley Marl could bring you to tears / Ain't a new jack, he been down for years." "Marley Marl Scratch" proves that while he is primarily known as a legendary producer, Marley can also get live on the cross fader and 'tables. This record has been repressed and bootlegged many times so collectors should have a fairly easy time finding a copy.

Artist: Arthur Baker
Title: Breaker's Revenge - 12"
Label: Atlantic - 1984
Producer: Arthur Baker
Along with the Herbie Hancock's "Rockit," and Sugarhill's "Apache," this is one tune that is guaranteed to make one want to break out fat lace Pumas and search out a patch of linoleum to bust some moves. Although Arthur Baker looked like a punk rocker, he was a hip hop producer par extraordinaire, and this is one of his nicest joints. What Baker does is take a thick wall of sound and build on it with everything in his repertoire: keyboards, live percussion, and of course killer scratches; the credits even list cellos and violins. This record was a B-boys anthem in the mid '80s.

Artist: Rock Master Scott & the Dynamic Three
Title: Request Line / The Roof Is On Fire - 12"
Label: Reality - 1984
Producer: Bloodrock, Willoughby, Jay
Before "La Di Da Di," Reality records released this 12-inch from DJ Rock Master Scott. On "Request Line" Scott and crew play the role of radio disc jockeys taking requests from callers across the country, fulfilling all requests personally by ripping verses. The classic byte "DJ please pick up the phone on the request line" is found here. The B-side begins with a classic old school call and response line: "Now throw your hands in the air / and wave 'em like you just don't care / And if you're not a square from Delaware / and you got on clean underwear / and your mama ain't on welfare / somebody say 'Oh yeah!' It also contains the classic chant, "The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire." It's difficult to find original copies of this record but somewhat easy to find represses and bootlegs.

Artist: Dougy Fresh
Title: The Original Beat Box - 12" Label: Vintertainment - 1984
Producer: Vincent Davis
Once again, before "La Di Da Di" and before he was "Doug E. Fresh," Douglas Davis, aka Dougy Fresh, stakes his claim as the original beta boxer with this cut. Displaying both rhyming and beatbox skills, Doug rocks this jam with the help of a haunting guitar track similar to another 1984 cut — Run-DMC's "Rock Box." Although the Fat Boys beatboxed on record first, Dougy breaks down his history of the beat box: "I'm a tell you how it happened not long ago / Me and Chill Will had to do a show / Had to think of something different, something kind of new / Something that will get attention, no one else can do." With his unparalleled repertoire of vocal sounds Dougy fresh paved the way for many an artist like Biz Markie, Craig G, and D-Nice.

Artist: 2 Live Crew
Tile: 2 Live Is What We Are - LP
Label: Luke Skyywalker - 1986
Producer: 2 Live Crew
No one has done more for bass music than the 2 Live Crew. While the bass sound was still a local southern phenomenon, 2 Live Crew erupted on the national scene with an album that was destined to change hip hop forever. With a collection of ultra-fast TR-808 beats, samples, and scratches, 2 Live's two MCs Brother Marquis and Fresh Kid-Ice kicked lyrics reminiscent of 'XXX' Redd Foxx and Richard Pryor records. The album actually contained a lot of variety, something the 2 Live is not normally known for. The title cut and "Check It Out Y'all" had Marquis and Kid-Ice kicking some B-boy freestyle rhymes, "Get It Girl" and "Throw the D" were sex laced club jams, and the album's biggest hit "We Want Some Pussy" was to pave the way for a whole genre of music. "Mr. Mixx On the Mix!!" displayed treach DJ Mr. Mixx's surprisingly nice skills over an up-tempo beat sprinkled with classic hip hop samples. By pushing censorship boundaries, the 2 Live Crew shocked the hip hop nation and forever changed rap's limits.

Artist: Low Profile
Title: We're In This Together - LP
Label: Priority - 1990
Producer: DJ Aladdin
Back in 1990 at the height of West Coast gangsterism, Priority record threw a curve and released a LP that was street smart and straight from the heart. W.C. and DJ Aladdin dropped no-nonsense lyrics backed by funky rhythms, keeping such a low pro that everyone slept on their album. The Dub put down perpetrating gangbangers and thugs on "How Ya Livin'" in a smooth yet commanding style while legendary DJ Aladdin displayed amazing skills for a 19-year-old. The beauty of this record is it stayed true to hip hop's early ethics — it was funky, it came from the heart, it had nice flows and cuts, and while WC dropped plenty of knowledge, he also managed to rock some old school, ego tripping, braggadocio on songs like the title cut.

Artist: The Boogie Boys
Title: A Fly Girl - 12"
Label: Capitol - 1985
Producer: Ted Currier, David Spradley
Along with "You Ain't Fresh," the Boogie Boys' fifteen minutes of fame came with this classic from the summer of 1985. The song is basically the Boogie Boys kicking what they like in a girl over a simple drum track and voice effects. Not too long after releasing "A Fly Girl" the Boogie Boys dropped LP number two, were dropped from Capitol records, and disappeared. Without co-writer Gary "Mudbone" Cooper of Parliament-Funkadelic fame and producers T. Currier and D. Spradley, producers of one of hip hop's most sampled song "Atomic Dog," it's quite possible the Boogie Boys' would of remained complete unknowns.

Artist: Original Concept
Title: Pump that Bass - 12"
Label: Def Jam - 1986
Producer: Andre A. Brown
This cut was actually the B-side of Original Concept's single "Bite'n My Stylee." Released at a time when sample heavy records began to dominate the scene, "Pump that Bass" used live guitars, drums, and a fat TR-808 kick drum to anchor it all down. This record has been sampled countless time by other rappers, dance groups, in house music, and R&B. In fact, it was sampled immediately after its release by Eric B. and Rakim for the Seven Minutes of Madness remix of "Paid in Full." Original Concept split up shortly after releasing its debut album From the Basement of Koolie High, though producer and DJ Andre Brown, aka Dr. Dre, resurfaced later on "Yo! MTV Raps" and WBLS radio in New York.

Artist: Mr. X & Mr. Z
Title: We Drink Old Gold / Kick It Wicked - 12"
Label: Urban Rock - 1987
Producer: P-Fine, Hank Love
Essentially a parody of Eric B. and Rakim's "I Know You Got Soul," this cut is, as its title suggest, a B-boy ode to a certain malt liquor. Mr. X matches Rakim's flow line by line over the "I Know You Got Soul" beat with a little Earth, Wind, and Fire snippets thrown in for extra flavor while Mr. Z compliments it all with some scratching that surpasses Eric B.'s skill. The song got over on radio mix shows that blended the original with the parody — a trend inspired by the Roxanne saga and continued to this day. The B-side "Kick It Wicked" is an example of an early breakbeat mix laced with lots of cuts, and it included some of the first widespread uses of entire breaks.

Artist: Mikey D and the L.A. Posse
Title: Bust a Rhyme / My Telephone / Dawn - 12"
Label: Public - 1987
Producer: Paul C, Mikey D
Before his contributions to Super Lover C and Ultramagnetics, the late great Paul C lent his production talents to Mikey D — future MC of Main Source — for a solid three song 12-inch. The A-side "Bust a Rhyme" was very average, but the B-side had much more to offer. "My Telephone" was a dope mid-tempo cut with lyrics and music that owe a lot to the early Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince. DJ Johnny Quest added some above average scratching of the ubiquitous "Late Night" break, making for an entertaining and somewhat amusing track. The final cut :Dawn" was another entry into the "beatbox plus nasty lyrics" genre inspired by Slick Rick and Just-Ice.

Artist: Rammelzee vs. K-Rob
Title: Beat Bop - 12"
Label: Profile - 1983
Producer: Jean Michel Basqurat
This is the cut that inspired the nasal flow of B-Real and the Beastie Boys. "Beat Bop" is a over ten minute long epic of eternal rhyme trade off between graffiti legend Rammelzee and a relatively unknown, low-key K-Rob. Rammelzee shouts lines like, "Shoot 'em up, yeah, shoot 'em up y'all, yeah," with such piercing conviction that one would think Rammelzee had gone mad. Another Rammelzee phrase one might recognize is "Break it up Cypress Hill," clearly showing where B-Real got his steelo from. Rammelzee and K-Rob connected with the late New York artist and graffiti visionary Jean Michel Basqurat to make what could be one of hip hop's first art songs — Basqurat's production is not indicative of the TR-808 madness of the day. The lazy track slowly inhales you with looping bongos, guitar and some Trevor Horn-esque water-bloop sounds, and K-Rob compliments Rammelzee's maniacal B-boy flow with chilled street commentary. This cut is as intrinsic to a hip hop's head collection as Krylon is to the A-train.



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