Search - Various Artists :: First Generation Rap: The Old School, Vol. 2

More true school early hip hop

Andre M. | Mt. Pleasant, SC United States | 02/16/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"These early records (roughly about 1980-81 from Enjoy Records) like this Cd's predecessor Vol. 1, shows what kids on the ghettoes of the US East coast were REALLY listening to at the time (I know, I was there).



Concentrating mostly on The Treacherous Three (featuring a soon-to-be famous Mohandas "Kool Moe Dee" Dewese), these tunes represent the chant-filled celebratory nature of the earliest recorded rap tunes before their long decline into gangster & misogynystic illiteracy. TT3"s "New Rap Languange" (because we rock-nonstop), "At The party" and the beloved "Fee The heartbeat" the latter based on Taana Gardner's regional hit "Heartbeat" were filled with a jiving cham that made young people feel good to be alive and made you shout as well s dance at parties at the time. Grandmaster Flash's "Superrappin 2" is almost identical to its predecessor aside from the interesting synthesizer break (and this from a man who has a lifelong hatred of overly synthetic music) near the end.



Unfortunately, coroportate R&B at the time did not realize how Black teens on the east coast in particular had grown tired of their homogonized product and flocked to this sort of thing, so this music did not get the recognition it deserved outside of the aforementioned area. But those who were familiar with it loved it as only teenagers could at the time. Modern hip hop fans would do well to see where the TRUE SCHOOL started."