Here's a fun one that went under the radar a week or so ago: a new compilation highlighting the early works of rap label Cold Chillin' Records.
Cold Chillin', which thrived in the late '80s and early '90s, was the home for an informal group of Queens-based artists known as The Juice Crew. Known for their "answer records" and propensity for rapping about "beefs" with rival artists, the Cold Chillin' roster was comprised of hitmakers like producer Marley Marl, battle rapper MC Shan, Kool G Rap and DJ Polo and - perhaps most famously, rapper/beatboxer Biz Markie, whose comical, somewhat off-key single "Just a Friend" became the label's biggest hit.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aofoBrFNdg&ob=av3e]
Top 4: The Best of Cold Chillin' Records includes cuts from those four artists, from album spanning from 1987 to 1992, including Kool G Rap and DJ Polo's somewhat controversial gangsta album Live and Let Die, which original CC distributor Warner Bros. refused to distribute in the wake of Ice-T's "Cop Killer" scandal.
This new compilation, distributed by Traffic Entertainment Group (who've also done some great expansions of these Cold Chillin' classics), is available now and yours to order after the jump.
Various Artists, Top 4: The Best of Cold Chillin' Records (Traffic Entertainment Group TEG-77518-2, 2012)
- Jane, Stop This Crazy Thing - MC Shan
- The Bridge - MC Shan
- Down by Law - MC Shan
- Pickin' Boogers - Biz Markie
- Vapors - Biz Markie
- Make the Music with Your Mouth Biz - Biz Markie
- Droppin' Science - Marley Marl featuring Craig G.
- Duck Alert - Marley Marl featuring Craig G.
- Wack Itt - Marley Marl featuring Roxanne Shanté
- I Pioneered This - MC Shan
- Juice Crew Law - MC Shan
- Just a Friend - Biz Markie
- Spring Again - Biz Markie
- On the Run - Kool G Rap and DJ Polo
- Ill Street Blues - Kool G Rap and DJ Polo
Tracks 1-3 from Down by Law (Cold Chillin' 25676, 1987)
Tracks 4-6 from Goin' Off (Cold Chillin' 25675, 1988)
Tracks 7-9 from In Control, Volume 1 (Cold Chillin' 25783, 1988)
Tracks 10-11 from Born to Be Wild (Cold Chillin' 25797, 1989)
Tracks 12-13 from The Biz Never Sleeps (Cold Chillin' 26003, 1989)
Tracks 14-15 from Live and Let Die (Cold Chillin' CC 5001, 1992)
Good solid collection from the golden age of hip-hop but I shall be passing it by as I already the first eleven cuts on their original vinyl albums. Still recommended to those who missed out on Cold Chillin' the first time aound however.