Various: Rapper's Delight

By RUSSELL BAILLIE

(Herald rating: * * * * )

Released to coincide with Mai FM's 10th anniversary, the slight irony about this 37-track double CD of hip-hop classics — all given a vibrant mix by DJ Sir-Vere — is that many, if not most, date from a time when you
didn't hear hip-hop on the airwaves.

Still, it's big on songs which either defined an artist or sometimes a rap era.

Any compilation which connects the dots between the likes of Eric B and Rakim's Paid in Full, Public Enemy's Don't Believe the Hype, NWA's Express Yourself, LL Cool J's Mama Said Knock You Out, Kurtis Blow's The Breaks and the Sugarhill Gang's Rapper's Delight is certainly worthwhile from a historical perspective.

But this comes with many more hip-hop hits which have stood the test of time, including three local ground-breakers — Sisters Underground's In the Neighbourhood, OMC's We Are the OMC, and DLT/Che Fu's Chains. They help make this a lengthy, filler-free hip-hop jukebox and one vital old skool reunion.

Label: Universal