Boombox 2: Early Independent Hip Hop, Electro and Disco Rap 1979-83

Liner Note Author: Kurtis Blow.
Photographers: John Shearer; Allan Tannenbaum; Martha Cooper; Jack Garofalo; Jill Freedman.
Like the Soul Jazz label's first volume in this series, Boombox 2 compiles old-school rap recordings that are predominantly obscure, in each instance far less well-known than "Rapper's Delight," the first crossover rap hit. In fact, less than half of these 14 selections -- Harlem World's "Let's Rock," TJ Swann's "Maximus Party," and Grand Master Chilly T & Stevie G's "Rock the Message Rap" among them -- were charted in Ego Trip's Book of Rap Lists, the most discerning source for hip-hop archaeology. Even the cuts that are nowhere near classic status are significant for the sake of historical context. Furthermore, this is a major service for listeners who lack the means or desire to drop triple figures on an original 12" copy of, say, Terry Lewis & Wild Flower's 13-minute jam "The Peoples Message, Take Two." It's all hip-hop in its earliest, purest form, strictly good-time rhymes over extended (and sometimes swiped) disco-funk grooves. The elevated levels of detail and presentation in the package are more than enough to compensate for the in-depth liner notes' voice translation-like misspelling of Chicago's Comiskey Park, scene of the 1979 disco demolition that preceded the release of the Sugarhill Gang's debut by two months. ~ Andy Kellman