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Part of a wave of compilations released in 2014 as part of Def Jam's 30th anniversary, this volume is the first proper Slick Rick anthology. It includes tracks from all four of the rapper's Def Jam albums: The Great Adventures of Slick Rick (1988), The Ruler's Back (1991), Behind Bars (1994), and The Art of Storytelling (1999). Most of the essential cuts are here, including "Children's Story," "Teenage Love," "I Shouldn't Have Done It," and "Street Talkin'" (featuring OutKast). Anyone with the slightest degree of interest in Slick Rick's best work should obtain the 1988 debut, but this does provide an adequate sampling of the catalog. [This was also released digitally as Best of Slick Rick.] ~ Andy Kellman