Hip-Hop's Golden Age

Ever hear the phrase “hip-hop, you don’t stop?” Well, it starts right here, as the art of bangin’ beats and rabid rhymes goes through its golden age. Not just the scrappy old-school start of Public Enemy (the heavyweight breaks and siren-call samples of “Fight the Power”), Run-DMC (the rap-rock rulebook of “Walk This Way”), and Beastie Boys (the party-hard anthem “Fight for Your Right”), either. We’re talking about a time that reaches well into the early ’90s, as street-seasoned songs like “Straight Outta Compton” and “Nuthin’ but a ‘G’ Thang” set the stage for the suburban invasion of gangsta rap.

As for our Next Steps, they’ve got more crowd-pleasers than a Brooklyn block party.

Now that they’re all high-paid Hollywood stars, it’s hard to remember the rhyme-slaying days of Ice Cube, LL Cool J, Ice-T, and Will Smith. That is, unless you listen to the accompanying tracks — chart-climbing singles that’ll have you reaching for your shell tops in no time, including the cruise-control choruses of “Summertime,” the brand-new funk of “New Jack Hustler (Nino’s Theme),” the steady turntable stabs of “Going Back to Cali,” and the dizzying samples of “Amerikkka’s Most Wanted.” (Richard Pryor, the Turtles, and James Brown in one song? Only in “Amerikkka.”) Ice Cube and Ice-T both clobber our Deep Cuts as well . . . and they’re joined by such sorely overlooked MCs as Schoolly D and Too $hort.

While there’s no denying the hardcore hip-hop legacy of N.W.A. (even the lesser-known piano lines and restless soul loops of “I Ain’t Tha 1” sound stupid-fresh decades later), gangsta rap’s roots can be traced as far back as Too $hort and Boogie Down Productions. The former’s “Freaky Tales” is one of many Born to Mack standouts that feature X-rated rhymes and a downright genius blend of rubbery basslines and steely drum machines. And while Boogie Down Productions’ “Jimmy” is more concerned with raising awareness than raising hell, its live-and-direct look at safe sex is a perfect example of how B.D.P. had their ears to the streets years before such new-school stars as 2Pac and Biggie.

The next time someone says they were “down back in the day,” be sure to hit random on our Hip-Hop’s Golden Age Essentials set and take them on a tour that starts with Run-DMC’s Raising Hell — one of the first block-rockin’ records to cross over commercially and critically — and ends with The Chronic, Dr. Dre’s bid to take over the rap game with venomous verses and lowrider-ready G-funk grooves. That’s not all, though. Filling in the gaps is everything from the apocalyptic noise-cadet collages of Public Enemy and genre-skipping samples of Paul’s Boutique to the unparalleled scratch-and-spit pairing of Eric B. & Rakim, one of the greatest hip-hop duos of all time. So strap on your freshest kicks and fattest laces — as KRS-One would say, “You must learn,” and class is in session, kid.