Death Comet Crew

Arising in the early ‘80s at the intersection between downtown New York’s post-punk, hip-hop, and graffiti art subcultures, Death Comet Crew trafficked in a dark, curiously mutated brand of instrumental hip-hop that made few concessions to mainstream appeal. Consisting of Michael Diekmann, Shinichi Shimokawa, and principal songwriter Stuart Agabright, and aided by underground luminaries graffiti writer Rammellzee and DJ High Priest, DCC’s experimental approach to sound sampling foreshadowed later efforts by artists such as Public Enemy. Replacing the role of the rapper with a barrage of sampled TV and film dialogue, the group’s idiosyncratic approach and relatively few releases relegated them to cult status in their time. In 2004, the Troubleman label released a compilation of DCC’s complete works and live concert recordings entitled THIS IS RIPHOP.