Playlist 3: The Early Years of East Coast Hip-Hop

In the third of our end-of-week playlists, Sound Screen is teaming up with Spotify to introduce people to music they wouldn’t usually listen to. This week, firm proponent of New York City-based music Matt Gardner presents The Early Years of East Coast Hip-Hop, taking the baton from David Ellis after last week’s punk playlist.

About six months ago, I had the pleasure of going to a gig that I’d only dreamed about seeing in previous years. Kurtis Blow, one of the early founders of mainstream hip-hop, teamed up with fellow trailblazers The Furious Five in a relatively intimate gig at the Wardrobe in Leeds. Years out of the public eye hadn’t changed their approach; they were still absolutely unbelievable entertainers.

And yet their stage presence embodied everything that is attractive about East Coast hip-hop in the 1980s. While everything kicked off with ‘Rapper’s Delight’ by The Sugarhill Gang in 1979, there were a select few artists in New York and nearby who were happy to use the commercial success of the song as a sign of things to come, jumping on the bandwagon and creating some of the greatest and most distinct music ever released, not to mention a vast departure from anything that came before it in the city and nation at large.

Incorporating sounds from soul, funk, rock, reggae, spoken word, dub and dance hall, hip-hop promoted equality and fraternity, seeking to address the disparity in society which was itself prevalent in New York City. Originating from the less affluent areas of the city, particularly the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn, it focused on big beats, catchy tunes and – most of all – the words behind it all. Everything told a story, informed the listener of a point of view, or was open in its desire to entertain – and entertain it did.

With two Sugarhill Gang tracks to kick everything off, this playlist introduces the earliest people to make waves on the scene. The aforementioned Kurtis Blow’s ‘The Breaks’ and ‘If I Ruled The World’ demonstrate a more jokey and light-hearted approach to hip-hop, while Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five – who enjoyed great success in their early years – demonstrate more of a cultural commentary with ‘White Lines’ (unsurprisingly about cocaine) and ‘The Message’, with the latter using one of the most-played beats to highlight gang culture and all of society’s ills in a way never quite done before.

Perhaps the best of them all – and certainly one of my all-time favourite bands – is Run-DMC. With more introspective lyrics and playing on a theme that mimicked the work of The Sugarhill Gang and other happier artists, Run-DMC were perhaps the most influential band of the early years. ‘Sucker M.C.’s’ and ‘Peter Piper’ are epic tracks, while ‘It’s Tricky’ and ‘Run’s House’ demonstrated some of the most famous sounds of the era.

Run-DMC helped put the world of hip-hop in the eyes, as well as the ears, of the general public with the release of Krush Groove – a biopic about the launch of Def Jam Recordings, which was pioneered by Russell Simmons – the brother of Run (Joseph Simmons). It introduced LL Cool J (‘Rock The Bells’) and The Beastie Boys (‘Shake Your Rump’ and ‘Shadrach’ from the excellent Paul’s Boutique), as well as the Fat Boys and Sheila E.

The Beastie Boys deserve at least a sentence. After all, as the first white rap group of note, they come into a lot of criticism, especially as they started out as a punk band. Still, they equated the styles of hip-hop and punk, as well as their similar approach to song writing, to discussing the situations around them. They did it with excellence, and continue to do so today.

De La Soul are sadly restricted by Spotify though it was able to afford ‘Me, Myself & I’, one of their greatest early hits from 3 Feet High and Rising, itself one of the greatest (and most distinctly-designed) albums of the time. It’s a masterpiece. I dare you to find a bad review of it.

Meanwhile, Afrika Bambaataa‘s ‘Planet Rock’ is another song everyone knows (but not by name), interweaving electro with hip-hop like no other tune of the era. Whodini were much the same and managed to get the hilarious ‘Magic’s Wand’ onto the Grand Theft Auto: Vice City soundtrack.

A Tribe Called Quest are just immense. ‘Can I Kick It?’ is still one of the most famous songs of the era, so nuff said.

Public Enemy, however, are probably quite the anomaly on this collection. Their approach was endemic of a future generation of more angry rappers, attacking the very heart of politics and inequality in a similar way to the Dead Kennedys in the 70s, targeting (among others) the police and perceived brutality against black people.

Playing heavily on the steps taken by Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, Chuck D and the lovable-yet-ridiculous Flavor Flav (you know, the one with the clock around his neck) created lecture-esque songs such as ‘Don’t Believe The Hype’, ‘Night of the Living Baseheads’ and the excellent ‘Fight The Power’.

Honourable mentions also have to go to Eric B. & Rakim – possibly one of the most talented duos of the era (‘Follow The Leader’) and, of course, the first commercially-successful all-female rap group Salt-N-Pepa. If you don’t enjoy ‘Push It’, you should feel guiltier than you would do if hearing and enjoying it.

By Matt Gardner

Full track listing:

The Sugarhill Gang – Rapper’s Delight
The Sugarhill Gang – Apache
Kurtis Blow – The Breaks
Kurtis Blow – If I Ruled The World
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five – White Lines
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five – The Message
Run-DMC – Sucker M.C.’s
Run-DMC – It’s Tricky
Run-DMC – Peter Piper
Run-DMC – Run’s House
LL Cool J – Rock The Bells
De La Soul – Me, Myself & I
Afrika Bambaataa – Planet Rock
Whodini – Magic Wand
A Tribe Called Quest – Can I Kick It?
Beastie Boys – Shake Your Rump
Beastie Boys – Shadrach
Public Enemy – Fight The Power
Public Enemy – Don’t Believe The Hype
Public Enemy – Night Of The Living Baseheads
Eric B. & Rakim – Follow The Leader
Salt-N-Pepa – Push It