Various – Wild Style (Black Vinyl - Soundtrack / O.S.T.)
- Label:
- Mr Bongo
- Art.No.:
- 0751953
- Cat.No.:
- MRBLP247B
- Released:
- 1983
- Cover:
- Picture
- Format:
- LP
- Pressing:
- UK - Reissue
- Genre:
- Hip Hop / Rap + Pop & Various + Soundtracks + Old School
2022 Reissue on Standard Edition Black Vinyl.
Animal Records – founded by Chris Stein of Blondie fame – only ever released one album in its brief early-80s history, but what an album that was. Wild Style remains the most seminal soundtrack in hip-hop history, a snapshot of the scene as it evolved from the streets to the recording studio. But it’s not just a vital document, it’s also a damn good listen.
The line-up is a who’s who of those who stood out from hip-hop’s nascent block party days. The Double Trouble pairing of Rodney Cee and KK Rockwell, The Chief Rocker himself, Busy Bee, the mighty line-ups of both The Cold Crush Brothers and The Fantastic Freaks. The music captures the free-form, roaming nature of the film – it’s rough at the edges, it’s occasionally amateurish, but it’s completely, utterly glorious.
The original Animal tracklisting, of which this is a reissue, is full of recurring sounds and motifs, all of them co-produced by Chris Stein and Fab Five Freddy, stepping away from breakbeats to produce a sound that reminds you of them, while being totally unique. The epic drums are courtesy of Lenny ‘Ferrari’ Ferraro, a Vietnam vet and punk drummer whose career spanned stints backing Aretha Franklin and Lou Reed.
Over time, those sounds – the Charlie Chase and Grand Wizard Theodore scratches, the indelible lyrics - have become hip-hop touchstones, endlessly sampled and referenced, the bedrock of so much music to follow. That’s because the soundtrack perfectly encapsulated the essence of the film, the scene and hip-hop’s emergence from The Bronx to the attention of the wider world. Presented in this reissue with the original artwork, it remains the blueprint.
Title | Featuring | Producing | Time | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
A1. | Wild Style Theme Rap 1 | Grand Maste... | |||
A2. | M.C. Battle | The Chief R... | |||
A3. | Basketball Throwdown | Cold Crush ... | |||
A4. | Fantastic Freaks At The Dixie | Kevie Kev (... | |||
A5. | Military Cut-Scratch Mix | Grand Wizar... | |||
A6. | Cold Crush Bros. At The Dixie | Grand Maste... | |||
B1. | Stoop Rap | Double Trou... | |||
B2. | Double Trouble At The Amphith... | Rodney Cee,... | |||
B3. | Wild Style Subway Rap 2 | Grand Maste... | |||
B4. | The Chief Rocker Busy Bee, D.... | The Chief R... | |||
B5. | Gangbusters Scratch Mix | D.J. Grand ... | |||
B6. | Rammellzee And Shock Dell At ... | Rammellzee,... |