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Cold Chillin' certainly deserved the title House of Hits during the late '80s, with dozens of the best rappers recording classic tracks that placed high on urban play lists, if not the pop charts themselves. Marley Marl was blessed with a stable boasting immense talents, ranging from hardcore rhymers Big Daddy Kane and Kool G Rap to freewheeling... [+] Read More

Cold Chillin' certainly deserved the title House of Hits during the late '80s, with dozens of the best rappers recording classic tracks that placed high on urban play lists, if not the pop charts themselves. Marley Marl was blessed with a stable boasting immense talents, ranging from hardcore rhymers Big Daddy Kane and Kool G Rap to freewheeling talents Biz Markie and Masta Ace. As the classic House of Hits compilation ably proves over 15 tracks, Marley Marl was a master of tailoring productions to the talents of his varying rappers -- from the hardcore intensity of Kool G Rap & DJ Polo on "Poison" to the quick-paced vocal dexterity of Big Daddy Kane on "Set It Off" to the all-in-one classic posse track "Symphony, Vol. 1" (with Masta Ace, Craig G., Kool G Rap, and Big Daddy Kane). Even the same artist could get wildly different tracks; Biz Markie played up the clown prince on "Make the Music With Your Mouth, Biz," but also indulged in some humdrum cynicism for "Vapors" over a production to match. Fans of Cold Chillin' will want to dig deeper with separate volumes on most of the artists here, but few rap compilations match House of Hits at illustrating a standard unmatched by any label save Def Jam and Sugarhill. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Curtis "Mantronik" Khaleel was often quoted as saying that his mission was to "take rap a step beyond the streets," and the innovative producer/mixmaster accomplished that goal on Mantronix's debut album, Mantronix: The Album. This excellent 1985 LP was way ahead of its time; while the rapping of Mantronix's partner MC Tee is pure mid-'80s New... [+] Read More

Curtis "Mantronik" Khaleel was often quoted as saying that his mission was to "take rap a step beyond the streets," and the innovative producer/mixmaster accomplished that goal on Mantronix's debut album, Mantronix: The Album. This excellent 1985 LP was way ahead of its time; while the rapping of Mantronix's partner MC Tee is pure mid-'80s New York hip-hop, the production is anything but conventional. On gems like "Needle to the Groove," "Bassline," and the hit "Fresh Is the Word," you can hear the parallels between Tee's rhyming and the East Coast b-boy rhymes that Run-D.M.C., LL Cool J, and the Fat Boys were providing in 1985. But the album's high-tech, futuristic production sets it apart from other New York hip-hop of the mid-'80s, and even though one of the LP's tracks is titled "Hardcore Hip-Hop," Mantronix had a hard time appealing to hip-hop's hardcore. Mantronix: The Album actually fared better in dance music, electro-funk, and club circles than it did among hardcore b-boys. But this is definitely a hip-hop record, and it is also Mantronix's most essential release. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide [-] Hide

U.T.F.O. never had many hits. During the mid-'80s, the rap group released a series of singles, but only one stood out, and for good reason, because that song, "Roxanne, Roxanne," is one of the classic rap singles of all time. Though "Roxanne, Roxanne" only hit number ten on the R&B charts, it was far more popular than its chart position... [+] Read More

U.T.F.O. never had many hits. During the mid-'80s, the rap group released a series of singles, but only one stood out, and for good reason, because that song, "Roxanne, Roxanne," is one of the classic rap singles of all time. Though "Roxanne, Roxanne" only hit number ten on the R&B charts, it was far more popular than its chart position suggests, spawning a craze of answer records that ran for nearly two years. Unfortunately, U.T.F.O. never released anything else that quite matched the quality of "Roxanne, Roxanne," though their follow-up, "The Real Roxanne," was entertaining in its own right. Since the group had an uneven track record, The Best of U.T.F.O. is the best way to get acquainted with the group, even though it has a number of weak spots itself. Nevertheless, it has all the necessary items U.T.F.O. ever recorded, and "Roxanne, Roxanne" is a single that should be heard by all rap and hip-hop fans. ~ Leo Stanley, All Music Guide [-] Hide

Newcleus deserve mention in any history of electro/hip-hop of the early '80s because of two certifiable classics: "Jam on Revenge (The Wikki-Wikki Song)" and "Computer Age (Push the Button)." Two tracks hardly fill a major compilation album, and at first glance, the group wouldn't appear to deserve their own best-of set; however, the compilers... [+] Read More

Newcleus deserve mention in any history of electro/hip-hop of the early '80s because of two certifiable classics: "Jam on Revenge (The Wikki-Wikki Song)" and "Computer Age (Push the Button)." Two tracks hardly fill a major compilation album, and at first glance, the group wouldn't appear to deserve their own best-of set; however, the compilers at Rhino did a good job of selecting tracks from the group's two albums, 1984's Jam on Revenge and the following year's Space Is the Place (a reference to jazz mystic Sun Ra). Other than the obvious hits, great album tracks include "Auto-Man," "I Wanna Be a B-Boy," and "Let's Jam." ~ John Bush, All Music Guide [-] Hide

All Meat No Filler: The Best of the Fat Boys is an excellent 18-track compilation of all of the Fat Boys' biggest hits, including "Fat Boys," "Human Beat Box," "Jail House Rap," "Can You Feel It," "The Fat Boys Are Back," "Hard Core Reggae," "Falling in Love," "Wipeout" (with the Beach Boys), and "The Twist (Yo, Twist!)" (with Chubby Checker).... [+] Read More

All Meat No Filler: The Best of the Fat Boys is an excellent 18-track compilation of all of the Fat Boys' biggest hits, including "Fat Boys," "Human Beat Box," "Jail House Rap," "Can You Feel It," "The Fat Boys Are Back," "Hard Core Reggae," "Falling in Love," "Wipeout" (with the Beach Boys), and "The Twist (Yo, Twist!)" (with Chubby Checker). Although some of the latter-day cuts have aged poorly, the Fat Boys' earliest singles are ground-breaking and timeless records, proving that they weren't merely a novelty act. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide [-] Hide