Second
Time Around
Various
artists
Chuck D's Hip Hop Hall of Fame, Vol. 1 (Music Video Distributors)
Hip-hop "oldies" comps tend to be commercial stiffs. In the '90s Death Row Greatest Hits – loaded with hip-hop and gangsta classics including tracks by Dre, Snoop, and Cube that were still somewhat fresh – peaked below the top 30. Hip-hop is created in the moment (and from other people's spare parts and beats), and in that sense it is disposable on purpose.
Chuck D's Hip Hop Hall of Fame, Vol. 1 DVD features interviews and a few carefully shot live performances by some of the great heroes of the '80s and early '90s. Most of the acts are from New York (Chuck D hosts, whaddya want?), and the project is dedicated to the late Jam Master Jay of Run DMC. The interviews are cut with live footage and the occasional jam. Rakim (minus Eric B) freestyles without beats and never misses one along the way, Chuck D pontificates (shocking!), Ices T and Cube reminisce, and Chubb Rock and KRS-One reveal themselves to be thoughtful (and nerdy), which lends their rhymes a new resonance. Live hip-hop relies on the audience to generate excitement, which means some acts are as energizing as watchin' paint dry, but some of the live clips from NYC clubs are uplifting – KRS-One in particular rocks hard.
Best of all is the longtime pimp king of Oakland, Too $hort, whose rhapsodic description of the importance of the bass is the high point of the disc. While Ice T shows off the elaborate sound system in the back of his Benz, $hort simply suggests that if the words don't hit you, let the grooves do it, proving that this music is the blues of today. Hall of Fame could use more of these moments, but it's still a good roll down the hip-hop boulevard. (Johnny Angel)
