Hits

Performer: Grandmaster Flash
Producer: Mark Pinkus (Compilation)
Distributor: WEA Strategic Marketing

Notes: Audio Remasterers: Dave Schultz; Tim Edmondson. Combining the 1994 compilation Message from Beat Street with 1996's Adventures of Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel & The Furious Five: More of the Best, Rhino released the simply titled Hits in 2003. For anyone who has both of those previous collections, Hits would be redundant (all the songs included on it are split between the two), but as it is aptly named, it works well as a starting-off point for the listeners wanting to expose themselves to Flash and his MCs' work, as songs that define the beginning of rap -- "It's Nasty (Genius of Love)," "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel," "Freedom," and of course, "White Lines (Don't Do It)" -- are all included here. There are some important tracks missing, like "The Message," "Beat Street," and "New York, New York," but as ten representations of what the group was, Hits is pretty accurate (although its cover, which doesn't even have a photo, reeks of the budget-compilation it is). ~ Marisa Brown

Quite possibly the most influential and innovative figure in rap music, Grandmaster Flash pioneered the turntable techniques that eventually became standard in the rapidly growing genre. Born Joseph Saddler, Flash grew up in the Bronx and, along with Kool Herc and Afrika Bambaataa, became an integral part of the late-1970s/early-'80s New York City rap community. His deft turntable stylings were so entrancing to his club audiences that he had to enlist the help of others to shift the focus away from him, and this group formed the Furious Five, one of the first MC crews. He also helped pioneer the socially conscious aspect of rap with 1981's pop crossover hit "The Message."

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