- 01“Walk This Way”Run-DMCIt was Run-D.M.C., an obvious choice after their huge crossover duet with Aerosmith on “Walk This Way” earlier that year.from the chapter
- 02Raising HellRun-DMCThe song that matters here, of course, is not “Walk This Way” but another track from Raising Hell , “My Adidas,” a shining example of how rap stars back in the ’80s celebrated what they owned.from the chapter
- 03“My Adidas”Run-DMCThe song that matters here, of course, is not “Walk This Way” but another track from Raising Hell , “My Adidas,” a shining example of how rap stars back in the ’80s celebrated what they owned.from the chapter
- 04Purple RainPrincePrince was it when Purple Rain came out.from the chapter
- 05Tougher Than LeatherRun‐D.M.C.The upcoming movie they discuss in the piece, Tougher Than Leather , made it famously to movie theaters that summer of 1988 with incident after incident of shootings reported throughout its run.from the chapter
- 06Down with the KingRun‐D.M.C.The group would refocus for Down with the King in 1993, more powerful, more menacing.from the chapter
- 07ShaftIsaac HayesShaft ?), who had, in 1995, photographed a sequel to Kane’s original where he rounded up ten of the twelve surviving musicians from the Esquire shoot and brought them back to the same Harlem brownstone on East 126th Street.from the chapter
- 08Things Fall Apartthe RootsThe day of the shoot, September 29, 1998, I had to rush-finish sequencing and mastering on the Roots’ Things Fall Apart .from the chapter
- 09Chariots of FireVangelisHe showed up just in time, sprinting down the block toward us as someone imitated the electronic drums from the Chariots of Fire soundtrack.from the chapter
- 10“Murdergram”Questlove’s pickLL Cool JI loved the album before this one, Walking with a Panther , though I can understand why people believed that it wasn’t up to his standards.from the chapter
- 11Walking with a PantherLL Cool JI loved the album before this one, Walking with a Panther , though I can understand why people believed that it wasn’t up to his standards.from the chapter
- 12“I’m Large”Questlove’s pickDJ Chuck Chillout and Kool ChipAny list of hip-hop deep cuts needs to include a shout-out to Salaam Remi, who produced this when he was still a teenager.from the chapter
- 13Kingdom BlowKurtis Blow… laam was a second-generation music-business kid—his father was Van Gibbs, who had started as a musician, worked at various record labels, and produced artists like the Fat Boys and Kurtis Blow—in fact, years before Salaam produced this record, he was playing keyboards on Kurtis’s Kingdom Blow album.from the chapter
- 14“The ’Micstro,’”Questlove’s pickRadiänce featuring RCHere’s another hidden gem that should have made it.from the chapter
- 15“Roxanne, Roxanne”UTFOFull Force then moved toward the “Hip-Pop” format with the UTFO (“Roxanne, Roxanne,” which was also the first time we heard a breakbeat sampled in hip-hop (Billy Squier’s “The Big Beat”).from the chapter
- 16“Rebel Without a Pause”Public EnemyShortly after “Rebel Without a Pause” by Public Enemy came out, there was a slew of records with these shrill noises.from the chapter
- 17“Small-Time Hustler”the Dismasters“Small Time Hustler” has a section where the Dismasters rhyme triple-style, like they’re Migos’ fathers or something.from the chapter
- 18“My Part of Town”Questlove’s pickTuff CrewAnother Philly classic: respect to Ice Dog, L.from the chapter
- 19ActionThe BlackbyrdsThe sample in the song is by the Blackbyrds: “Street Life,” from their 1980 album Action .from the chapter
- 20“Do the Do”Questlove’s pickKurtis BlowKurtis had a big hit with “The Breaks” on his first album.from the chapter
- 21“The Breaks”Kurtis BlowKurtis had a big hit with “The Breaks” on his first album.from the chapter
- 22“Whirlwind Pyramid”Questlove’s pickthe D.O.C.Dr.from the chapter
- 23“Get Pepped”Questlove’s pickSkinny BoysAnother underrated 1988 track that demonstrates the influence of Public Enemy from 1987: the shrill noises, sirens of various types.from the chapter