DJ Jazzy Jeff - Hip Hop Forever III

Loads of strong, jazzy tracks here, mostly from hip-hop's golden age - Gang Starr, Black Sheep, Main Source, Pharcyde, A Tribe Called Quest. Some of the tracks aren't so strong, which is why this mix doesn't get top marks, but Jazzy intersperses them well with stronger tracks so the mix never gets too dull. Also, it's much stronger than JJ's previous mix (Hip-Hop Forever 2), both in terms of having stronger, catchier tracks and better, more innovative turntablism.

This is an essential mix for anyone into hip-hop or turntablism. Jazzy Jeff specialises in cutting back and forth between 2 copies of the same record, usually so as to extend and, in some cases completely transform the introduction of the track, and this always involves some truly fantastic scratching. Both the scratching and cutting breath new life into these tracks and sometimes it's so original that it seems Jazzy Jeff is doing a live remix of the track.

A few occasions this turntablism doesn't add so much musically and it feels like posturing for the sake of showing off, rather than for the sake of improving the music (eg on Award Tour by ATBQ), but usually the turntablism is amazing musically as well as technically. This is best exemplified on the penultimate track, 'Looking at The Front Door' by Main Source. Jazzy Jeff has taken arguably the best hip-hop track ever made and improved it by extending the intro with with unbelievable beat-juggling that transforms the intro beats into something fresh, then extending the opening chords with some fantastic scratching and repeating. This track has some of the best turntablism, musical intelligence and innovation I have ever heard, and for this reason alone is worth owning the album.

PS. The compilation also features a CD of unmixed tracks, some of which are quite hard to find now in CD format (eg the aforementioned Main Source track).