Various ‎– Street Sounds Crucial Electro 3

I'm not quite sure why this compilation was called 'Electro' anymore as 50% of side A, and 100% of side B is straight up '80s hip hop/Rap'. The so called electro sound which was ever so popular at the first third of the eighties, was being taken over by the new generation of hip hop. Nevertheless, all tracks were ground breaking in their own right, showcasing novelty tracks by 'Whistle' & 'Doug E Fresh', hardcore hip hop sounds from 'Original Concept', Roxanne Shante & LL Cool J, classic funk/rap by Whodini and the new style of rappers & break beat sampling from 'Boogie Down Productions'. Even though the track selections aren't my personal favourites, the mixing is good on both sides, side B just beats side A by a whisker.

This to me was the Street Sounds Electro swan song to the original skool before the likes of KRS1 & Public Enemy took control of the Hip Hop game and laid the foundations of what rap has become, and also before the impending tsunami-like arrival of House music which put Electro to bed rather quickly in its unequivocally successful quest for worldwide domination. The inclusion of the Electro 1 mix of Jam On Revenge to me signifies a nod to the series' beginnings with the irony being that (AFAIK) Crucial 3 was the last of the Street Sounds Electro series before they went under in their original guise, to resurface some time later under the Dance Music moniker. Say what you want about MK (how do you manage to put on the greatest hip hop show of the time, and yet get booed when you walk on stage?? [I think the UK Fresh '03 debacle has given me some insight to that one]), but the Electro series' influence and impact had not been seen before and has not been seen since. And that's what legends are made of.