Various – Kick It! (The Def Jam Sampler Volume One)

For a time capsule of fantastic music that spans from the very early Purple Def Jam releases (Jazzy Jay and Beasties) to where Def Jam were heading on the Hip Hop front with classics from L.L Cool Jay,Public Enemy and Original Concept.
There are some classic R&B tracks from Tashan and Chuck Williams,I think that years before Puffy,Def Jam were closing the bridge between Hip Hop and R&B with tracks like these with really tuff beats which were harder than a lot of Hip Hop beats at the time, Obviously the likes of S.O.S Band,The Controllers,Midnight Star ,Change and many more used big 808 type beats to appeal to the dance floor but the Def Jam tracks (and later with Alyson Williams) really bumped .Add the dope Go Go tracks from The Junkyard Band (look into their History , of that crew were WAY MORE gangster than any crew from N.Y, L.A or Miami at that time ,although Boston had some real Gs in the shape of Almighty R.S.O crew).It's a real inexpensive piece of fantasticly dope music from the 80s premier Hip Hop/Black music label.The Go Go tracks on 12" are not cheap these days and for the scratch DJs buy 2 copies of this ,there are some great tracks (L.Ls I'm Bad,both the O.C and Junkyard tracks ) to do great tricks on if you double up.Its just a classic piece of wax on which almost every track is a classic for about £3 ,that's a bargain.

Initial copies with sticker Includes Free DEF JAM patch limited edition KIKIT 1
In my collection

A great record. I know others out there agree, 'cos I can never find Kick It! in second-hand record racks! I love the Beasties, but could never get my mind around heavy rock-rap tracks like Rock Hard and She's On It. Skip a couple of nondescript songs to Original Concept's Pump That Bass. This track wasn't out 5 minutes before it was spotted and sampled by labelmates Public Enemy ( Prophets of Rage ) and by Eric B and Rakim ( Paid in Full ) Chuck Stanley's The Finer Things in Life is one of those songs I loved first time I heard it, and I still do. LL Cool J's I'm Bad pretty much sums up LL's opinion of himself, but it's hardly his best song, even at the time. Up next, the record highlight, Public Enemy's You're Gonna Get Yours; an aggressive ode to Chuck D's Oldsmobile 98, and a putdown of P.E. critics. All in all, a great value record.