Boombox - Early Independent Hip Hop, Electro and Disco Rap 1979-82 album review

The photos which come with this compilation of New York hip-hop and electro cuts from 1979 to 1982 are just as fascinating as the music.

The Big Apple back then was far from the Gotham City it is today and the snaps of streetwise crews shouldering heavyweight ghettoblasters and beatboxes are evocative of an era long consigned to books (City On Fire), film and TV (Vinyl, The Get Down etc).

But the music still packs quite a punch and these tracks were all released on various indie labels who rushed into the gap after Rappers Delight, The Message and Planet Rock appeared. The labels put out tracks by rappers and crews like Willie Wood, Bon Rock, Portable Patrol, Neil B, Master Jay and many more which truly were the sounds of the streets of the Bronx, Harlem and Queens.

A great deep dive into an inspiring and influential couple of years. [BYLINE9]