You've Heard It On The Radio, You've Seen It On The TV Show...

...A to the K? A to the Motherfuggin' C. That's right, peeps, available now from Brighton's excellent home of funky beats Mr Bongo is a limited edition gatefold double vinyl release of one of the all time great soundtracks, hip-hop or otherwise: the Wild Style OST. Straight outta the Boogie Down Bronx in 1982, Wild Style is the definitive old skool joint, capturing each of the original Four Elements (MCing, DJin, Breaking and Graffiti) of Hip-Hop culture in their explosive, tangibly thrilling infancy. As a movie it ain't exactly Citizen Kane (it's waaaay better than that), but what it lacks in narrative and actorly technique, it more than makes up for in incredible music, a bold / blunt visual style and quasi-cinema verite performances by a whole cast of bone fide Hip-Hop legends who might never have been caught live and in full effect if Wild Style hadn't documented them. The Cold Crush Brothers battling on a basketball court. Double Trouble freestyling on some stoop. Chief Rocker Busy Bee, Grand Mixer DST, The Rocksteady Crew, Fab Five Freddy...I mean, are you kiddin' me? These cats are the pioneers.

Soundtrack wise it's just impossible to beat; a mixture of freestyle accapella street raps, funky-as hell, live-in-the-club party throwdowns from the likes of Fantastic Freaks and Rammellzee & Shock Dell (you wanna know where Jurassic 5 got all their best lines? Look no further), plus loadsa fresh old skool dialogue and instrumental beats courtesy of Grand Wizard Theodore and Blondie's Chris Stein. It's a dubby, rough and raw sound, street tuff, maybe the first 'proper' Hip-Hop LP; unlike the Sugerhill stuff - great though much of it is - Wild Style doesn't come at you with Chic loops recycled by an in-house disco funk band; this is REAL LIVE HIP-HOP, two turntables and a microphone. These are original tunes, authored by the legends of the game.

If all this hasn't convinced you that both the LP and the recently re-released DVD are an essential purchases, dig on this: the movie features Grandmster Flash. In 1982. Wearing a sweet tracksuit top with 'Grandmaster Flash' on the back. Cutting and scratching The Headhunter's 'God Made Me Funky'. In his kitchen. For Hip-Hop heads this is the equivilent of the Dylan at Newport '65 footage. If you're not down by law, but would like to know your way around, let Wild Style be your tour guide. (Paul Fuzz)