“When Def Jam started out, rap was the new alternative music. Over the course of 12 years it has become mainstream as the world’s thirst for young black culture… ” 

… so wrote Def Jam founder Russell Simmons in 1997.

How prescient of him, now over 25 years later it has grown and now features at the top of our charts throughout the world.

I chanced once again on this compilation and was immediately transported back to those late 90s DJing days, the shock value of Fight the Power by Public Enemy, the sheer “rock out” joy of Beastie Boys’ (You Gotta Fight), the stereo checking bass kicks from Warren G, and the “making out” tracks of Oran “Juice” Jones.