MTV: HIP HOP BACK IN

MTV HIP HOP BACK IN THE DAY hearkens back to the scratch-happy early days of hip-hop music, when what would become a billion dollar industry was still the property of the streets. Beginning with Kurtis Blow's hard-times classic "The Breaks" and continuing through to Tone-Loc's 1989 smash "Funky Cold Medina," the album traces the rise of hip hop from urban party entertainment to global conquest. Contrasted with ultra-violent '90s rap, the tracks on MTV HIP HOP BACK IN THE DAY possess a sort of innocence, though they were the stuff of public outrage then, much as the early days of rock seem tame by today's standards, though they weren't viewed that way at the time. Doug E. Fresh's "The Show" and the Fat Boys' self-titled track seem to be more about entertainment than intimidation--there's plenty of dissing going on, (especially in U.T.F.O.'s "Roxanne," which resulted in a war waged almost entirely on wax between rival groups), but it's more in the spirit of fun, and the artists are quicker to go in for self-deprecation than for drive-by shootings. By the time of Boogie Down Productions' "South Bronx," that lesson may have already been missed.