Hip House – 20 Hip House Hits (Stylus Music, 1989)

Review
Some history: Tyree Cooper’s Turn Up the Bass claimed it was the “first hip house record on vinyl.” This outlandish claim was disputed by The Beatmasters who indicated that Rok Da House had originally been written and pressed to vinyl as early as 1987. The latter then released “Who’s In The House?” featuring Merlin which featured lines like “Beatmasters stand to attention, hip house is your invention” and “Watch out Tyree, we come faster.” In 1989, Stylus Music dropped yet another compilation, Hip House – 20 Hip House Hits. As it was a single vinyl release, the usual caveats apply “some of the titles on this album have been edited” which continues to show that the CD format was still an afterthought for these labels, despite the steadily increasing sales and slight fall in retail prices.

“Bassline!” There’s some well-known tunes out early – Get On The Dancefloor, Girl You Know It’s True, Respect. Debbie D’s Hit The Rap Jack is an obscure one, full of samples and squiggly scratches. Much better is Kid ‘N’ Play’s fun groove Rollin’ With complete with jazzy break. Zipping by in cut form are Monie Love’s I Can Do This and Jazzy Jason’s 90 seconds of bonus beats, Faster Than Fast. Move over – just a little bit – for the Real Roxanne and the defiant Respect. “I tell ya, I can’t relax.” Hot on her heels are the Jungle Brothers with the raw earthy funk of Straight Out Of The Jungle. We then go full acid for D-Mob are in the house. Banger! “A rare instance of a tune straight out of the heart of an underground scene not just crossing over to become a massive hit in the pop charts but forcing itself into the consciousness of the country as a whole. I can’t believe there’s many people in England aged between about 40 and 60 who don’t at least vaguely remember hearing ‘Acieeeeeeeed.'” (AndyPandy2000)

“Blow the house down for the new generation.” Time for some demolition hip hop from the Wee Papa Girl Rappers. Not well remembered which is a great pity as it moves along nicely. Elswewhere She Rockers throw down the AA-side of On Stage with Get Up On This. Pure hip hop rather than hip house. A one-off next, MC Bam Bam with the Kraftwerk / “you’re quite hostile” sample rush of Wind Me Up which is followed by Lakim Shabazz’s routine Getting Fierce. MC Duke is back with ragga ‘n’ breakbeat flavoured I’m Riffin’. Shame we’re shortchanged on the time. Check out Paul Oakenfold pretending to play an upside down guitar on Electra’s Jibaro video – a solid cover of Elkin and Nelson’s Balearic classic. Dedicated to DJ Steve Walsh. Rise and shine with another Kid ‘N’ Play tune, the feelgood 2 Hype. The grand finale comes courtesy of Marshall Jefferson and Truth – Open Our Eyes – poignant deep house, all lush basslines and impeccable drum programming.

Favourite tracks
Electra – Jibaro

Jungle Brothers – Straight Out Of The Jungle

D-Mob featuring Gary Haisman – We Call It Acieed

Lest we forget
The Real Roxanne – Respect (Vocal)