Kurtis Blow

Rap's first long-player, Kurtis Blow is anchored by the killer single "The Breaks" (kept company on this CD reissue by the amusing "Christmas Rappin'"). Blow's party-time raps have a hard time sustaining themselves over the length of an entire album, but his cheeriness is infectious. "Hard Times" provided a key template for the first New School of hip-hop when Run-D.M.C. retooled it a few years later. --Rickey Wright