My 25 Favourite Albums: The Ultimate Lessons

In the world of dance music, generally speaking the DJ is the one who usually gets the acknowledgement. Certainly back in the 90s, you wouldn't even know who the MC was half the time.

In Hip Hop though, the opposite is true. Maybe in the early day's you'd have the likes of Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa taking the plaudits, but the reality is the rapper is the one most people go to a Hip Hop concert to see, few people, if any, go because they want to see the DJ playing for the rapper.

This album though well and truly puts the Hip Hop DJ in the spotlight.

It was released in 2002, but the beginnings of the album date back to 1983. DJs Double Dee & Steinski put together 3 "lessons", which were basically hip hop sample based collages which were named "Lesson 1", "Lesson 2" and "Lesson 3".

Being entirely sample based though they were never commercially released due to sample clearances, until this album got released and they are the first 3 tracks.

Fast forward to the 90s, 2 Hip Hop DJs decided to have a go at creating their own "lesson". They were DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist. Both are called "Lesson 4" and are tracks 4 and 5 on the album.

As such, there is no "Lesson 5" and next up is "Lesson 6" which is by Cut Chemist and also appears on the self titled debut album from Cut Chemists group, Jurassic 5.

The final 3 tracks are live performances based on the "lessons" which are "Live Lesson A" by Cut Chemist and Shortkut, "Live Lesson B" by DJ Shadow, Cut Chemist and Steinski, and "Live Lesson C" by DJ Shadow.

Hip Hop to many is all about lyrics, and that's fine. We all have our reasons for liking music and lyrics are one of the reasons I like Hip Hop. However, for me there's more to it than the lyrics, or indeed the rapping style.

Basically, the backing track is just as important, if not more important. If the backing track is crap, then any MC, no matter how good they are, is going to struggle to do anything decent.

More to the point though, Hip Hop does not always need a rapper in the same way dance music doesn't need, and often doesn't have an MC. To appreciate what the DJs do in Hip Hop music, this album is a great way to show them in all their glory.