Kings of Hip Hop: Classic Material

Misleadingly titled, Kings of Hip Hop: Classic Material is not a compilation of old-school classics, but a live performance instead, recorded at New York's Webster Hall in the early 2000s. Busy Bee ("Suicide," "Vintage Busy Bee"), Melle Mel & the Furious 5 ("White Lines," "The Message") and Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock ("Joy and Pain," "It Takes Two") provide the material, most of which is pulled off rather well by live hip-hop standards. Naturally, none of these versions will be preferable to the original studio tracks, so the disc will appeal primarily to diehards and historians. A DVD version was also made available, which is a far more effective document of the show.