MARCH 04 Often namechecked as the ‘Golden Age’ of hip-hop, the late 80’s / early 90’s produced some of the most timeless and memorable music in the history of the music, it was a time when originality and innovation were more important than the size of your stack or the chrome on your rims… Who better to curate a compilation of classic, overlooked and undiscovered gems from that period than the UK’s finest obsessive crate-digger DJ Format? Brighton based Format has built a huge name for himself since the release of his debut album “Music For The Mature B-Boy” (Genuine/Pias 2003). For those unaware, Format works the same musical mines as DJ Shadow (who requested Format to support him on his UK tour) and Cut Chemist, utilising obscure funk and jazz breaks to come up with fresh hip-hop. On ‘A Right Earful’, he delves into his hip-hop roots with a lughole damaging selection of early 90’s hip-hop and breaks. “I tried to select tracks that I felt were somewhat overlooked, album tracks like Freestyle Fellowship’s ‘Inner City Boundaries’ and The Alkaholics ‘Turn The Party Out’, and some slept-on independent stuff like Nautilus’s ‘Record Making Manual’, and also Little Barrie’s ‘Give Me A Microphone‘, they’re a great UK rock act to look out for…” Explains Format. “My aim was to keep the selection varied; it starts out with a slower selection of tracks and builds into the more party orientated stuff that people might expect from me. It was a little bit of a jigsaw puzzle putting the mix together, to get the right feeling moving from track to track - I had to do some re-editing and studio jiggery-pokery that the more studious among you might spot!” Exclusive tracks come courtesy of Maryland rap wunderkind Edan with ‘Funky Rhymin’, good time LA beatheads Ugly Duckling with ‘Almond Rocha’, and not forgetting Format himself who supplies a killer remix of long-time MC partner Abdominal & DJ Faze’s ‘Fast Food’. Tracklisting: 1. Down South – Oh My 2. Abdominal and DJ Faze – Fast Food (DJ Format Remix) 3. Freestyle Fellowship – Inner City Boundaries 4. Madkap – Phuck What Ya Heard 5. Souls Of Mischief – A Name I Call Myself 6. Nautilus – Record Making Manual 7. Lord Sear – Ya Mouth Stink 8. Edan – Humble Magnificent 9. Ugly Duckling – Almond Rocha 10. Brand New Heavies and Main Source – Bonafied Funk 11. The Pharcyde – For Better Or For Worse 12. The Wascalz – The Dips 13. The Alkaholiks – Turn The Party Out 14. King Tee – We Got The Fat Joint 15. Kurious – What’s The Real 16. Black Sheep – Still In The Ghetto 17. Double J – Operation Desert Storm 18. Edan – Funky Rhymin’ 19. Little Barrie – Give Me A Microphone 20. The Upsetters – Popcorn 21. Gonzales – Funky Frith Street