Yo! Boombox is the new instalment of Soul Jazz Records’ Boombox series on the early days of hip-hop on vinyl, featuring some of the many innovative underground first-wave of early rap and disco rap records made in the USA between 1979-83. // The album includes the first releases of seminal groups such as Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five and The Funky Four Plus One More, through to rarities and little-known obscurities such as the Carver Area High School band’s ‘Get Live 83’, an awesome record made at a Chicago high school. // This deluxe double CD comes with a 30-page booklet featuring extensive sleeve notes, exclusive photography and original label artwork. // It features the stunning photography of Sophie Bramly, one of a very select group of photographers who were allowed full access to document the exciting early days of hip-hop in NYC. // These first exuberant wave of innocent, upbeat, party-on-the-block rap records were the first to try and create the sounds heard in community centres, block parties and street jams that took place in the Bronx in the mid-1970s. Where the first DJs – Flash, Kool Herc and Bambaataa – were back-spinning, mixing and scratching together now classic breakbeat records like The Incredible Bongo Band’s Apache or Babe Ruth’s The Mexican, these first pre-sampling rap records were all made using live bands, often replaying then current disco tunes. As Chic’s ‘Good Times’ was to ‘Rappers’ Delight’, the songs here feature then-current dancefloor hits such as the Tom Tom Club’s ‘Genius of Love’ or Cheryl Lynn’s ‘To Be Real’ while MCs rapped over the top, creating a unique new sound. // This new Soul Jazz Records collection celebrates these first old-school rap records, bringing together rare, classic and obscure tracks released in the early days of rap.