S/T by CRASH CREW

Before the release of their self-titled debut, the six-man collective of Crash Crew had already released several singles around New York City. Stories go that one of their first, "High Powered Rap" would later be copied by Sugar Hill Records' own Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five and form the basis for their first national hit "Freedom", almost certainly leading to animus between the two groups. Regardless, Crash Crew also ended up on Sugar Hill Records, and released their full-length debut through the label in 1984. Crash Crew, along with Treacherous Three, T La Rock, and the aforementioned Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, would become vanguards of the first true generation of early hip-hop music, with Crash Crew in particular being exceptionally good at party anthem raps. Their debut meanwhile would find new life as a crate digger's dream, and prime sample material for De La Soul, Jurassic 5, Black Eyed Peas, and Cut Chemist.