Back to the Old School

We have spoken before about the genius of Kurtis Mantronik, a producer who literally changed the face of hip-hop and electronic music with his production skills throughout the mid to late 1980s. His work as creative and musical lead in his own Mantronix set-up is simply incredible and pretty much defines electro, that melding of the electronic funk of the likes of Kraftwerk and Afrika Bambaataa, and the new jack and early house music of Chicago, Detroit, New York and the UK. But it is his 1986 collaboration with New York’s original hardcore rapper Just-Ice that I want to focus on here, because once again it is a piece of work that was and still is an instant classic, and which set about re-defining the aural scope of hip-hop.

“Back to the Old School” was a revolutionary album, intended as a return to the raw power and street and party based aesthetic of early hip-hop, a reaction to the so-called second wave of rap lead by the likes of Run DMC and LL Cool J. It achieved this antidote to the times, but in doing so also created something of a golden era all of its own, a template for heavy beats and chopped up turntablism, for snapping snare, punching horn stabs, the biggest of bass, and pure Roland 909 madness. Mantronik’s beats are insane, generally slower than his usual fare, but highly innovative in their construction and manipulation.

Meanwhile Just-Ice, aka Sir Vicious, grumbles and gruffly asserts his aggression on the mic, holding no punches as he delivers rhyme after rhyme of what adds up to almost total menace. It should be remembered that such posturing and downright intimidation was rare in the fledgling years of rap, and it is with some justification that Ice is known as the original gangster, bringing the tales of his native Fort Greene, Brooklyn, and slamming them onto vinyl. The template for many an artist was set right there and then.

Album opener and stone cold classic “Cold Gettin’ Dumb” is of course the record’s instantly recognizable calling card, and remains incredibly powerful, a pure rush on every listen. Interestingly, the now famous changes of tempo throughout were the result of Mantronik failing to nail the beat, and Ice merely changing up his flow as and when the music required. The result is a seminal diss record that just kills the speakers every time and sounds like no other. But there is so much more also. Feel the incredible bass on “Little Bad Johnny”, an almost obscene boom flexed under one of the first dancehall inflections on a rap record.

Marvel at the frenetic aggression of “Put That Record Back On”, or the “Gangster of Hip-Hop”. Even the unappealing chauvinism of “Latoya” is sweetened by the speaker-blowing beats it swings to. From the brilliant graffiti cover by NY spray legends Gemini and Gnome, to the human beatbox of Cool DMX, the album is true old school excellence and deserving of its seminal status. Its influence may be understated, but is key to many strands of rap’s development, and if it sounds less revolutionary now that is because it set the shape of much that followed. Like the teeth that sparkle from Just-Ice’s grill, shaping his vicious verbal jabs, this record is solid gold.