House of Hits

Amazon.com

Not enough can be said about Marley Marl’s place in hip-hop history. From masterminding the culture’s first supergroup (the Juice Crew) to producing some seriously classic material, it’s all captured here on this career retrospective. The booming, funk-infested drums and reversed effects of “The Bridge” introduced the masses to the producer, and it rocketed the Crew to infamy when a young KRS-One took offense. Skipping family lines to produce Eric B. and Rakim’s startling “Eric B. for President,” Marley Marl’s lone hand in hip-hop’s 1986-1988 maturation is unfathomable by today’s standards. As the decade ended, he had set the pace with tracks such as Big Daddy Kane’s “Ain’t No Half Steppin’,” Biz Markie’s “Vapors” and “Make the Music,” and Craig G’s “Droppin’ Science.” Marley Marl even participated in one of rap’s first great posse cuts, producing the Juice Crew’s epic “The Symphony.” Like latter-day super producers RZA (Wu-Tang Clan) or Gang Starr’s DJ Premier, nearly everything Marley Marl touched during these pivotal years was golden. –Hua Hsu