The Grandest of Them All

Album review

When an artist has an album titled The Grandest of Them All and one of its tracks is titled "I'm a Legend," he is likely to be accused of having a swollen, excessively large ego. But in the case of Grandmaster Caz, saying "I'm a Legend" isn't empty boasting -- it's a statement of fact. One of the pioneers of old school hip-hop, Caz really is a legend. The New Yorker is a veteran of the late-'70s South Bronx/Harlem scene that also gave us Kool DJ Herc, Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five, Kurtis Blow, the Cold Crush Brothers, and the Treacherous Three -- in other words, the MCs and DJs who paved the way for everyone from Run D.M.C. to Public Enemy to Ice-T. When The Grandest of Them All came out in 1992, Caz was no longer considered cutting-edge; hip-hoppers identified him with rap's old school era of the late '70s and early '80s. But this album doesn't sound quite as dated as some might assume; tunes like "Star Search," "Ducksauce," and "I'm a Legend" aren't oblivious to early-'90s rap tastes. Nonetheless, Caz doesn't try to hide his old school heritage. The album is full of references to hip-hop's early years, and even though Caz tries to update his rapping style somewhat, he still sounds like a product of rap's old school era. And why shouldn't he? If it wasn't for Caz and his pioneering hip-hop colleagues in Harlem and the South Bronx, many of the rappers who emerged in the 1980s wouldn't have been so successful. The Grandest of Them All doesn't contain the veteran MC's most essential work, but it's a decent, respectable effort that showed Caz still had some tricks up his sleeve in 1992.

© Alex Henderson /TiVo