Freestyle Greatest Beats: The Complete Collection, Vol. 1
Expanded to 10 volumes from the original 7, Timber Records head Joey Gardner'sFreestyle's Greatest Beatsis a roughly chronological history of the music. Volume 1 scores with freestyle fundamentals from heavy hitters such asTKA,Cover Girls,Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam, andExposé. This disc is heavy on the classics and features cuts that aren't played as much anymore. Jellybean's "The Mexican," in its original form, blurs the line between dance music and rock; England'sInformation Societybrings some Euro-cool to the Latin hip-hop; andNayobe's hyperemotional "Please Don't Go" hits the head as hard as the hips.--John Sanchez