Imagine Rough Trade, Domino and 679 Recordings getting together to round up some of the best the year had to offer. Let’s face it, it’s likely you’d have bands like The Futureheads, Mystery Jets, Arcade Fire, Jarvis Cocker, Sufjan Stevens and Brakes rubbing shoulders with the likes of the Arctic Monkeys, James Yorkston, Four Tet, Franz Ferdinand and Clinic. Pretty impressive, yeah? Well, to a large extent this is pretty much what you have with Top Of The Class 2006; a top-notch compilation showcasing some of the year’s biggest selling, best-loved UK hip-hop tracks, many of which have never been released on CD before. DJ Disorda, Suspect-Packages.com and Boombox Distribution have all played their part in the exposure of some of the most important UK hip-hop releases in the last few years. They’re the self-confessed backbone of this new hi-definition industry, with Disorda handling the distribution for over fifty UK labels; the custodians of a new direction. Headz up then for Emmanuel (featuring peace-loving Yorkshireman, Braintax, Billy Brimstone, Ghost, Sway, Foreign Beggars, the Blacknificent Seven, Kyza and Supar Novar.
Loads of styles, stacks of corroboration and a whole lotta banging booty.