Coldcrush Brothers
“Weekend” (Elite Records)

By the time Cold Crush Brothers entered a recording studio on invitation from local promoter and Ecstasy Garage owner Arthur Armstrong, they were arguably the top act on New York’s live hip-hop circuit. By all accounts, the group didn’t take the process seriously. “We did a record but we didn’t really strive for that recording artist glory,” Grandmaster Caz told Johan Kukelberg for Born in the Bronx. Produced by Chic collaborator Marty Celay, “Weekend” has plenty of charm, thanks to the crew’s famed call-and-response routines and melodic choruses. But it resembles material that rivals Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five already made for Sugar Hill Records, and it certainly can’t compare to “The Message.” Although Cold Crush never excelled on wax, their status as kings of the Bronx lasts to this day.

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