Buffalo Gals Back to Skool

by Stewart Mason One of the most peculiar and wonderful albums of early hip-hop is Malcolm McLaren's groundbreaking 1982 release Duck Rock. A mixture of hip-hop radio links (starring the World Famous Supreme Team from New York's groundbreaking WHBI 105.9 FM) and source recordings of traditional forms of Latin and African music, along with gimmicky singles like "Buffalo Gals," "Double Dutch," and "Duck for the Oyster," Duck Rock was humorous, pan-cultural, and genuinely fascinating. 1998's Buffalo Gals Back to Skool is a sort of self-tribute to Duck Rock, with the original World's Famous Supreme Team links interspersed with new recordings by second-string '90s hip-hoppers (Rakim and KRS-One are the highest profile rappers, although De La Soul's Dave Jolicoeur remixes the World Famous Supreme Team's 1983 single "Hey DJ") and spoken-word reminiscences from McLaren about how Duck Rock came into being when he was introduced to hip-hop while in New York during his tenure as Bow Wow Wow's manager. The resulting album is a patchy, scattershot affair that doesn't have anywhere near the impact of the original, but the obvious fondness all concerned have for Duck Rock and its impact on the original New York hip-hop community makes Buffalo Gals Back to Skool possibly the first true hip-hop nostalgia album.