New York based producer Nomadic has worked with some high profile artists, but for his latest CD entitled Back to the Beat, he re-imagines classic 80s tracks by such artists as Run DMC, MC Lyte, Eric B and Rakim, Public Enemy, and the Beastie Boys. Nomadic states he is not trying to recreate these classic tracks. The album is more of a tribute to the artists that defined and established a genre.

For someone who is about to turn 26 years old, I can appreciate this remix project. One problem: when most of these songs came out, I was still running around in my PJ's listening to Sesame Street tapes. So in order make this review complete, I had to seek a higher authority.

Here's where the "oldheads" come in. Oldhead is a slang term referring to the older people in the community, and they are highly respected in hip-hop circles. Oldheads are the ones who've heard it all and seen it all. Sure, they couldn't work an iPod to save their life, but they still have their cassette tape collection in pristine condition.

Sure, older people can be snobbish about their music sometimes, but you have to understand the connection they have to the first generation of hip hop artists. Most remember the first time they heard Grandmaster Flash, LL Cool J, or Run DMC. And at that point, in the early to mid eighties, hip-hop was a burgeoning genre that the mainstream considered a fad. These individuals made up a generation which created the hip-hop movement.

The venue for this listening party was family barbecue. Since I was the only one there under the age of 30, it was the perfect setting to see how they would react. I put the CD in the boom box and from the first track, the oldheads were hooked. In between the shouts of "this takes me baaaaaack!" and "I remember when..", there was a vast appreciation for what DJ Nomadic was able to do. He took old school hip-hop tracks and dropped some chilled out beats in the background, in some instances creating a completely different feel to the track.

Crowd favorites were "The Message," originally performed by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious 5, "Public Enemy Number 1" by Public Enemy, and "My Adidas," by none other than RUN DMC. Remixed tracks from Whodini and Audio Two also received favorable reactions. With so much nostalgia, Back to the Beat received the "oldhead" seal of approval. That's more than I could say for the D4L song that was on the radio before I put in the CD.

Unfortunately, hip-hop remix albums are a dime a dozen, and Back to the Beat doesn't particularly stand out among the masses. Don't get me wrong, it's a great album and one of my favorite albums of 2006, but there is nothing breathtaking and revolutionary about it, so I can't say if it will have long lasting appeal.

Still, at $7 MSRP (including shipping), it's an affordable addition to your music collection. You can purchase the CD from NomadicTrackz.com.