Jack: Caribbean-to-Pittsburgh.

No idea as to what you heard in Pittsburgh. Same-same its connection to the thread title. Taking the commercialism and amplification out of hip-hop is like taking the H and the O out of water.

Retail vinyl didn't sound that good on high-wattage analog kit; problems with the moving geometries of the record groove and stylus (needle.) It's the same for large venue disco, funk, salsa &c. Stereo is another problem altogether.

The Southern lot do get around though. Sir Coxsone's work, begun in the 1950s, is the forerunner of the modern 45rpm twelve-inch single and turntablism.

Island Records started in Jamaica in 1959 as an urban dance hall-mento label. 1ea.: Englishman; Australian; Chinese-Jamaican and American. The first time the team moved the charts off-island was Millie Small's '64 cover of My Boy Lollipop. Not exactly gangsta rap... or folk.