Bootlegs are a kind of guilty pleasure of mine so I'm kind of glad to get this out of the way. Contentious artistic merit aside, I like the way that these records are almost always anonymously produced. Almost as if they were a guilty pleasure even to the bootlegger...

Take a vocal accapella, poach a rhythm, bump it up with snares and bass where necessary, splice it up, and, if you've an ear for it, voila, lazy DJ heaven... Anytime I'm DJing out, at least a fifth of my 7" bag is devoted to bootleg records. I tried my damndest to pick my 5 favourites, couldn't, tried 10, couldn't, so here's 11.

(Apologies to the purists; I'll have to get on some serious high-brow vintage tip next time to redeem myself.)

Sam Cooke & The Sound Dimension - Little Things You Do
Alton Ellis & Tupac - Nothin' Like Rocksteady
The Beastie Boys Vs Laurel & Hardy - Intergalactic Rockers
J Star Feat. The Pharcyde - Still Passin' Me By
The Fugees & The Sound Dimension - Fugee La Rock
Gnarls Barkley, Rubi Dan, TOK & Beenie Man - Creezy Hype
Kelis, Beenie Man & TOK - Trick Me Twice
Mr. Blennd Feat. The Specials & Old Dirty Bastard - A Message To O.D.B
The Jungle Brothers & Ernest Ranglin - Funky Bond Street
Friendly Rasta Feat. Erykah Badu - On & On
Elvis & The Sound Dimension - Crying In The Chapel