As with the 24 other brief digital download compilations released to commemorate
Def Jam's 25th anniversary,
Def Jam 25, Vol. 3: It Takes Two, Pt. 1 overlaps a bit with Def Jam Recordings 25th Anniversary, a five-CD box packaged in a sharp miniature record crate.
Def Jam didn't release Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock's "It Takes Two," but many of the label's biggest crossover hits were collaborations, as collected here and on
Def Jam 25, Vol. 4. Among the highlights on this part one are "I'll Be There for You/You're All I Need to Get By" (
Mary J. Blige and
Method Man), "Touch Me Tease Me" (
Case and
Foxy Brown), "Umbrella" (
Rihanna and
Jay-Z), and "Regulate" (
Warren G and
Nate Dogg). Unfortunately, the compilers didn't dig back to any of the label's early R&B duets involving the likes of
Alyson Williams,
Chuck Stanley,
Tashan, and
Oran "Juice" Jones. ~ Andy Kellman