Hip Hop — All Formats  

Rare promo only 12", with three different mega mixes of Tommy Boy's best from the early days, with 3D (Ralph D'Agostino, Tommy Musto and Tommy Sozzi) dropping bits of "Renegades Of Funk", "Play That Beat", "Looking For The Perfect Beat" and more in a continuous mix of electro classics.

Greatest hits compilation from one of the true greats! Tracks include "Zulu Nation Throw Down", "Planet Rock", "Looking For The Perfect Beat", "Frantic Situation", "Unity Part 7", "What Time Is It", and "Funk You".

Rare single by Bam and the Soulsonic Force off the Beat Street soundtrack.

Lots of extra goodies, in keeping with the usual De La 12" format!

With Phil The Agony, Xzibit and the Liks on the a-side.

We're not always the biggest Digital Underground fans, but Shock G/Humpty comes close to the funky goofiness of their earlier hits – with a definite Parliafunkadelicment edge (it samples "Aqua Boogie", but without the heavy sound that drowns a lot of the later west coast hip hop production.

By this point, Naughty by Nature's best material was behind them, but the remixes are still really nice.

Prince Paul's first solo set – with the same dope production and sense of humor that have made all his other projects classics – even if this one's way overlooked in his canon! It's a bit of a concept album – with tracks that play out as chapters in the state of a messed-up hip hop mind state – over timeless beats with that slightly off kilter Prince Paul approach. 18 tracks in all, counting the interludes, including "Drinks (Escapism)", "Psycho Linguistics (Convergent Thought)", "Vexual Healing (Vacillation)" "Introduction To Psychoanalysis (Schizophrenia), "Beautiful Night (Manic Psychopath), "Open Your Mouth (Hypothalamus)", "That's Entertainment!? (Aversive Conditioning)", "In Your Mind (Altered States)" and "Booty Clap".

"Nature of a Sista", produced by Luis Vega has sort of Bomb Squad wall-of-sound feel.

Six different mixes of this meeting of two greats. Admittedly not as entirely dope as it could have been, but still as nice as a Soul Sonic Force records with backing by Doug Wimbish and Keith LeBlanc. Also, there's a few interludes with James Brown saying a few words about the record. Nice cover with a photo of Afrika and the Godfather holding hands in unity!

Picture sleeve copy of this one from Buhloone Mind State. Lots of extra goodies, in keeping with the usual De La 12" format!

Beautiful 12" from the early days, featuring vocal and instrumental versions of two of the best LP cuts, plus "Skip 2 My Loop". The picture cover has some nice shots of the De La's holding up signs that say "Jimmy" and "Jenifa" – like they used to do in early live shows!

12" with 4 great mixes of the title track, plus the sublime "Mack Daddy On The Left" which became the theme song for one of our favorite Chicago hip hop DJs. "Mack Daddy On The Left" is as dope as anything on 3 Feet High & Rising, but was only released as a b-side track.

Digital Underground's first album of P-Funky, hook heavy, party rockin hip hop for Tommy Boy! The first two albums by Shock G and the rest of the crew are classics, even if they don't get enough always get the props – possibly because the well the well of P-Funk samples wasn't necessarily the freshest waters, and also because the "Humpty Dance" was such a crossover smash, but few through a party like Digital Underground at the dawn of the 90s, and it's fresh and funky all these years later. Titles include the hit "Doowutchyalike" and the mega hit "Humpty Dance", plus "Freaks of the Industry", "Doowutchyalike", "The Way We Swing", plus "Sex Packets", "Street Scene", "Packet Man", "Underwater Rimes (rmx)", 'The New Jazz", "Rhymin On The Funk", 'The Danger Zone" and "Packet Reprise".

By this point, Naughty by Nature's best material was behind them, but the remixes are still nice, with each one using different music than the LP version.

8 tracks from the New Jersey Drive Soundtrack including a couple not available elsewhere. Tracks include OC & Organized Konfusion "You Won't Go Far", Mad Lion "Own Destiny", Jeru "Invasion", Black Moon & Smiff-N-Wessun "Headz Ain't Ready", Biz Markie "Nobody Beats the Biz", Naughty By Nature "Connections", E. Bros "Funky Piano", Funkmaster Flex & Big Kap "Flip Squad's in the House."

One of their great 12" singles, with the full 7-minute version of the classic "Buddy" featuring Q-Tip, Latifah, and Monie Love. Loads of extra mixes that all sound very different from one another. Between the remixes of the songs, there's enough material here to put together a short album. Makes us remember the good old days, when Hip Hop singles used to really be enough to carry you through until the next LP came out.

The epic second De La Soul album – a slightly deeper record than the upbeat 3 Feet High And Rising, but to us it's just as irrefutably classic – and among the best hip hop full lengths ever! The trio is still working with Prince Paul, so despite the cover image and declaration of the end of the Daisy age, there's no shortage of humor and bouncing good time hip hop – if a turn tougher. To put it simply, this is one of the many reasons we look a the early 90s as the salad days of hip hop. With "Oodles Of O's", Talkin' Bout Hey Love", "A Roller Skating Jam Named Saturdays", "Millie Pulled A Pistol On Santa", "Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)", "Keepin' The Faith", "Bitties In The BK Lounge", "Pass The Plugs" and, as was the style at the time, loads of funny skits.

With a remix of "Ego Trippin (Part 2)" from the Buhloone Mindstate album plus two 12-inch only bonus tracks – "Ego Trippin (Part 3)" and "Lovely How I Let My Mind Float" featuring Biz Markie, both produced by Prince Paul. And if the music wasn't nice enough, the cover is done up in the style of one of those early 80's hip hop flyers.

Music by Keith LeBlanc and samples from Malcolm X's The Ballot Or The Bullet speech.

A Gary Glitter tune's given the Arthur Baker electro treatment for your breaking pleasure, plus the acapella to "Play At Your Own Risk".

First single from the second LP. "Heart Full Of Sorrow" features Sadat X.

The first post-Tommy Boy De La Soul album – and it's a winner! We've been on board with De La throughout their long career – anyone with open ears must know that even their spottiest records (and this is NOT one of those) feature at least a handful of treasure tracks. Grind Date is easily the best later De La Soul album, and brevity is as key to the album as the group's proven longevity. 12 tracks, 49 minutes, no skits. Two songs in you'll find the stellar "Verbal Clap", one of J Dilla's finest productions ever, with precise on beat rhymes by De La. Other highlights include "He Comes" with Ghostface, a soulful track that would sound just as great on Ghost's Supreme Clientele. Is Grind Date the new sound for the mid 00s? Will it blaze trails and be co-opted by the next hot producers? Are the lyrics as solid as they could be? Probably not in each scenario, but that's not the point – these guys are consummate musicians, molding their rhyme schemes to the tracks with focus and precision. Most critics will say this is De La's best album since Stakes Is High. We'll say it's better! Featuring production by Dave West, J Dilla, Madlib and 9th Wonder – plus guest appearances by Yummy, Ghostface, Carl Thomas, MF Doom, Common and others. Other tracks include "The Future", "Much More" feat Yummy, "The Grind Date", "Shopping Bags", "Days Of Our Lives" with Common, "Come On Down", "Rock Co. Kane Flow" featuring MF Doom and more.

The first post-Tommy Boy De La Soul album – and it's a winner! We've been on board with De La throughout their long career – anyone with open ears must know that even their spottiest records (and this is NOT one of those) feature at least a handful of treasure tracks. Grind Date is easily the best later De La Soul album, and brevity is as key to the album as the group's proven longevity. 12 tracks, 49 minutes, no skits. Two songs in you'll find the stellar "Verbal Clap", one of J Dilla's finest productions ever, with precise on beat rhymes by De La. Other highlights include "He Comes" with Ghostface, a soulful track that would sound just as great on Ghost's Supreme Clientele. Is Grind Date the new sound for the mid 00s? Will it blaze trails and be co-opted by the next hot producers? Are the lyrics as solid as they could be? Probably not in each scenario, but that's not the point – these guys are consummate musicians, molding their rhyme schemes to the tracks with focus and precision. Most critics will say this is De La's best album since Stakes Is High. We'll say it's better! Featuring production by Dave West, J Dilla, Madlib and 9th Wonder – plus guest appearances by Yummy, Ghostface, Carl Thomas, MF Doom, Common and others. Other tracks include "The Future", "Much More" feat Yummy, "The Grind Date", "Shopping Bags", "Days Of Our Lives" with Common, "Come On Down", "Rock Co. Kane Flow" featuring MF Doom and more.