Slick Rick's first solo album – one of the vital early front-to-back hip hop albums of the late 80s Def Jam prime era – and up there with the best ever! MC Ricky D introduced the world to a whole new rap style on Doug E Fresh's "The Show" and by the time this album dropped the world was more than ready for a full set of his unique flow. There's no other voice like Slick Rick's, with a skewed sense of humor even at it's most profane, which makes it all the more disarming when he gets serious for a minute. He proves himself the master of the storytelling rap of the period, and the Hank Shocklee, Eric Sadler and Jam Master Jay production is top tier, too. Includes "Treat Her Like A Prostitute", "Children's Story", "The Ruler's Back", "Mona Lisa", "Hey Young World", "Teenage Love" and more. Remastered 30th Anniversary edition – classic original tracklist on 2LPs! LP, Vinyl record album

The first Def Jam single from Slick Rick! 12-inch, Vinyl record

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

Think what you might about Rick James, this is actually a pretty darn funky album – with lots of tight bass-heavy grooves! Rick's working here with the Stone City Band, in a style that's leaner and less commercial than some of his later work – going for a mainstream funk approach, but still leaving enough roughness around the edge to make the album appealing to our ears. In a way, the sound here is kind of a tightening up of Fantasy Records funk, given a few P-Funk twists – slick, but never too slick to groove soulfully! Titles include "Bustin Out", "Love Interlude", "High On Your Love Suite", "Spacey Love", "Cop N Blow", and "Fool On The Street". LP, Vinyl record album

Rick James' first LP for Motown subsidiary Gordy, that was to provide the blueprint for his later success. James' trademark pop bass funk style is fully formed on this one already, and though we may once have thought little of the slick production and style, looking back this stuff has a good bit more substance than some of the other commercial R & B of the day. "Mary Jane" & "You & I" were the 2 big hits of this album, which also includes "Be My Lady", "Hollywood" & "Sexy Lady". LP, Vinyl record album

A rock-solid effort from De La Soul at the start of the 21st Century – a record that really has the group coming back into their own! On previous records, it had been a little difficult to tell if De La Soul has been trying harder to please their critics, or simply finally being true to themselves by expelling all traces of the perceived hippy-isms of their earlier work – and the answer is probably somewhere in between, but leaning towards their autonomy. They've been a new group all together since Stakes Is High, and Bionix is certainly their best work since – with the Wu Tang-like piano driven beat of the title track, the catchy soul of "Baby Phat" and "Simply", both of which should be nice club hits, and more than a few subtle nods to the Prince Paul years, especially on the "Simply Havin" interlude. "What We Do (For Love)" makes great use of a Slick Rick guest spot – complete with the horny fanfare. Cee-Lo shows up on "Held Down", and B-Real appears on "Peer Pressure" – both of which suggest that De La spent a little time in Stankonia last year. Other tracks include "Watch Out", "Special", "The Sauce", "Pawn Star", "It's American", and "Trying People". CD

A rock-solid effort from De La Soul at the start of the 21st Century – a record that really has the group coming back into their own! On previous records, it had been a little difficult to tell if De La Soul has been trying harder to please their critics, or simply finally being true to themselves by expelling all traces of the perceived hippy-isms of their earlier work – and the answer is probably somewhere in between, but leaning towards their autonomy. They've been a new group all together since Stakes Is High, and Bionix is certainly their best work since – with the Wu Tang-like piano driven beat of the title track, the catchy soul of "Baby Phat" and "Simply", both of which should be nice club hits, and more than a few subtle nods to the Prince Paul years, especially on the "Simply Havin" interlude. "What We Do (For Love)" makes great use of a Slick Rick guest spot – complete with the horny fanfare. Cee-Lo shows up on "Held Down", and B-Real appears on "Peer Pressure" – both of which suggest that De La spent a little time in Stankonia last year. Other tracks include "Watch Out", "Special", "The Sauce", "Pawn Star", "It's American", and "Trying People". LP, Vinyl record album

Featuring Slick Rick. 12-inch, Vinyl record

Kendrick Lamar takes wider creative left turns than ever before on To Pimp A Butterfly – with a funk steeped production style that filters tried-and-true P Funk influences through leftfield modern beatcraft styles, inspired by cats like Madlib to Thundercat, the latter of whom is an official contributor. Fresh material from an increasingly pivotal figure – who may not be revolutionizing the game on the level of the heavy critical praise he's heaped with, but he's certainly marching to his own beat, rather than chasing hits! Includes "Wesley's Theory" with George Clinton & Thundercat, "King Kunta", "These Walls" with Bilal, Anna Wise & Thundercat, "Aright", "For Sale?", "Institutionalized" with a Slick Rick-homage of a guest verse by Snoop Dogg (sign us up for any record that gives props to The Ruler...and extra points for transplanting that style of flow to Compton), "Momma", "Hood Politics", "The Blacker The Berry", "How Much A Dollar Cost" feat James Fauntleroy & Ronald Isley, "Mortal Man" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

With Slick Rick on the Alchemist mix! 12-inch, Vinyl record

Jungle Brothers - "Doin' Good For Yourself", Newkirk - "Small Thing", Terminator X - "The Blues", Nice & Smooth - "Paranoia", Slick Rick With Mr. Lee - "Slick Rick - The Ruler", Slick Rick - "I Shouldn't Have Done It", The Famlee - "Love Me", Jungle Brothers - "718 Kit", Alyson Williams - "She's Not Your Fool", Downtown Science - "If I Was", Herbie Hancock & The Don - "Livin' Large" LP, Vinyl record album

Includes selections by Dru Hill featuring Redman, Jay-Z featuring Amil, Wu Tang Clan, JA Rule, Slick Rick, Montell Jordan featuring Monifah and Flesh N Bone, Jon B, Terror Squad, Too Short, and others; plus the theme by Lalo Schifrin, and skits with Chris Tucker. LP, Vinyl record album

A huge dip into the history of hip hop – in a set that's something of a groundbreaking effort from the folks at the Smithsonian! If we're honest, we'll tell you that we're old enough to remember a time when folks thought that hip hop was just a fad – when it was a musical style that would disappear in just a few short years. But now, all these many decades later, the form has had such an impact on American culture that the Smithsonian Institute is giving it some official sort of due – something we never would have believed back in the 80s! The package is huge – 9CDs with a whopping 129 tracks in all, and a 300 page book that supports the recordings with an insane amount of notes, photos, and all sorts of other information – alongside a track list that was put together by folks who include Questlove, 9th Wonder, Chuck D, Jeff Chang, and MC Lyte! The set is especially great on old school tracks up through the golden era hip hop years – but also moves into the 21st century too – and artists include Treacherous Three, Afrika Bambaataa, Fearless Four, Cold Crush Brothers, Herbie Hancock, Run DMC, Fatback, Sugarhill Gang, Kurtis Blow, Funky Four +1, T La Rock, Schoolly D, Beastie Boys, Kool Moe Dee, LL Cool J, Eric B & Rakim, Mantronix, Stetsasonic, Audio Two, Big Daddy Kane, MC Lyte, Marley Marl, Tone Loc, Jungle Brothers, NWA, Public Enemy, Slick Rick, 3rd Bass, De La Soul, Queen Latifa, DOC, 2 Live Crew, Dr Dre, Sir Mix A Lot, Digable Planets, Positive K, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, Naughty By Nature, Black Sheep, Tribe Called Quest, Geto Boys, Pharcyde, 2Pac, Warren G, Gang Starr, Notorious BIG, and many many more! CD

A pair of mid 70s albums from John Mayall – back to back in a single set! First up is Notice To Appear – a great little change for John Mayall – a set that has the British singer picking up some strong funky touches from Allen Toussaint – the New Orleans soul legend who produced and arranged the record, and wrote most of the tunes too! For a brief time in the mid 70s, the Toussaint touch was pure magic, and that's definitely the case here – as the record helps Mayall really re-focus his energy with a lean, tight sort of sound – yet one that's never slick or commercial as well! Toussaint plays plenty of Fender Rhodes and clavinet on the album – and titles include "Lil Boogie In The Afternoon", "Who's Next Who's Now", "Just Knowing You Is A Pleasure", "Mess Of Love", "The Boy Most Likely To Succeed", and "There Will Be A Way". Banquet Of Blues is 70s work from British blues rock legend John Mayall – done in a Cali style that still holds on to his roots, but gives the music a leaner, funkier style overall! The vibe's a bit like Mayall's record with Allen Toussaint, although John's on his own here – tightly refining his older sound, but never smoothing things down too much – maybe just making a shift from blues to soul, both in the rhythms and production – shifting the way Ben Sidran did at the time, even though Sidran was coming from jazz. Rick Vito provides great guitar on most numbers – and titles include "Sunshine", "You Can't Put Me Down", "Lady", "Fantasyland", "Table Top Girl", "Seven Days Too Long", and "I Got Somebody". CD

The second album from Aaliyah, and a huge step forward from the first – shifting both away from production by R Kelly, and towards a more adult approach that really has the singer coming across as a mature solo artist on her own! This time around, Timbaland handles much of the key production, and Missy Elliott plays a key role too – and both appear on the record as well, although it's always clear that the leading lady is the very strong main attraction. Slick Rick guests on a great remake of the Marvin Gaye classic "Got To Give It Up", big singles include "One In A Million" and "If Your Girl Only Knew" – and other tracks include "Hot Like Fire", "The One I Gave My Heart To", "Giving You More", "Everything's Gonna Be Alright" and "Choosey Lover (Old School/New School)". LP, Vinyl record album

With "Just Another Case" with Slick Rick, "Nuthin' But" and "Wreckgonize" with Black Rob, "The Ebonic Plague" with Ras Kass, "Live At The Tunnel" with The Lox, and more. LP, Vinyl record album

The second album from Aaliyah, and a huge step forward from the first – shifting both away from production by R Kelly, and towards a more adult approach that really has the singer coming across as a mature solo artist on her own! This time around, Timbaland handles much of the key production, and Missy Elliott plays a key role too – and both appear on the record as well, although it's always clear that the leading lady is the very strong main attraction. Slick Rick guests on a great remake of the Marvin Gaye classic "Got To Give It Up", big singles include "One In A Million" and "If Your Girl Only Knew" – and other tracks include "Hot Like Fire", "The One I Gave My Heart To", "Giving You More", "Everything's Gonna Be Alright" and "Choosey Lover (Old School/New School)". CD

The first full-length from Mos Def and Talib Kweli together as Black Star – a benchmark moment in hip hop history, and one of the finest duo vocal hip hip records of the 90s – and one of the best ever on Rawkus! In hindsight, it's all the more rewarding given Talib Kweli's longevity in proud, mic skills centric hip hop and while highs and lows of Mos Def's work as the years rolled along – and it still stands as strong (then) underground hip hop that takes on the ghetto fabulous themes of the day and well beyond. Stand out cuts include "Definition" "Twice Inna Lifetime", "Children's Story" – the Slick Rick classic redone along the lines of Jeru's "One Day" – and "Respiration" featuring Common Sense – and other tracks include "Brown Skin Lady", "Yo Yeah", "Thieves In The Night", "Twice Inna Lifetime and more. 13 in all. LP, Vinyl record album

The first full-length from Mos Def and Talib Kweli together as Black Star – a benchmark moment in hip hop history, and one of the finest duo vocal hip hip records of the 90s – and one of the best ever on Rawkus! In hindsight, it's all the more rewarding given Talib Kweli's longevity in proud, mic skills centric hip hop and while highs and lows of Mos Def's work as the years rolled along – and it still stands as strong (then) underground hip hop that takes on the ghetto fabulous themes of the day and well beyond. Stand out cuts include "Definition" "Twice Inna Lifetime", "Children's Story" – the Slick Rick classic redone along the lines of Jeru's "One Day" – and "Respiration" featuring Common Sense – and other tracks include "Brown Skin Lady", "Yo Yeah", "Thieves In The Night", "Twice Inna Lifetime and more. 13 in all. LP, Vinyl record album

A great little album from Masta Ace – part of his early-millennium comeback moment! Ace caught us off guard with his damn strong Disposable Arts LP – which immediately went on our short list of all time best hip hop comeback LPs, along with Slick Rick's Art Of Storytelling – and he mines some of the same lyrical territory on this album – with some straight up, no BS storytelling in which he contemplates his status as one of hip hop's true pioneers, a near legend in his own medium who nevertheless has to deal with day jobs and bills! There's also some more common street hop stuff, but Ace that pretty deftly – on titles that include "Big City", "Good Ol' Love", "Da Grind", "Beautiful", "Soda & Soap", "The Ways", "Wutuwankno", "Oh My God", and "Revelations". LP, Vinyl record album

A tasty plate with some stellar cuts by the one-and-only Missy Elliot – proving once again that she's one of the best generators of great hip hop singles of the past decade – with or without Timbaland! Cookbook as a whole goes down a little bit smoother than This Is Not A Test did, with some standout material manned (and wo-manned) by a bigger roster of producers. Standouts include the great Slick Rick homage "Irresistible Delicious" feat Slick Rick, plus the great Neptunes track "On & On", the single "Lose Control" feat Ciara, "Teary Eyed", "Click Clack", "Time And Time Again" and more! CD

The first album from guitarist John Tropea – an ace 70s session musician, who played on countless records for other folks – and a surprisingly great leader and arranger in his own right too! Tropea's working here in a vibe that's clearly influenced by the CTI sound – smooth but funky fusion – laid down in prime studio conditions, but still nicely soulful throughout, and without any of the BS that crept into other overly-jamming or too-slick records from the time. Guitar's the lead solo instrument on the set, but the album has a lot of other strong work by players that Deodato, Steve Gadd, Rick Marotta, and Rubens Bassini – making for a very tight set that's stood up wonderfully through the years. Titles include "The Bratt", "Tambourine", "7th Heaven", "The Jingle", "Just Blue", "Muff", and "Dreams". LP, Vinyl record album

The legendary Def Jam label serves up a big message in its music – bringing together hip hop cuts from the past and present, all as a way of dealing with the issues that broke big in 2020! At some level, the set's almost a "best of" for the label – although not all these cuts were hits, and work together more as a release by Def Jam that's maybe a bit more overtly political than some of their recent releases. Titles include "Daughters" by Nas, "Glory" by Common & John Legend, "Behind Bars" by Slick Rick, "Fight The Power" by Public Enemy, "Why" by Jadakiss with Anthony Hamilton, "Condemnation" by Yung Cassius, "FDT" by YG with Nipsey Hussle, "America" by Logic with Black Thought & Chuck D, "The Hate You Give" by Bobby Sessions with Keite Young, "My President" by Jezzy with Nas, "Slippin" by DMX, and "Talk About It" by Fabolous, Jadakiss, & Teyana Taylor. LP, Vinyl record album

Forget the title – which sounds like a bit of a gimmick – as this is a fine fine Eddie Harris album! After the success that Vee Jay had with Eddie Harris' huge hit version of "Exodus", they cut this album of Eddie playing movie themes – like "Green Dolphin Street", "Laura", "Moonglow", and "Secret Love", plus a few standards like "These Foolish Things", and "The More I See You". Dick Marx handled the arrangements – and the overall sound is slicker than Eddie's "Exodus", as his solos are laid out over larger string arrangements by Dick Marx, but it's not without some charms – especially because Eddie's tone at this point is amazing, filled with little tricks and turns that make just about anything he plays sound great! LP, Vinyl record album

A surprisingly wonderful debut from the Yellowjackets – one of those groups who've become such a cliche that we forget how great they can be when they're on! This original album was cut years before "smooth jazz" meant "too slick to have soul" – and it's got a sweet electric bounce that follows nicely from the 70s R&B fusion experiments of players like Donald Byrd, Tom Browne, and Ronnie Foster. Russell Ferrante plays some great keyboards on the set next to the bass of Jimmy Haslip and drums of Ricky Lawson – and the album's rounded out with some excellent guest work by fusion luminaries that include Bobby Lyle, Ernie Watts, Larry Williams, Paulinho Da Costa, Robben Ford, and Roland Bautista. LP, Vinyl record album

A great post-Miles/post-Herbie space funk jam – produced by Skip Drinkwater before he got into his later, more well-known slick Jazz-funk style. Eddie's set up with some of the hippest players of his generation – including Bennie Maupin, Buster Williams, Billy Hart and Patrick Gleeson, who kicks out some amazing work in a moogy synth mode! Herbie Hancock also plays Fender Rhodes and Clavinet on the album – and titles include "Inside Out", "Dreams", "Fusion", "Discoveries", and "Moussaka". LP, Vinyl record album

A massive package of work from the mighty Kool & The Gang – 6 full albums from the 80s, served up here in a 3CD set! First up is Ladies Night – a shameless dancefloor cash-in move – but a record that's still pretty darn great as well! You all know the big title cut "Ladies Night", so we won't bother to describe it – but we can say that the group wisely hooked up with Deodato, who produced, mixed, and even played keyboards on the album. Deodato keeps a nice jazzy punch in the tracks, while still moving towards the slickly produced funk sound that was the group's main approach at the time of the record. JT Taylor's on vocals, and the album's even got a few mellow cuts – like the crossover easy number "Too Hot" – amidst the midtempo 80s grooves that really step out and make the whole thing move. Other tracks include "Ladies Night", "Hangin Out", "Tonight's The Night", "If You Feel Like Dancin", and "Got You Into My Life". The next album is Something Special indeed – as the album was one of the biggest hits for Kool & The Gang, and showed that the group still had plenty of energy left to groove into the 80s! The record features production work by Brazilian music maestro Eumir Deodato – who by this point had become a sweet and smooth talent with a real flair for putting over a modern soul groove! Deodato's approach is really great – smooth, yet soulful, without any tricks or gimmicks – and a real appreciation for lead vocals and a catchy little hook! The album features the group's party classic "Get Down On It", plus "Steppin Out", "No Show", "Pass It On", "Be My Lady", "Take My Heart", and "Good Time Tonight". As One is solid 80s grooving from Kool & The Gang – a group who inspired so many others in the early 80s soul generation, but who could still do it better than most of the rest! The style here is tight and smooth, but never too slick – and Deodato's giving the group some really great production for the album – helping them to focus their energy and soar soulfully, but without resorting to any stiff gimmicks or cliches! There's a great groove running through most of the numbers here – a confident quality that's never too commercial, and which bubbles along nicely throughout. Titles include "Street Kids", "Big Fun", "As One", "Hi De Hi Hi De Ho", "Let's Go Dancin", and "Pretty Baby". In The Heart is a sweet set that's part of a big early 80s run from Kool & The Gang – a time that saw the funk legends really hitting the mainstream, and winning over a huge new audience in the process! Given that the Gang virtually invented ensemble funk at the start of the 70s, they're perfectly poised here to move into modes that so many of their younger competition were trying – but never did so well – that blend of 80s elements and more sharply-fused funk instrumentation, all honed down into a tightly snapping groove. The real surprise, though, is the group's growing ability for ballads – which put records like this into hands of folks who never would have dug their funk a few years before. And while we might have had a few problems with that shift at the time, the passage of years has got the whole thing sounding pretty darn great to our ears – especially in comparison to so much weaker work from the time. Titles include "In The Heart", "Joanna", "Tonight", "Straight Ahead", "September Love", "You Can Do It", and "Home Is Where The Heart Is". Last up is Emergency – one of the key classics from the second chapter of the group – when their lineup and sound were a lot leaner than before, and they managed to cross over big to a much wider audience than before! The upbeat cuts show that the group were still kings of the funky dancefloor – and the mellower ones are equally great too – showing a rising ballad style that proved to be the group's big crossover card at the time – a way of putting over a laidback track, but with plenty of soul. This approach is heard to great effect on the album's great single "Cherish" – and other tracks include "Bad Woman", "Surrender", "Emergency", "Misled", "Fresh", and "You Are The One". CD

A groovy album of slick LA jazz – put together by the great Pat Williams, who did some great arranging work for Verve and MPS in earlier years! The record features a lot of studio jazz players – like Dave Grusin, Toots Thielemans, Gerrry Niewood, Marvin Stamm, and Jerome Richardson – and the tracks are short with kind of an uptempo funky style. Titles include "Barrio", "Blue Light", "Sail On", and versions of the "Bob Newhart" and "Lou Grant" TV Themes! LP, Vinyl record album

Classic work from Brick – a group who went onto become surprisingly successful during the 70s with a hot Atlanta blend of funky soul and uptempo club grooves – absolutely killing it early on with this self-titled second album! Brick has a feel that would be taken up heavily a few years later by LA funk combos – particularly those on the Solar label – and their style of slicking up funky licks into a tightly compressed sound was obviously a big hit with the kids of their generation. Includes the sample classic "Dusic", plus "Living From The Mind", "Happy", "Ain't Gonna Hurt Nobody", "Honey Chile", Fun", "Hello" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

A brilliant sextet session from Stanley Cowell – one of his few larger group sessions of the time, done during a period when he was recording almost exclusively in trio format! The album features a well-crafted sextet with lots of nice edges – bringing together Eddie Henderson on trumpet, Rick Margitza on tenor, Dick Griffin on trombone, Peter Washington on bass, and Billy Hart on drums – all to shade and color Cowell's rich piano work and fresh compositions for the set. There's a deeply soulful feel to the record that's quite wonderful – a new exploration of Cowell's inspirations from the 70s, taken to some very tight territory here – but never with any sense of slickness at all. Titles include the excellent "Bright Passion", plus "Departure", "Setup", "Varions", "Bip Bip Bam" and "Sendai Sendoff". CD