Hip Hop -- Recently Added -- CD  

GZA's back doing what he does best on Pro Tools -- more of a literally relevant title than it is a nod to modern recording apparatus -- as it's a return to gritty classic style Wu sounds and smart, measured rhymes. One could argue about the lack of new ground broken, but we're pleased with ...

Lil Dap's unbelievably long overdue debut solo shot -- with a solid, jazzy soul beat backdrop -- just what we'd expect from one of the founders of the Group Hope. There's nothing terribly innovative about Dap's debut CD, but it's a strong piece of classic style craftsmanship -- a fairly timeless ...

The long ago shelved Bumpy Knuckles album from 1994 -- plus DITC produced demos -- seeing official light of day for the first time ever in this 2CD set! The album only ever surfaced as a promo cassette, so this is needless to say, long overdue! Disc 1 (Jailhouse Version) features the '94 version, ...

Classic minded but truly fresh duo hip hop from the Chuck Inglish and Mikey Rocks, aka the Cool Kids -- billed as an EP, but a pretty generous one at 10 tracks and more than a half hour in length -- a strong hint that these Kids are going to make a huge splash! The Cool Kids produce themselves, ...

Bedrock beatcraft and DJ mix mastery from Steve Stein -- including the hugely important Double Dee & Steinski mixes of the early 80s -- paired up with solid later work for this excellent 2CD compilation! The Double Dee & Steinski stuff really couldn't be more important to the turntablist ...

A funky tribute to JB from Chuck D -- and a loose collective of vocalist, MCs and killer band -- with funky renditions of JB classics with righteous rhymes from Chuck & co! The band, along with vocalist Kyle Jason and guest singers & MCs for the most part roll with faithful renditions of ...

The third album from Presto -- solid, tried & true, straight up hip hop from the Cali producer -- featuring Sadat X, OC, Large Professor, Fatlip of the Pharcyde, Raashan Ahmad, CL Smooth, Kim Hill, Blu, Lowd and others! Presto is a great job of building on the influences of the best of hip hop' ...

The return of the mighty Akrobatik -- with support from a stellar roster of some of the most unique MCs of the past couple decades -- talent as inimitable as Akrobatik himself! Guests include Bumpy Knuckles, B-Real, Talib Kweli, Little Brother, Chuck D, Mr Lif and Brenna Gethers -- plus production ...

Young Jeezy adds some broad strokes of social commentary to his tracks on Recession -- without changing the name of the game, or sacricing his early swagger in any way -- with production by DJ Squeeky, Midnight Black, Shawty Redd, JUSTICE League and others. Titles include "Welcome Back", ...

A rugged & raw set of tracks from Ghostface & Trife Da God, plus Theodore Unit -- and some bonus tracks featuring cameos by some of the Wu Tang, Kool G Rap and Slick Rick! The main album includes some nicely raw tracks that are new to our ears, plus some of Ghost & co's better 12-inch ...

A tasty helping of material from Justus League flagship Little Brother -- who lit the underground ablaze a couple years ago with their debut on ABB -- and hope to do the same in '05 when the Minstrel Show drops on Atlantic! Chitlin Circuit features unreleased tracks, remixes and b-sides -- largely ...

Late old school era work by the Tuff Crew -- who went on to put out records on Warlock! The Tuff Crew billed itself as an all star crew of MCs from Philly and New Jersey -- and the sound reflects it. Schoolly D's production style seems to be a direct influence, as much as the rhymes remind us of ...

The instrumental/dub versions of all the tracks from the Criminal Minded LP -- one of the most important albums in the history of hip hop -- the first full LP from KRS One, and a landmark batch of tracks recorded with the late Scott La Rock! The track list alone is a full chapter in the hip hop ...

The "lost" album from Sir Menelik, aka Cyclops 4000, a man with many aliases -- and a frequent mid 90s cohort of Kool Keith/Dr. Octagon! Fans were aching for a full length from Sir Men before Rawkus collapsed -- and many of these tracks were most likely destined for a release on that ...

The first and best album by the ever slept-on Skinny Boys -- recorded for Warlock with a raw, gritty sound -- finally available on CD! Weightless is a far more terse effort than the Boys ever recorded for Jive later on. It's actually one of the harder-hitting records we can think of on Warlock -- ...

Benchmark 80s electro -- and also part of the blueprint for the sound of west coast hip hop -- the groundbreaking work of Arabian Prince! Perhaps one of the most overlooked innovators of the west coast scene, Arabian Prince played an integral role in shaping the LA hip-hop sound, from the early ...

De La Soul takes a turn underground with Impossible Mission -- an odds & sods set of new cuts and previously unreleased bits -- a stripped-down, back-to-basics set of raw mic-centric hip hop! De La's previous full length was the slept on gem Grind Date from 2004 -- and this set of tracks is a ...

A mid 80s classic from T La Rock! T is still best known for his dynamite Rick Rubin-produced single "It's Yours", but he brought a lot of great stuff to this full length from a couple years later -- in a style that clearly influenced cats from the Ultramags, to Kool G Rap and many others! ...

Real hip hop from the Jeanius -- the long rumored, previously leaked, later redone and finally released full length collaboration from Jean Grae and 9th Wonder! Jeanius is just what you want it to be -- a straight no chaser, no BS batch of blueprint funky soul beats from 9th Wonder -- and tough, ...

Lord Finesse's dope comeback LP from the mid 90s -- his third album overall -- reissued by Traffic & WEA and sounding better! Awakening finds Finesse repping the DITC in near peak performance, rivaling the classic debut -- and featuring appearances by KRS One, OC, MC Lyte, Kid Capri, Akinyele ...

Mindblowing -- and like a dream come true! This is undeniably one of the most important records ever in hip hop -- and now, it's lovingly reissued (on both CD and LP), with a quality level that pushes it over the top! The sound is great, the package is wonderful, and the music sounds even fresher ...

A compilation of PUTS niceness from the Om Years -- stellar underground hip hop built from the funky true school boom bap blueprint -- plus a second CD featuring b-sides & rarities! The early-to-mid 00s found the People Under The Stairs dropping near classics on each LP -- and many of the ...

Aesop, Bicasso, Gligh, Grouch, LuckyIam, MURS, Scarub & Sun Spot Jonz are gather for the Gathering EP -- with "The Gathering", "She Wants Me", "Pants On Fire", "War & Peace", "Luva Changer", "Samba" and "After Hours" ...

Ruthless Cali group gangsta from Above the Law -- the first and probably best LP! A benchmark LP -- one of the planks on the bridge between the earlier efforts from NWA, Eazy E and the click and the later Dre & Snoop heyday. Livin' Like Hustlers has a few tracks produced by Dr Dre, and the ...

It took far too long for Cappadonna's Pillage LP to drop -- finally hitting the streets in the late 90s -- and serving as one of the best Wu related efforts of the last couple years of the decade! The hazy, ominous and pulp cinema Wu sound is trotted out with continued relevance and strong rhymes ...

Ghostface's follow up to Supreme Clientele -- a tough predecessor to live up, no doubt about that -- but Bulletproof Wallets is still a cut or 10 above some of the Wu work of the later 90s and early 00s! The single "Ghost Showers" is a great track, and "Never Be The Same Again" ...

Nice mid 90s work from the legendary Kool G Rapp! 4,5,6 was first of a string of comebacks for the man from QB with the crisp lisp -- and a strong slice of mid 90s hip hop. Beats by Buckwild, Dr Butcher, T Ray and Naughty Shorts. There's a nice duet with Nas on "Fast Life", also ...

Nas's sorta comeback record from '02 -- and a strong one! Stillmatic was a welcome change of pace after some not so great work in the later 90 -- with the return-to-form rally cry "One Mic" setting the pace -- and the best cuts on this set still sound great! 15 tracks including "Sti ...

Some of RZA's best production work from the end of the 90s/start of the 00s -- and the soundtrack to Jim Jarmusch's underrated samurai/crime flick Ghost Dog! The album features mostly Wu or Wu produced tracks, and lots of nice spoken dialogue bits of Forrest Whitaker reading from the book of ...

Another absolutely essential collection from Soul Jazz, this time out heading straight for the outer boroughs of the Bronx, Harlem, Brooklyn and Queens to document the fresh, fly, wild and bold rap tracks that rocked block parties and roller rinks from '79 on! 16 amazing tracks from the dawn of ...

The east coast crime epic from Kool G Rap & DJ Polo -- hard hitting, headnodding production from Sir Jinx, Kool G Rap & Trakmasterz -- and riveting, violent wordplay from Kool G Rap! Live And Let Die isn't as well remembered as a handful of the other violent storytelling classics of the ...

Rare breaks from the DITC vaults -- gritty, funky soul beats from the Show vaults! 30 tracks in 45 minutes -- really kind of coming off as a classic era set of scratchy soul beats. All untitled. ...

The third album by The Game -- still striving to both modernize and represent the old school of LA gangsta -- diversifying the production and the rhymes with a freewheeling selection of guests -- including Common, Bilal, Keyshia Cole, Nas, Ice Cube, Lil Wayne and others. Production by JR Rotem, ...

The classic first Biz Markie EP on Prism -- expanded by Cold Chillin with live material captured at Club Uptown in Worcester, MA in '87 -- much of it on CD for the first time ever! All of the tracks from the seminal 12" appear. Two tracks that never made it to his first LP include a dope ...

Delicious vinyl hits their vaults and reinvents their back catalog as a neo-electro fest for bourgeois hipsters, art school dropouts and fashion victims coast to coast! No matter what you may think of remixing tracks some decades down the line, this set gives an entirely different spin to some ...

Modern hip hop production maestro Symbolic One of Strange Fruit Project cranks up his Music Box -- with a diverse roster of guest MCs including Little Brother, Lifesavas, Tanya Morgan, Yolanda Johnson, Darien Brockington and others! S1 does a great job of keeping the soulful hip hop sound fresh ...

A reissue of the late 80s classic album by the legendary JVC Force -- an album that was almost impossible to find, even when it first came out. The original LP featured 10 mellow underground cuts from NYC, including "Strong Island", probably the best song on B-Boy Records, outside of ...

Wild, left field hip hop sound art from the secret genius Rammellzee and others! Rammellzee teams his Gothic Futurism art movement with old school/future shock hip hop, no wave rule breaking, confrontational sci fi imagery, and just plain weirdness with producers/friends/fellow travelers Munk, ...

Funky mad work from Cut Chemist and Madlib -- with a sound that's right off of a classic funky 45, filtered through a South Bronx soundsystem! "6 Variations Of In The Rain" is based around Billy Wooten's famous jazz vibes version of The Dramatics cut "In The Rain" -- and it ...

Pete Rock returns with his inimitable soul beat style -- from hard funk, to solid soul, to some airier, jazzy bits -- all with the personal touch of not only one of NY's Finest , but one of best hip hop beatmakers who ever lived! Soul Brother #1 has been flying the flag for a true school hip hop ...

The second album of heavy east coast funk and slow rolling rhymes from the brothers from Brentwood. Nice, fat trunk rattling production and Eric and Parrish's trademark back and forth rhymes keep this set fresh,even today. Loaded with classics: "So What Cha Sayin'", "Get the ...

An instrumental hip hop set from soulful boom bap beat maestro Radius -- in concept it's a wordless narrative that serves as an aural trip through the neighborhoods of Chicago -- but the sound is rawly soulful and universal! Radius does a fine job of relating a neighborhood to a mood and a mindset ...

One of the last dope releases from the Wild Pitch glory days, and an essential piece of early 90s hip hop from the Diggin' In The Crates crew. Nice, smooth production from Buckwild with lyrics to match, and a couple tracks produced by Lord Finesse and Organized Konfusion, and three tracks that ...

Vast Aire of Cannibal Ox returns with another unpredictable solo set -- with heavily thumping and hard hitting beats, a spacey swirl of synth sounds, and solid MC skills that would work just as well on a block corner as they would on a spaceship. VA still splits the difference between straight up, ...

Crackly funk beats from Kev Brown -- a timeless headnodder backdrops from the rhymes of Visionaries emcee LMNO -- great stuff all around! Guests include Stones Throw players Oh No, Dudley Perkins & Georgia Anne Muldrow -- but this the record belongs to the main duo -- nice stuff that looks ...

QB's finest return to take hop hop back to its roots, as the title of the disc implies. . . Craig G shooting the gift with Marley Marl coming fully correct with his beats, reminding everyone to never discount a veteran, like George Foreman! They bring in a handful of ringers for guest spots, like ...

This nearly ranks up with the best of the mid 80s classic LPs -- so it's great to have it back on reissue! All production, and some vocals, are handled by KRS -- who really seemed to revel in the Id-level work here in a way he couldn't really pull off with the more strident BDP. Beat box by DMX. ...

An incredible compilation of late 80s rap put together by the one-and-only Jazzy Jay -- filled with hard-to-find tracks, some of which were issued as 12"s on the Strong City label! Dope middle school beats from Tony D, Diamond D (his debut?), DJ Shabazz, Congo Square Productions, and others ...

A sweet sweet of mellow, feel good hip hop and percolating grooves compiled by Toru Hashimoto for Suburban Factory of the Japanese scene -- jazzy and soulful hip hop from Lone Catalysts, Carlos Nino & Lil Sci, Sound Providers, Jazzanova, Kev Brown and many more! The Mellow Beats series has ...

The second post Mantronik set from the frequently slept on 80s rap genius Just-Ice -- featuring production by none other than KRS-One -- with a few righteous and ruthless tracks that stand up with the best from the earlier classic LPs! The rugged and raw KRS backdrop serves Just-Ice's gruff ...