The fantastic solo debut of Pharoahe Monch – served up after a few years of guest appearances that were really raising our ears to his mighty talents! The Pharoahe returns the favor here – inviting in guest versions from Common, Talib Kweli, Canibus, Apani B Fly, Busta Rhymes, MOP, and others – all rolled into that crisply perfect production style that made Rawkus albums like this so essential at the time – and so great over the years to come. Titles include "Behind Closed Doors", "Queens", "Simon Says", "Official", "God Send", "The Next Sh*t", "Right Here", and "The Truth" – plus the great remix version of "Simon Says", with work from Method Man, Redman, and Shabaam Sahdeeq. CD

Promo single off the Oz soundtrack. 12-inch, Vinyl record

Black Milk's excellent Tronic – representing Detroit proudly, and succeeding as well as any producer/MC from those parts since Dilla left us! The way Black Milk captures a drum sound continues to slay us – it was the first element of his work that pulled us in, and continues to be our favorite – but he's also excellent at quality control – busily dropping filler free, tight records for himself and as a hired gun producer. Tronic features guests including Royce da 5'9, Fat Ray, Pharoahe Monch, Sean Price & DJ Premier. Titles include "Long Story Short", "Bounce", "Without You" feat Colin Munroe, "Hold It Down", "Losing Out" feat Royce, "Overdose", "The Matrix" feat Premier, Pharoahe & Sean Price, "Try", "Tronic Summer", "Bond 4 Life" feat Melanie Rutherford and more. LP, Vinyl record album

All hits and almost no misses – starting with "Oooh", easily the best single of the '00, featuring some nice quotes from classic hip hop tracks ranging from the Funky 4 + 1 to Mos Def, and some of Redman's best verses in a while. De La Soul basically started the whole skits-between-songs concept, or at least they perfected it, and (unlike too many other artists) here they get it right again – even the three hilarious "Ghostweed" skits featuring cameo appearances from Pharoahe Monch, Q-Tip, and Black Thought hold up to repeated listenings. Also includes "My Writes", "Thru Ya City", "All Good?", 'Words FromThe Chief Rocker" and the "Art Of Getting Jumped" – 17 tracks in all. CD

With Xzibit, Big Gip and Pharoahe Monch on "Connect" and Baron Ricks, Heather B, and The Underdogs on "How We Doin' It". 12-inch, Vinyl record

A glorious send off from J Dilla – with some of the most soulful productions Dilla's ever laid down – and appearances by Common, D'Angelo, Pharoahe Monch, Madlib, MED, Black Thought and others! It's impossible to listen to The Shining without considering the sad circumstances surrounding its release, and all too easy to over praise, but this record is filled timelessly inventive production – and passionate rhymes from the honored guests. A lot of the more leftfield, abstract touches that create most of the character on the Donuts LP are really on the outskirts of the sound here – a much richer, deeper, funky drum influenced batch of sounds. We're speechless. There's one more official posthumous LP in the can, and thank goodness for that. Tracks include in-your-f**kin' face intro "Geek Down" with Busta Rhymes, "E=MC2" feat Common, "Love Jones", "Love" feat Pharoahe Monch, "Baby" feat Madlib & Guilty Simpson, "So Far To Go" feat Common & D'Angelo (come back D', the world needs you), "Jungle Love" feat MED & Guilty Simpson, "Dime Piece (Remix)" feat Dwele, "Love Movin'" feat Black Thought and "Won't Do". LP, Vinyl record album

Collaborations by The Black Keys with Ludacris, Ol Dirty Bastard, Mos Def, Pharoahe Monch, RZA, Nicole Wray, Noe, Raekwon, Jim Jones, Billy Danze, and Q-Tip! LP, Vinyl record album

All hits and almost no misses – starting with "Oooh", easily the best single of the '00, featuring some nice quotes from classic hip hop tracks ranging from the Funky 4 + 1 to Mos Def, and some of Redman's best verses in a while. De La Soul basically started the whole skits-between-songs concept, or at least they perfected it, and (unlike too many other artists) here they get it right again – even the three hilarious "Ghostweed" skits featuring cameo appearances from Pharoahe Monch, Q-Tip, and Black Thought hold up to repeated listenings. Also includes "My Writes", "Thru Ya City", "All Good?", 'Words FromThe Chief Rocker" and the "Art Of Getting Jumped" – 17 tracks in all. CD

Trumpeter Keyon Harrold starts out this album with an inspirational message from his mother taken from his voicemail – then draws from that message to create one of his most amazing albums to date! Harrold's already been part of a strong underground scene for years – but here, he's clearly ready to burst forth and win over everyone else's ears – mixing his strong solo talents with a more spacious vision of presentation that sometimes uses larger strings, sometimes brings in a bit of vocals, and sometimes returns to the core energy of a combo! Harrold produced the record himself, and was clearly given a lot of space to get things right – something that's not often the case in the jazz industry these days, unless you're Robert Glasper – and he welcomes some great creative talents to the project – including Bilal , Georgia Anne Muldrow, Pharoahe Monch, Josh David Barrett, and even Glasper himself. Titles include "Ethereal Souls", "Her Beauty Through My Eyes", "Stay This Way", "When Will It Stop", "MB Lament", "The Mugician", "Bubba Rides Again", "Circus Show", and "Broken News". CD

"Wages Of Sin" features Talib Kweli. "Street Team" features Pharoahe Monch & DCQ. 12-inch, Vinyl record

Seven track EP, featuring the talents of Apani B Fly, Mr. Complex, Shabaam Sahdeeq, with production by DJ Spinna – plus Pharoahe Monch on "Take Me Home". Other tracks include "Motion 2000", "Big Phat Boom", "No Limit", "Nervous Breakdown", "Should Have Known Better", and "Seven Steps Behind". LP, Vinyl record album

With tracks by Carl Thomas, Angie Stone, Q-Tip, Faith Evans, TLC, Goodie Mobb, Mr Vegas, Pharoahe Monch, 702, Kelis, and others. LP, Vinyl record album

All hits and almost no misses – starting with "Oooh", easily the best single of the '00, featuring some nice quotes from classic hip hop tracks ranging from the Funky 4 + 1 to Mos Def, and some of Redman's best verses in a while. De La Soul basically started the whole skits-between-songs concept, or at least they perfected it, and (unlike too many other artists) here they get it right again – even the three hilarious "Ghostweed" skits featuring cameo appearances from Pharoahe Monch, Q-Tip, and Black Thought hold up to repeated listenings. Also includes "My Writes", "Thru Ya City", "All Good?", 'Words FromThe Chief Rocker" and the "Art Of Getting Jumped" – 17 tracks in all. LP, Vinyl record album

Some nice hard edged production – mostly from Nick Wiz, but also Rockwilder, Larger Professor and others – with vocals to match. Stand out cuts include "Ill Collabo" featuring Pharoahe Monche & Prince Po, "On The Run", "Da Ruckus", and "Verbal Slaughter" featuring Inspectah Deck. Also guest appearances from Cocoa Brovas, DV Alias Khrist, and Large Professor. LP, Vinyl record album

Two tracks served up as a teaser for Macy Gray's Trouble With Being Myself LP. "It Ain't The Money" is almost more of a Pharoah Monche single than one for Macy – but it's a pretty great one! The Pharoahe kicks some timely social commentary while Macy provides the chorus over that wicked late 70s Sly Stone/late 90s hip hop hybrid vibe that permeated her deeply underrated The Id. "When I See You" is a much better showcase for Macy – an unapologetically catchy funk pop tune. It has a positively killer hook – a nice cross between the slicker sound of her debut and the more gritty follow up – a mix of styles that actually reminds us of our favorite 70s blue-eyed soul records! 12-inch, Vinyl record