One of the most sonically intense albums to date from Aesop Rock – a set that matches his ever-sharp rhymes with the sorts of musical settings that really live up to the spirit of the title! The vocals come on with this really crispy sort of edge – partly the production, partly the ... read moreCD
(Blue colored polycarbonate CD pressing and with stickers!)
A career-spanning set of work from the Beastie Boys – one that features tracks from both their Def Jam and Capitol/Grand Royal years – in a way that really shows the continuing evolution of their sound! The tracklist is great – classics from every generation, and the kind of cuts ... read moreCD
Beastie Boys —
Root Down EP ... CD Grand Royal/Capitol, 1995. New Copy ...
$7.9911.98
The funky Root Down EP by the Beastie Boys – riding high on a mid 90s creative peak! Root Down featuring a trio of versions of the title track and Ill Communication album standout, based on the Jimmy Smith's classic of the same name – and in hindsight, you really have to hand it to the ... read moreCD
Maybe the most ambitious set so far from the duo of Blu & Exile – an expansive double-length set, delivered after a hiatus of new material for a number of years – and a record that really shows just how much the pair have grown during that time! Hip hop is still at the core of the ... read moreCD
The title might seem familiar – given that Blundetto's first album was called Bad Bad Things – but this record really shows a strong evolution of his sound over the ten years since that release – the shifting sense of sound between hip hop, global roots, and more dynamic elements ... (New Grooves, Hip Hop)read moreCD
A selection of late 80s South Bronx Teachings – classic Boogie Down Productions circa Criminal Minded! South Bronx Teachings focuses soundly on the class of '87 – so you get fistful of the Criminal Minded cuts and a few other blasts from KRS-One & Scott La Rock, nicely paced over ... read moreCD
Curren$y & Harry Fraud —
Outrunners ... CD SRFSCHL, 2020. New Copy ...
$13.9915.99
Curren$y and production partner Harry Fraud, outrunning a lot of their peers, even on relatively low key sets like Outrunners – with Curren$y's laidback flow in as fine of form as ever – and Fraud's production honestly rock solid track for track! The set is filler free and faultless, ... read moreCD
Edan returns with a new set of his sample heavy wizardry – this time out steeped heavily in late 60s pysch out flourishes, yet still sporting the thickest breakbeats available. His rhyme style is both ridiculous and genius – with tongue twists that pay homage and blast forward ... read moreCD
Peven Everett & Upper Esh —
Star Studded ... CD Satelite Soundscape, 2003. New Copy ...
$11.9913.99
A wicked blend of hip hop and underground soul from Peven Everett and Upper Esh – warm Peven-styled beats and keys underneath, and rhymes by Asian A and Pretty Toan over the top! If you dig Peven's self-produced albums, you'll find plenty in here to like – as a lot of the tracks have ... (Neo Soul, Hip Hop)read moreCD
The timeless sounding underground classic debut of Frank-N-Dank – which is a strong first full length statement for the duo – and a significant milestone in the J Dilla production canon! It has more of a straight up, street ready rhyme style than was typical for Dilla productions at ... read moreCD
Freddie Gibbs & Alchemist —
Alfredo ... CD ESGN, 2020. New Copy ...
$11.9912.99
Freddie Gibbs's gradual ascent to the upper echelon of modern hip hop – and his impeccable choice in production partners, this time working from beginning to end with long serving beat king The Alchemist – shows no signs of slowing down! Lyrically, Freddie is riffing on mob lore on ... read moreCD
These guys are known by some as the backing band of Anderson.Paak, but they're a hell of a group on their own – rock-solid right at the core, and able to effortlessly craft a sweet blend of funk and soul – yet also leave room for plenty of guests along the way! The musicianship here is ... (Neo Soul, Hip Hop)read moreCD
Gang Starr at pretty close to peak level here on 1994's Hard To Earn – and rather than continue to ride the waves they made on the previous couple classic albums, Guru sharpens the lyrical tone just a bit – spitting some more incisive rhymes over apporpriately gritty soul jazz beats ... read moreCD
One of the finest early efforts from Premier and Guru – their second album – and it's not only one of Gang Starr's greatest, it's one of the greatest hip hop albums, period. Guru's mic presence is as sharply on point as ever here, and the Primo production is also at peak precision. ... read moreCD
J Dilla at his grittiest, most rugged & raw – in both the production and rhyme realms – with all beats and rhymes by the Dilla himself! This set originally opened our ears to a different side of Dilla, a harder hitting aesthetic, with beats and grooves from out of leftfield that ... read moreCD
J Dilla —
Shining ... CD BBE (UK), 2006. New Copy ...
$8.99
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 ... read moreCD
Just-Ice —
Masterpiece ... CD Fresh/Traffic, 1990. New Copy ...
$7.9915.98
A later set by Just Ice – produced by Grandmaster Flash – and record that sounds a lot better than we remembered! Tight, hard hitting dawn of the 90s beats from Flash and that gruff, tight rhyme delivery from Just-Ice. It might not be a masterpiece on par with Kool & Deadly, but ... read moreCD
A nicely done compilation of the some of the best of Just-Ice – culled from the legendary Fresh, Warlock and Sleeping Bag recordings – a solid entry point for hardcore hip hop pioneer if you don't already own those records! Includes some the most legendary Mantronix productions, the ... read moreCD
Knxwledge —
1988 ... CD Stones Throw, 2020. New Copy ...
Just Sold Out!
A rock solid effort from one of the finer producers on Stones Throw at this stage in the label's esteemed history! If you expect 1988 to be throwback effort by the number title, think again, but he's not as predictable as that anyway. He sets an impeccable and unpredictable mood that stays rooted ... read moreCD
The classic first solo album from Kool Moe Dee – pivotal solo rap from the onetime Treacherous Three rhyme slinger – formative stuff that works nearly as well, to our ears anyway, as his platinum breakout How You Like Me Now! 9 tracks on the original album: "Go See The ... read moreCD
The restlessly inventive Madlib beats and production for Pinata, the excellent duo project with MC Freddie Gibbs! If you'll forgive us a little bit of repetition – because we KNOW we've written this before – there's just something extra riveting about Madlib's production work for ... read moreCD
Raw crackling hip hop funk beatcraft at its deepest from mighty Madlib – working in his Beat Konducta style for this third entry in the epic Madlib's Medicine Show Series! Beat Konducta In Africa is a hazy hip hop instrumental set from 'Lib (lest you thought it might be a funky compilation ... read moreCD
Formative Madlib beatcraft – music made by 'Lib from 1990-2000 – crafted into a tight full length album that feels as fresh as ever! History Of The Loop Digga features funky hip hop instrumentals made at a time when he was producing underground beat tapes for himself and the Crate ... read moreCD
Low Budget Hi Fi Music from Madlib – the eleventh entry in his epic Madlib's Medicine Show series – 28 tracks of hip hop unofficially dubbed the Dirty Demos! The set feature sample enriched instrumentals by Madlib as Loop Digga and collaborations with Strong Arm Steady, J Rocc, Madlib ... read moreCD
Beats and mixes by Madlib & rhymes by unnamed rappers – an unplanned appendix to the Madlib Medicine Show series – The Black Tape! Number 13 finds Madlib flipping the script on the hip hop DJ mix racket – applying his deep-digging, adventurous style to rhymes by a broad ... read moreCD
The mighty Maker takes a deep dip into the catalog of the Now Again label – using that Stones Throw offshoot's rich blend of African, Brazilian, psychedelic, funk, and soul reissues to come up with some fantastic grooves of his own! The work is partly in a hip hop mode, but also has some of ... read moreCD
The classic first LP from Kurtis Mantronik & MC Tee – early hip hop and funky electro at its mid 80s finest – richly expanded with a wealth of bonus material! We'll never tire of style here – electronic funky beats, synthesizers and vocoder vocal effects, and those benchmark ... read moreCD
Prime early electro hip hop genius from Mantronix – fresh beats and rap from Mantronix, including tight singles, 12" mixes and some classic production work for T La Rock, Just Ice and more – 2CDs that cover the vital mid 80s period! Includes those classic early hits with the ... read moreCD
Pete Rock & The Soul Brothers —
Petestrumentals 3 ... CD TruSoul, 2020. New Copy ...
$12.9915.98
Killer funky work from Pete Rock – a set that's still rooted in the hip hop traditions he helped form over the past few decades, but which also has a strong degree of instrumental funk as well! Pete did the set with the Soul Brothers quartet – a great group with riffing guitars, funky ... read moreCD
A wonderfully old school set from Pete Rock and Camp Lo – beats by the former, rhymes by the latter – and guest work from a host of talents who include Talib Kweli, Uncle Murda, MOP, Tyler Woods, and Mac Miller! The whole thing's got a great 90s hip hop vibe – Pete Rock very much ... read moreCD
Public Enemy gave us plenty of knowledge and power back in the day – and we maybe need their message more than ever in 2020 – a year that marks their return to their original home at Def Jam! The group have help from plenty of guests here – maybe more so than they would have had ... read moreCD
A long-overdue second set from Quakers – and a set that's got even more intensity than their debut! Beats are by the core trio of Supa K (Katalyst), 7STU7, and Fuzzface (Geoff Barrow) – and there's a very old school vibe to most of the record – a focus on core elements on each ... read moreCD
Rasheed Chappell & Buckwild —
Sinners & Saints ... CD Get On Down, 2020. New Copy ...
$12.9914.99
We first dug the work of Rasheed Chappell through collaborations with Kenny Dope – but this time around, production is by Buckwild, who gives the whole thing a nicely deep, dark, moody sort of vibe – maybe a bit more sinister than the Rasheed from before, all tuned with the right sort ... read moreCD
A fantastic second album from Chicago's Sen Morimoto – and, like the first, a set that really moves beyond simple definition! Sen's got years of experience in jazz and rock – and those elements come into play with his hip hop production, in ways that make for a real genre-crossing ... read moreCD
Slum Village teams up with the hip hop-reared jazz funk collective Abstract Orchestra for this worthy revisit/live band rework of the legendary Fantastic Vol 2 – a soulful Detroit hip hop classic and a vital piece of the late great J Dilla's legacy! A few cuts have prominent vocals, others ... read moreCD
An orchestral homage to Dr Dre spearheaded by Brooklyn's Sylvester Onyejiaka, aka Sly5thAve – fleshing out hooks and melodies from throughout Dre's career, from classic singles to deep cuts, into large scale jazzy soul – with a stellar roster of guests including Mark De Clive-Lowe, DJ ... (Deep Funk, Hip Hop)read moreCD
Sly5thAve —
What It Is ... CD Tru Thoughts (UK), 2020. New Copy ...
$12.99
Sly5thAve is deeper and more soulful than ever before – really stepping past his initial role as a creative beatmaker, and emerging here more as a fully-formed producer with a strong ear for his overall sound! The tunes here are a mix of instrumental and vocal numbers – woven together ... (Neo Soul, Hip Hop)read moreCD
Classic Boot Camp hip hop from the Clik's peak era – with timeless production by Da Beatminerz. Stark, hard hitting beats of forthright rhymes from the heart of the mid 90s – such a classic era for hip hop in general, and this one strands strong even in such impeccable company! It might ... read moreCD
A sweet set from Sulu & Excelsior – essentially the solo project of singer, rapper and trumpet player Steven "Sulu" Mallorca despite the sprawling sound and stylistic breadth – with influences that stretch from classic Motown, to late 60s funk, to live horn-backed hip hop ... (Neo Soul, Hip Hop)read moreCD
Beats, Rhymes & Life – crucial aspects of Tribe Called Quest and hip hop in general – and the fourth album by the inimitable Tribe! After a couple or three years of down time following Midnight Marauders, the Tribe returned with this extra stripped down sound, collaborating with ... read moreCD
A pretty great follow up to the previous hits package Retrospective – this one with many of the Tribe's OTHER hits, plus 2 previously unreleased nuggets! Alternate mixes, out of print soundtrack and 12-inch cuts, plus album tracks that weren't ingrained into the mainstream consciousness ... read moreCD
Twilite Tone —
Clearing ... CD Stones Throw, 2020. New Copy ...
$9.99
A really great Stones Throw debut from Twilite Tone – a Chicago beatmaker who's been one of our local heroes for years, and who finally gets the wider exposure he's deserved for way too long! Tone's done some big name work for Common, Kanye, and others – but here, he's very much at ... read moreCD
DJ Spinna takes on P&P Records – and the results are sublime! Spinna's one of the most soulful talents to ever hit the decks – an artist we can always rely on for his crucial ear for older sounds – a really unique sense of taste that always has Spinna picking some of the best ... (Funky Compilations, Hip Hop)read moreCD
Sample funk spun from records rescued by The Numero Group – edited by white label production crew Shoes without Numero's consent – which was then seized by Numero at the pressing plant, they bootlegged the bootleg, and release it here legitimately as Eccentric Breaks & Beats! The ... (Funky Compilations, Hip Hop)read moreCD
A great collection of tracks from the documentary on the man behind Mo Wax Records – Unkle/James Lavelle – an artist in his own right, and a creative force who helped shape the sound of a generation! The package includes not only some key cuts from the Mo Wax catalog, but also tunes ... (New Grooves, Hip Hop)read moreCD