DAMN!, indeed – Kendrick has yet to take even a small step down from the creative peak he's been riding for years – and takes another daring step forward with this strong, strident, no-mess-taking classic in the making! The surprise-announced DAMN! finds him taking on timely concerns ... read moreCD
(Hand-numbered limited edition collectors edition – with the tracks in reverse order!)
Includes "Return Of The Crazy One", "Doo Woo You", "Holly Wanstaho", "Humpty Dance Awards", "Body Hats", "Wussup Wit The Luv", "Carry The Way (Along Time)", "Circus Entrance", "Shake & Bake", "Do Ya ... read moreCD
Jazz Liberatorz —
Clin D'Oeil ... CD Kif/P-Vine (Japan), 2007. New Copy ...
$22.99
One of the hippest French albums we've heard in years – a laidback blend of hip hop and jazz that really lives up to the cover's homage to the legendary Black Jazz label! The Jazz Liberatorz have a great way with a groove – a style that's openly flowing and instrumentally jazzy – ... (New Grooves, 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
Lastest official full-length release from The Infamous Mobb Deep. Like a lot of recent double LP's they could have stuck to one LP, but still some nice tracks in the usual Mobb Deep style and guest appearances from Nas, Raekwon, Big Noyd. CD
Furious, battle-tested early 90s mastery from Lord Finesse – with pitch perfect production by DJ Premier, Diamond D, Showbiz and Mike Smooth – an east coast golden age classic! Funky Technician is mysteriously slept on in too many discussions of the best hip hop of the era, but it's ... read moreCD
This album was produced entirely by Kutmasta Kurt, featuring rhymes by Kool Keith and Motion Man. Yep, ANOTHER Kool Keith project! This one has it's hilarious moments, as they all do, but Kutmasta Kurt's the star of the show this time around, with head nodding production throughout. Includes ... read moreCD
The crossover rap classic from Tone-Loc! Temporary pop phenom this is not – the biggest couple of hits are still ubiquitous decades later – and Loc himself, with that raspy voice and smooth charisma, still stands as one more unique voices of late 80s hip hop. On top of those ... read moreCD
The Czarface team of Wu-Tang veteran Inspectah Deck and Boston underground hip hop heavyweights 7L & Esoteric are joined by the one-and-only MF Doom – a bonafide supergroup – and one of the finest comic book/sci-fi rap records since Madvillainy! Each one of these characters is so ... 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
Ghostface Killah and Adrian Younge team up for this intriguing collaboration – one with a promising concept and they deliver on it in full – shadowboxing their way to a knockout! On the mic tip, Ghostface is in his comfort zone here – spitting lyrics laced with martial arts, ... read moreCD
Although this is well into Big Daddy Kane's career, he still displays some skills here. Tracks include "How U Get A Record Deal?", "Very Special", "Stop Shammin'", "Here Comes Kane, Scoob & Scrap" and "Nuff Respect (remix)". CD
(Out of print, small cutout notch through spine.)
Game —
Documentary ... CD Aftermath/G Unit/Interscope, 2005. Used ...
$2.99
The Game, Dr. Dre, and G-Unit make a wise investment with the west coast MC's debut LP – ignoring new hot trends and laying out blueprint street rap that'll have a satisfying sound for years to come! Tracks include "Westside Story", "Dreams", "Hate It Or Love It" ... read moreCD
The impossible to get debut from the only noteworthy member of the Hobo Junction crew, Saafir. The Saucy Nomad drops sideways abstractions and in-your-face battle rhymes over beats that often remind us of the Beatnuts around the same time, hard but with a jazzy feel from the horn stabs and ... read moreCD
Tracks include "Some-O-Next Sh*t", "I'm The Man", "Pop 'Nuff Sh*t", "Don't Drink The Milk", "The Hatred", "Lost In The Storm", "Which Way Is Up", "Black Trek IV The Voyage Home", "The Funky", "3 Men At ... read moreCD
The first Clipse album to see release – and a neo-electro/drug rap/crossover hip hop masterpiece produced by the Neptunes – the debut LP on their own Star Trak label. Malice and Pusha T arrive as smooth, confident rhymers with plenty of standout moments, while the Neptunes reach an ... read moreCD
(Clean edited edition, punch through barcode & small sticker on booklet cover.)
The second LP from Cypress Hill, and as far as we're concerned, the last good one. Muggs' beats get a bit darker on this album, but are still sharp enough to cut through even the thickest clouds of smoke. 14 tracks in all, including "I Wanna Get High", "I Ain't Goin' Out Like ... read moreCD
Music from Sugarhill Gang, Furious Five Meets The Sugarhill Gang, Sylvia, Treacherous Three, Spoonie Gee, Newcleus, Grandmaster Melle Mel, Trouble Funk, West Side Mob & Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five. CD
Slick Rick's first solo LP – a hip hop classic, and essential to everyone's collection! 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 LP of his unique flow. The ... read moreCD
The triumphant return of Dr Octagon – finally a worthy follow-up to the Dr Octagon/Dr Octagonecologyst album, one of the most influential hip hop LPs ever – we can't imagine Madvillian and so many other other willfully out there rap classics would've happened without it! Keith's ... read moreCD
A nice retrospective of the ATL's Yin and Yang – but only essential if you don't already own at least two of the proper albums. The set does include three brand new tracks – "The Whole World", "Funkin' Around" and "Movin' Cool (After The Party)" plus 13 ... read moreCD
The massive second album by PE – and the one where where the hit their full creative stride, and their politics and philosphy hit at full force – moving Public Enemy from an imposing threat to both the hip hop and pop music status quo to a straight up cultural phenomenon! There's ... read moreCD
NxWorries (Anderson Paak & Knxwledge) —
Yes Lawd! ... CD Stones Throw, 2016. New Copy ...
$10.9911.98
Anderson .Paak and Knxwledge's full length debut as a duo – and the most triumphant Stones Throw record in years! To this (still early) point in young .Paak's career, his voice has already proved to be a prime vessel for natural grit and mood, if not gamechanger songwriting, best paired with ... (Neo Soul, Hip Hop)read moreCD
The classic self-titled LP that changed hip hop (and much of modern pop) forever! There's little we can add to the canon for this record. Run DMC ushered in a new era in contemporary urban culture, a harder hitting style of rap the bust out of the inner cities and into consciousness of an entire ... read moreCD
50 returns for his hotly-anticipated second album – setting up another year of bangin' singles with unrivaled charismatic rhyme delivery, and a fresh crop of beefs! As on 50's Shady/Aftermath debut, he does more with street hop thug archetypes than just about anyone out there, and he does it ... read moreCD
A heap of the production is handled by M-Boogie. Includes 'Do The Math" with Iriscience, "Triggernometry", "The Illest", "Wanna Be An MC", "Who Am I", and "It's Been A Long Time Coming". CD
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
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
Chuck Strangers —
Consumers Park ... CD Nature Sounds, 2018. New Copy ...
$11.9912.98
Neo-classic hip hop of the highest caliber, courtesy Pro Era collective MC and producer Chuck Strangers in his solo debut! As much as we always have and always will love dusty soul and jazz sample hip hop, it takes real finesse these days to work in that realm without sounding self-consciously ... read moreCD
God.Damn.Chan —
Slush ... CD Alpha Pup, 2018. New Copy ...
$11.99
Busted beats with a very bassy bottom – the kind of record that can really give your speakers a workout, while also delivering a surprisingly lyrical sort of vibe overall! God Damn Chen is very much a 21st Century talent – drawing on a range of earlier funky influences, but making ... (New Grooves, Hip Hop)read moreCD
Sultry synth funk and soul inspired beats and moodcraft from Onra – taking inspiration from the sleek, but not too slick sounds of the mid-to-late 80s post electro production era – but in his own nocturnal, neon-lit modern classic vibe all the way! Familiar elements of the above ... read moreCD
A mad disco soul mix – No. 10 in the epic Madlib Medicine Show series – 76 minutes of sprawling, eclectic, funky mid-to-late 70s Black Soul – adventurously mixed and sequenced by Madlib! The set features 9 separate unlisted tracks, each one a mini mix set in itself, all together ... read moreCD
The real sound of the old school, and the best beats from the streets – the kind of early underground hip hop tracks that still sound wonderful after all these years! These are tracks from the earliest years of the style – when funk was as much a part of the music as lyrics – and ... (Funky Compilations, Hip Hop)read moreCD
The first release in the Madlib Medicine Show series of releases from the prolific genius that is Madlib – this one a full scale collaboration with no nonsense rapper Guilty Simpson – sort of a prelude to Guilty's OJ Simpson LP with Madlib in the production booth! The set is a pretty ... read moreCD
Another batch of fine, underground sweetness from the Jedi Mind Tricks! Tracks include "Tibetan Black Magicians", "Canibus", "Blood In Blood Out", "The Rage Of Angels", "Crypt", "The Warchild Of Outerspace", "Demonwomb Interlude" ... read moreCD
A full length from QB's Big Noyd – with production by Havoc, Alchemist, Ric Rude and Masberg. Tracks include "Hu, What", "Most Famous" feat Godfather III & Prodigy, "Come Thru", "Hoody Like That", "Louder" with Prodigy, "All My ... read moreCD
Funky drums and a whole lot more – a crackling Blue Note album from Chris Dave & The Drumhedz – maybe one of the few on the label to ever carry a parental advisory sticker! The sticker's well-placed, though – as Chris doesn't just drum, but also opens the door for a host of ... (Neo Soul, Hip Hop)read moreCD
The legendary debut of Black Moon – and a landmark indie hip hop classic from the early 90s east coast scene! Beloved by the deeper digging hip hop heads back in the day, and making a few waves commercially with the singles "Who Got Da Props?" and "I Got Cha Opin", this ... read moreCD
Tracks include "Get Back", "#1 Spot", "Put Your Money" feat DMX, "Virgo" feat Nas & Doug E Fresh, "Hopeless" feat Trick Daddy, "Blueberry Yum Yum" feat Sleepy Brown, "Two Miles An Hour", "Pimpin' All Over The World" ... read moreCD
The manaical Chicagoan Mr. Tung Twista, who's contributed so much life to so many hits as the guest rhymer, cuts by Ludacris, P. Diddy and others is finally poised to have one of his own damn albums go platinum! Kamikaze features the hits "Slow Jamz" with Kanye West and "So ... 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
Sure, you've already got a lot of their classic albums – but this huge set of tracks contains some great stuff from singles, b-sides, rare sources, and even a few unreleased tracks! There's a whopping 42 cuts in all, and the whole thing's packaged in a heavy slipcase with an 80 page booklet! ... read moreCD
(Slipcase has a cutout mark & a promo sticker.)
DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince —
Homebase ... CD Jive, 1991. Used ...
$4.99
12 tracks in all, including "I'm All That", "Summertime", "The Things That U Do", "This Boy Is Smooth", "Ring My Bell", "A Dog Is A Dog", "caught In The Middle (Love & Life)", "Trapped On The Dance Floor", "Who ... read moreCD
By this point, De La Soul seemed to be looking for a direction, after "Three Feet High..." was the Daisy Age and "De La Soul Is Dead" was the death of the daisy age, though they hadn't split with Prince Paul yet. Still, they manage to come up with some nice, if underrated, ... read moreCD
MC Breed's debut, featuring the DFC crew – and one of the earlier records to put Michigan on the national hip hop map! Breed was the first independent MCs to come from anywhere beside the coasts and make a real impact, and more or less paved the way for groups like those in the Suave House or ... read moreCD
Did this LP come before or after the Real World? Is being the star to the first reality TV show or this actually pretty dope LP Heather B's biggest claim to fame? What ever happened to her anyway? Beats by Kenny Parker and the Beatminerz. 10 tracks: "Da Heartbreaka", "All Glocks ... read moreCD
WC & The Maad Circle —
Curb Servin' ... CD Payday/London, 1995. Used ...
$14.99
We'll admit, we're partial to WC in the Low Profile days, but there's some nice west coast ghetto funk happening here, if you look beyond the street level rhymes. 16 tracks in all, including "West Up!", "Put On Tha Set", "Feel Me", "Curb Servin'", "Stuck ... read moreCD
Jay Z picks up pretty close to the point where he left off for Kingdom Come – his first album in 3 years – and you can only call it a comeback if you really thought he'd stay away! For Kingdom Come he uses a number of the same production geniuses as he did for the Black Album and his ... read moreCD
Jay-Z brings in a huge ensemble of producers including Kayne West, Just Blaze, Dr. Dre, Neptunes, Timbaland, No ID and more. There are also more guests than any other Jay-Z album, including Faith Evans, Notorious BIG, Beyonce Knowles, Big Boi, Rakim, Lenny Kravitz, and more. Tracks include "H ... read moreCD
Nice one from Brit hip hop mainstay Ty – living up to the title with personal lyricism from the heart, but soulful a broader, universal sense too – with appearances by John Robinson, Deborah Jordan, N'fa Jones, Julie Dexter, Umar Bin Hassan and more! Ty is hands on with the production ... read moreCD
Maybe the best work so far from one of the hippest beatmaking collectives on the European scene – on a record that definitely has some of the righteous power you'd guess from the title! As before, the approach is rooted in hip hop, but also has a lot more going on too – lots of musical ... (New Grooves, Hip Hop)read moreCD
Frozen Explosion —
Frozen Explosion ... CD B-Boy/Ultra Vybe (Japan), 1988. New Copy ...
$18.99
Frozen Explosion may not look as dope here as some of his NYC contemporaries – but the blue-eyed MC has the honor of being one of the few folks from the Chicago scene to cut a full length hip hop set back in the 80s! The record disappeared almost immediately upon release, even though it was ... read moreCD
(Part of the Golden Age Hip Hop Masterpiece series!)
Key Kool & Rhettmatic —
Kozmonautz ... CD Up Above, 1995. Used ...
$6.99
Tracks include "Tru Master", "Respect Mine", "The Game", "It's About That Time", "Truly Yours 98", "Massive", and "Strange Fruit". CD
Danger Mouse feat Jemini The Gifted One —
Ghetto Pop Life ... CD Lex, 2004. Used ...
$6.99
Beat architect Danger Mouse and MC Jemini pair off for Ghetto Pop Life – a pretty solid full length that's actually getting the notice it deserves, thanks to DM's much celebrated Grey Album. Prince Po, Cee Lo, Alkaholiks, J-Zone and Pharcyde (who's Delicious Vinyl sound is a clear influence ... read moreCD
The classic self-titled debut LP from Run-DMC – one that changed hip hop (and much of modern pop and rock) forever! There's little we can add to the canon for this record. Run DMC ushered in a new era in contemporary urban culture, a harder hitting style of rap the managed to bust out of ... read moreCD
Brand Nubian —
One For All ... CD Elektra, 1990. Used ...
Just Sold Out!
Pure greatness from Brand Nubian at their early best! The Nubes' have made a handful of solid-to-great albums, but none could top this essential debut. Grand Puba, Sadat X and Lord Jamar are on point with the politicized rhymes over classic early 90s jazzed up, funky beats, built from now well ... read moreCD
PE's third LP, and their last with full on Bomb Squad production. With classics like "Fight The Power", "Burn Hollywood Burn", "Welcome To The Terrordome", "Power To The People", "911 Is A Joke" and the title track. CD
Slum Village's legendary Jay Dee-produced Fantastic Vols I & II, with instrumentals, bonus songs, in a nicely-priced 4CD set! Vol I was at one time one of the most sought-after hip hop albums of the era – with some of the most rugged-and-raw Jay Dee production on record! Honestly, we're ... 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
Madvillain (Madlib & MF Doom) —
Madvillainy ... CD Stones Throw, 2004. New Copy ...
$8.999.98
A Stones Throw sci-fi masterpiece – one that was destined for greatness from conception, but we're still pretty well blown away by the final product! MC Doom and beatmaster Madlib couldn't be better suited for a collaboration. As much as we've dug the best of Doom's material of the last ... read moreCD
Throw away your crates and sell off your scratched up originals – because this tasty set serves up a great assortment of classics from the days when hip hop really had an edge – a total of 12 great cuts that we couldn't have chosen better ourselves! Most numbers served up in supposed ... read moreCD
Features tracks from 2 Live Crew, King Tee, Kyna Antee aka The Mistress, Ice T, Darryl Strawberry, World Class Wreckin Cru, Fila Fresh Crew, Bobby Jimmy & The Critters, and 7A3. CD
An underrated later Wu Tang effort from '01 – a lean 12 track set that lacks little to our ears, except for the then incarcerated ODB. RZA keeps the production solid, tight and simple – rugged, grimy foil for the rhymes, which sound pretty damn nice all these years later – as ... read moreCD
The classic first album with The RZA, The GZA, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Inspektah Deck, U-God, Ghostface... you know the rest. The start of a generation, and of the hip hop enterprise that overshadowed a lot of the mid 90s! 12 tracks, including "Can It All Be So Simple", "Method ... read moreCD
The Neptunes & co.'s ever-evolving hip hop/electro pop creative outlet NERD is back with their best in years! NERD not only never ever really dies, they're also never ever to be dismissed as an occasional throwaway side project, and they never put out the same record twice. This one finds ... read moreCD
The classic first solo album by Big L – with bedrock DITC production by Buckwild, Showbiz and Lord Finesse – perfectly framing the rhymes by Harlem's finest. Big L didn't leave a huge wealth of recordings before he was taking away from the world, but he started out strong, and this ... read moreCD
(Out of print, includes obi.)
Kendrick Lamar & Others —
Black Panther ... CD Interscope, 2018. New Copy ...
$14.9915.98
A modern classic hip hop soundtrack to Black Panther that should make T'Challa proud! It was pretty clear early on that Black Panther might be one of the greatest modern super hero movies – and an important one for the political and cultural climate of the late teens – so the pressure ... read moreCD
Nas's stop gap LP of odds & ends from 2002, and actually a better full length listen than Stillmatic, at least to our ears! With "Doo Rags", "My Way", "U Gotta Love It", "Nothing Lasts Forever", "No Idea's Original", "Blaze A 50", ... read moreCD
A great solo set from the Krown Rulers – a New Jersey crew, but one who worked often with Philly's Tuff Crew – as evidenced by the album's production help from Dave of that group! The cover art might look a bit gimmicky, but the set's nice and raw – bursting with beats and stark ... read moreCD
(Part of the Golden Age Hip Hop Masterpiece series!)
The Tuff Crew burst out of the Philly scene with this overlooked gem from the end of the 80s – an album that may not be top of the history books, but which still has all the raw creative energy of those great indie years before the first big assault on hip hop by the major labels! The ... read moreCD
(Part of the Golden Age Hip Hop Masterpiece series!)
Maybe not the first full length album by a female MC, but a really well-remembered set from the early days – and one that hardly tries to go for any crossover modes at all! Instead, Sparky-D really keeps it live and close to the streets – beginning the set with an acapella track that ... read moreCD
(Part of the Golden Age Hip Hop Masterpiece series!)
Beat-heavy work from the Tuff Crew – a group who definitely live up to their name on the bottom end! Much of the work here is very drum machine-heavy – in a style that was maybe used more widely a few years before in hip hop, but which still gives this album by the group a nice sense ... read moreCD
(Part of the Golden Age Hip Hop Masterpiece series!)
An underground Philly hip hop classic – and a set that's got the same raw edge as the best early work by Schooly D! The Tuff Crew work here with the Krown Rulers – in the kind of record that almost feels like the kind of late nite, party-heavy vibe that made east coast hip hop radio so ... read moreCD
(Part of the Golden Age Hip Hop Masterpiece series!)
A well-titled set from the lyrical king – the mighty T La Rock, one of the key mid 80s MCs who helped introduce a whole new level of sophistication to hip hop! T La Rock maybe never hit the heights of KRS-One, Rakim, or other contemporaries – but this set has all the sharp fire and ... read moreCD
(Part of the Golden Age Hip Hop Masterpiece series!)
Tracks include "On Course" by Lone Catalysts featuring LG, "Live Cats" by Caleesh, "Rewind" by Prime, "Rock My Sh*t" and "Super Soul" by The 3rd, "I Can't Stand It" by S.P.I.R.I.T., "Out For Blood" by 151, "Who Am I" by ... read moreCD
Old school, true school, golden age, random rap, west coast, east coast, independent, southern, and midwestern hip hop -- as well as some commercial classics!
MC Lyte —
Act Like You Know ... CD 
