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 Diggas Palace crew of MCs. Raw Madlib hip hop beats from the early days with spackled with bits of vocals from Madlib & his Quasimoto alter ego, Declaime and others, plus mad vocal samples. At the core, it's excellent leftfield hip hop productions that aptly predicts for the unbridled genius to come, mixed in 2010 and feeling very much of the here and now. 34 shortish tracks on the 2LP version for more than an hour of modern vintage Madlib. Titles include "Static Invazion", "Stakeout", "Rapper X Radio", "Last Day's Music", "Nothing For Nothing", "Live From Outer Space", "Further Adventures Of Walkman Flavor", "Real Days" "CDP Assassins" (Pts 1-6) and a slew of untitled episodes. LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

Queen Latifah's second album – still very much in the prime of her early hip hop career! Latifah's got some great help here – and is working with beats by the 45 King, Naughty By Nature, K Cut of Main Source, and an incorrectly credited Louie Vega – all of whom bring some sharper edges to the work than you might expect from her later years. Titles include "Latifah's Had It Up 2 Here", "Nuff Of The Ruff Stuff", "Give Me Your Love", "Fly Girl", "Nature Of A Sista", "That's The Way We Flow", and "How Do I Love Thee". LP, Vinyl record album

A stunning underground set from back in the day – a record that was originally released on the label run by Schoolly D himself, then was picked up by Jive Records – because Schoolly had a runaway hit on his own! The whole thing is great – one of the first really hardcore records, told from the streets – in a way that's lean, stripped-down, and a very powerful answer to some of the pop hip hop that was coming up the charts in the mid 80s. The centerpiece of the album is the legendary track "Saturday Night" – a tale of a wild night that still blows us away, despite its slightly dated politics – and other cuts include "B-Boy Rhyme and Riddle", "Housing The Joint", "We Get Ill", "Parkside 5-2", "We Get Ill", "It's Krack", "Dis Groove Is Bad", "Get N' Paid", and "Do It Do It". LP, Vinyl record album

Tracks include "Exibit A", "Blackman In Effect", "Ya Know The Rules", "Exibit B", "Beef", Ya Strugglin'", "The Homeless", ""Kenny Parker Show", "The Racist", "100 Guns", and more. LP, Vinyl record album

16 tracks from this mid 90s Hiero effort, including "Me-O-Mi-O", "That's How It Is", "Follow The Funk", "Who's It On", "I Didn't Mean To", "We Got It Like That", " A Little Something" and "This Is How We Rip S**t", with guest spots by various members of the Souls Of Mischief, Del and Extra Prolific. LP, Vinyl record album

(Rock, Hip Hop) LP, Vinyl record album

Mic Geronimo's first LP, a little less crossover with a harder sound than his later efforts. The Beatminerz & Buckwild handled production on about half of the album. Royal Flush, OC & the Lost Boyz show up here and there, too. Includes "Lifecheck", "Wherever You Are", "Sh*t's Real", "Time To Build" & "Masta IC". LP, Vinyl record album

Tracks include "Zoom", "Do You", "Dirty" featuring Dirt McGirt, "Selfish" with Kanye West, "Closer" featuring Dwele, "Old Girl/Shining Star", "Keep Holding Tight", "It's On", "The Hours", "Things We Know", "Counting The Ways" with Dwele and "Reunion" featuring Dilla. LP, Vinyl record album

(Soul, Hip Hop) LP, Vinyl record album

Dre's solid and hugely successful follow-up to The Chronic, and production-wise it holds up really well after all these years! Chronic set the sound bar so high, even 6 or 7 years later its shadow loomed large, but Dre delivers a headnodding groove that was pretty tough to resist, then and now. The most misogynist rhymes haven't aged nearly as well, but guests Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Xzibit, Hittman, Kurupt and more have some nice moments. 22 tracks counting interludes, including "Still DRE", "Xxplosive", 'What's The Difference", 'The Next Episode", "Let's Get High" and more. . . LP, Vinyl record album

With guest spots by Sauce Money, Goodie Mobb, Gang Starr, Rah Digga, Kool G Rap, Da Nation, Snoop Dogg and Glaze NYC, Flipmode Squad and American Cream Team, Angie Martinez and Doo Wop, and Cocoa Brovas. LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

A legendary record from Show & AG – and one of the strongest full lengths of the early 90s from the DITC camp! Runaway Slave came about during the end of an era when major labels still seemed to be hungry for for dope underground MCs, so there's a gritty realness here, and on other great hip hop LPs of the early 90s that's still pretty incredible. This full length debut delivers very strongly on the Soul Clap EP – and titles include that classic track "Bounce Ta This", "Represent", "Catchin Wreck", "Fat Pockets", "40 Acres And My Props", "Hold Ya Head", "He Say, She Say", "Hard To Kill" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

Collection of mostly previosly released underground hip hop tracks on 3 LP's. Standout cuts include Common Sense "Soul By The Pound", the Thump Mix version previously available on 12-inch only plus Afu-Ra "Whirwind Thru Cities", High & Mighty "The Meaning", Big L "Ebonics", Missing Linx "M.I.A", Dilated Peoples "Global Dynamics", Giant (aka A.G.) "Hidden Crates", Primeridian "Mental Void", I.G. Off & Hazadous "This Ain't Livin", Pablo "Due Praises", Dr. OOP feat. Thes One & Dub K "Just The Three Of Us", Swollen Members "Counterparts", People Under The Stairs "Everybody." LP, Vinyl record album

Anderson.Paak heads to Ventura for this one – and something about that sunny coastal city brings out his soul influences after the primarily hip hop-leaning Oxnard! Paak leads on his raspy sung style for this one, an easygoing hip hop soul sound that's built to last, and again bringing in a heavy hitting of roster guests – including Andre 3000, Nate Dogg, Lalah Hathaway, Brandy and even Smokey Robinson – on tracks including "Come Home", "Make It Better" with Smokey Robinson, "Reachin' 2 Much", "King James", "Goodheels" with Jazmine Sullivan, "Yada Yada", "Jet Black" with Brandy, "Twilight" and "Chosen One" with Sonyae Elise and more. (Neo Soul, Hip Hop) LP, Vinyl record album

Only an EP, but one that packs plenty of punch – thanks to strong production from Blockhead on most of the tracks, with help from El-P and Aesop Rock himself! The set begins with the iconic "Daylight", followed by the counterpart "Night Light" – then runs through a no-skit, all-tight set of tracks that more than makes up for the shortness of the set. Vast Aire guest on "Nickel Plated Pockets" – and other cuts include "Bracket Basher", "Forest Crunk", "Alchemy", and "Maintenance". LP, Vinyl record album

A stunning surprise from Andre 3000 – at least if you only know him as part of Outkast – and a record that finally gives us an audio document of the sounds that Andre has really been involved with in recent years – a beautiful blend of spiritual jazz with mellower currents, aided here by some members of the contemporary LA scene! There's a resonance here with some of the more laidback projects on the International Anthem label, and with the work of Carlos Nino – and no surprise, Nino is on board to deliver great production work throughout, and co-produced the album with Andre too. Andre delivers a lot of work on flute, as hinted at by the cover – and also serves up beautiful sounds on wind controller too – as the set moves between contributions from other artists who include Nate Mercereau on guitars, and Diego Gaeta and Surya Botofasina on keyboards – as well as guest vocals from Mia Doi Todd on two tracks, and shakuhachi from Shabaka Hutchings on one more. Titles include "That Night In Hawaii When I Turned Into A Panther & Started Making These Low Register Purring Tones That I Couldn't Control", "Ninety Three Til Infinity & Beyonce", "Dreams Once Buried Beneath The Dungeon Floor Slowly Sprout Into Undying Gardens", "Ants To You Gods To Who", and "I Swear I Really Wanted To Make A Rap Album But This Is Literally The Way The Wind Blew Me". (Jazz, Hip Hop) LP, Vinyl record album

Stalley is great here amidst production work from Apollo Brown – who gives the record this cool groove that's almost cinematic at times – lots of rich sonic elements, but used in these really focused ways – so that when Stalley's voice comes out front in the mix, it's supported by plenty of power, yet never overwhelmed! The approach gives the MC a great sort of intensity – perfect for his slower-stepping rhymes, on titles that include "Bobby Bonilla", "Love Me Love Me Not", "No Monsters", "Humble Wins", "We Outside", "Lost Angeles", "Blacklight", "Broad Spectrum", and "What The Hook Gon Be". LP, Vinyl record album

Big Pun was maybe the biggest of the "big" rappers of his generation, and he left our planet way too early – but not before delivering this final sendoff as a record that most folks didn't hear until after Big Pun passed away! The set does a great job of mixing wit and edge, augmented by appearances from Tony Sunshine, Fat Joe, MOP, Cuban Link, and Donnell Jones – who help Pun strike just the right balance on tunes that include "Leather Face", "Wrong Ones", "Laughing At You", "Watch Those", "Off Wit His Head", "We Don't Care", "My Dick", "New York Giants", "It's So Hard", and "Ms Martin". LP, Vinyl record album

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

Maybe the most ambitious album ever recorded by Blu – a cool collaboration with Nottz that takes the duo's work into even more righteous territory than before – as you might guess from the album's cover and title! The title's reference to the homeland is very well-pointed – as the songs have a thematic unity that links past greatness with contemporary struggles, all delivered with a sense of focus and cohesion that almost makes the whole record feel like a lost nugget from the glory days of the early 90s scene! Guests include G Kidd, Scienze, Ayun Bassa, Black Shakespeare, and many others – on titles that include "Mama", "Marcus Garvey", "Mungu", "Jina Langu", "Kuwakaribisha", "Baba", and "Matunda Marufuku". LP, Vinyl record album

The game changing Def Jam classic – and possibly the greatest album by the Beastie Boys – even though they'd grow up a whole lot after this! Profane party anthems galore, and the Beasties would distance themselves from much of the attitude of this album, making their career arc from stoopid (as opposed to stupid) to thoughtful and playful innovators one of the more interesting artistic evolutions of their generation for sure. With all the killer cuts: "Rhymin & Stealin", "The New Style", "Girls", "Fight For Your Right To Party", "No Sleep Til Brooklyn", "Paul Revere", "Hold It Now Hit It", "She's Crafty", and more. LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album