A survey of The Music Scene through the eyes, mind and fingers of longstanding hip hop and spacey beatcraft guru Blockhead! Blockhead's way with a sample has been one of the reasons we've been on board so long, and it's as unpretentiously hypnotic as ever here – staying defiantly headnodding in a groove – while subtly innovating and floating in myriad stylistic variations without hitting you over the head with them. Solid stuff. Titles include "It's Raining Clouds", "The Music Scene", "Only Sequences Change", "Which One Of You Jerks Drank My Arnold Palmer?", "Attack The Doctor", "The Prettiest Sea Slug", "The Daily Routine", "Pity Party", "Farewell Spaceman" and more. (New Grooves, Hip Hop) CD

The classic Scott La Rock tribute album – with BDP classics and remixes – originally issued as a 2LP set that was put together following the South Bronx-repping hip hop pioneer's shooting death. Alternate versions, remixes and BDP medley's from their most classic late 80s period. 15 tracks in all: "Advance", "D Nice Rocks The House", "Red Alert (Criminal Minded)", 'Doc Mix (Criminal Minded)", "Super Hoe #4", "Word From Our Sponsor #8", "BDP Medley #5", "Poetry" (#s 1, 2 & 3)" and lots more! CD

OG Fat Boys. 12-inch, Vinyl record

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

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 & Oh No as The Professionals, Guity Simpson, AG & Frank Nitt. It's great stuff, natch – finding Madlib in a straighter hip hop mode production wise – but straighter Madlib production has unexpected twists and turns! Loads of funky samples, some recognizable others otherworldly – and beats that range from dusty funk to dramatically soulful. Includes "The Sound Of Champions" (inst), "Charlie Hustle" by Strong Arm Steady, "Sam", "Snakes 101" by MED, "Girls" by J Rocc, "Love/Hate" (inst), "The Adventurs Of Soul Bra And Docta Dick'em Pts 1 & 2", "Hold Up" by The Professionals, "Thoughts Of An Old Flame" by Guilty Simpson and others. CD

A great single-only track from Main Source – and maybe the greatest thing ever about the White Men Can't Rap project! The tune's a sharp attack on wanna-bes in the hip hop world, served up by one of the best of the time – all delivered with that sharp crackle that makes Main Source so wonderful over the years! "He Got So Much Soul" is great too – this really skittish little number that cascades with funky drums, bassline, and a bit of trumpet as Main Source spins out their rhymes effortlessly! All served up on a limited pic disc single too! 7-inch, Vinyl record

Hip hop for the Gainsbourg fan? This Handsome Boy Modeling School spin off has Nathaniel Merriweather, aka Dan The Automator, working in his smoothest, sexiest, loungiest mode ever! Like Handsome Boy, Lovage is packed to the rafters with mysterious guest appearances, including the turntable and mixing skills of Kid Koala, Chest "Prince Paul" Rockwell, Afrika Bambaataa, and Maseo of De La Soul. Guest vocalists include Jennifer Charles of Elysian Fields, Damon Albarn, and Mike Patton. Tracks include "Ladies Love Chest Rockwell", "Pit Stop (Take Me Home)", "Anger Management", "Everyone Has A Summer They Want To Remember", "To Catch A Thief", "Lies And Alibis", "Book Of The Month", "Strangers On A Train", "Sex (I'm A)", "Tea Time With Maseo", "Herbs, Good Hygiene, & Socks", and the best song named after a bad Burt Reynolds movie ever, "Stroker Ace". CD

Hip hop for the Gainsbourg fan? This Handsome Boy Modeling School spin off has Nathaniel Merriweather, aka Dan The Automator, working in his smoothest, sexiest, loungiest mode ever! Like Handsome Boy, Lovage is packed to the rafters with mysterious guest appearances, including the turntable and mixing skills of Kid Koala, Chest "Prince Paul" Rockwell, Afrika Bambaataa, and Maseo of De La Soul. Guest vocalists include Jennifer Charles of Elysian Fields, Damon Albarn, and Mike Patton. Tracks include "Ladies Love Chest Rockwell", "Pit Stop (Take Me Home)", "Anger Management", "Everyone Has A Summer They Want To Remember", "To Catch A Thief", "Lies And Alibis", "Book Of The Month", "Strangers On A Train", "Sex (I'm A)", "Tea Time With Maseo", "Herbs, Good Hygiene, & Socks", and the best song named after a bad Burt Reynolds movie ever, "Stroker Ace". LP, Vinyl record album

A timeless collaboration between Nujabes and Fat Jon – tracks done for the animated Samurai Champloo project, but music that stands more than strongly on its own – with a sublime mix of soulful currents and beat-heavy rhythms! The set begins with a number of tracks that have Nujabes in the lead – with that soul-heavy style that makes his work of this moment so wonderful – balanced by Fat Jon contributions that are maybe even better than records issued as a solo act! Titles include "Ole", "Genome", "No Way Back", "Transcendence", "Aruarian Dance", "Battlecry", "The Space Between Two Worlds", "1st Samurai", and "How You Feel". LP, Vinyl record album

Tsutchie does a really wonderful job here – blending hip hop elements and some warmer melodic moments – all with a vibe that makes the Samurai Champloo soundtracks so unique! Think of a hip hop take on the instrumental music from a Studio Ghibli film, and you'll get part of the charm – but there's a lot more going on at the core – and at many moments, the simplicity of the sound is the real charm – as you'll hear on "Flip", "Mists", "Absolute", "Adapt Myself", "No Icon", "Stretch Out", "Tune", "Deeper Than Words", "Let Me Know What U Think", and "Strike Back". Azumi Riki of Small Circle Of Friends also makes an appearance on "Fly". LP, Vinyl record album

An influencial soundtrack that gave key mainstream exposure to some hip hop acts, and also served up a few mainstream R&B hits as well! The film also gave Ice-T some of his first big time exposure on screen alongside Wesley Snipe's gritty portrayal of kingpin Nino Brown during NYC's crack era – and a huge hit with the classic theme song following "Colors"! Other tracks include the slinky love classic "I Wanna Sex You Up" by Color Me Badd – plus "In The Dust" by 2 Live Crew, "New Jack City" by Guy, "For The Love Of Money/Living For The City" by Troop/Levert with Queen Latifah, "(There You Go) Tellin' Me No Again" by Keith Sweat, "Lyrics 2 The Rhythm" by Essence, and "I'm Dreamin" by Christopher Williams. (Cassettes, Hip Hop) Cassette

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

Das EFX's third album finds them holding down a more jam-packed approach than ever before – longer by half than their previous LPs and with a strong sense of purpose! Das EFX appeared with such a unique rhyme style, by this point they really needed to balance the tasks of being recognizable as as the hard-hitting duo with the distinctive approach to rhymes, without relying on it as a gimmick, and here they largely succeed – with production from Premier, Showbiz, Easy Mo Bee, Klark Kent, DJ Scratch and more. Tracks include "No Diggedy", "Represent The Real" with KRS, "Microphone Master", "Hold It Down", "Bad News" with PMD, "Real Hip Hop", "40 & A Blunt", "Ready To Rock Rough Rhymes", and lots more! LP, Vinyl record album

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

Homeboy Sandman is sounding very much at the top of his game here – on a record that almost seems to have two sorts of flavors, but both nicely unified by the work of producer Aesop Rock! The lyrics spin out with the kind of effortlessness that Sandman's always given us – charged up especially strongly at a few key spots, and with guest work from Aesop on the cuts "Lice Team Baby" and "Sheesh" – alongside other tracks that include "FYI", "Cow's Milk", "West Coast", "Go Hard", "No Beef", and "Lovin It". Record features two more tracks than the digital release – and LP also features instrumentals for all eight tracks too! LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

Kool Keith in fine form and in firm control, spinning wildly profane comic and cosmic wordplay as deftly as he has in years! Junkaz Lou is a solid production partner, laying down funky beats, lean, bright bits of keys and just spacey enough of an overall sound to frame Keith's freewheeling rhymes. Pairing lewd rhymes with creative metaphors, rolling from laugh out loud hilarious put downs to no one in particular to well-earned boasts on his own mic supremacy, Keith is at later era high point here. Includes "Cosmic Power", "Peter", "Rotary Engine", "Back Home" with Big Sche Eastwood, "Ultraman", "Push", "The Pivot", "She Can Play" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

Exactly the kind of record that reminds us why we love Oddisee so much – and why he continues to be one of the freshest talents around – both from a lyrical and musical perspective! At some level, the album's as understated as the look of its cover – with a stripped-down vibe that never needs to push too hard, and which just moves perfectly with the vocal flow that the man himself delivers – with a simple, subtle quality that almost takes us back to that early moment when MCs were starting to break free of simple patterns in the 80s, and also allow some of themselves into their lyrics too. Titles include "Waiting Outside", "Rain Dance", "Things", "Built By Pictures", "Hold It Back", "Digging Deep", and "Things". LP, Vinyl record album

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

A record that definitely funked our head up at the time of its release – a rock-solid follow up to the UMCs Critical Beatdown – and another record that has us just wishing they'd given us more music in this incarnation! A very young Kool Keith is key to the album – giving it an early dose of that special charm that would later make him a star, as a very fresh approach in hip hop at the time – working next to killer production from Ced Gee and Moe Love! The album's brimming over with gems – including the classics "Poppa Large", "Chorus Line Pt. 2", and "Make It Happen" – plus "Funk Radio", "Stop Jockin Me", "Bust The Facts", "I Like Your Style", "MC Champion", "Go For Yourz", "Message From The Boss", "Pluckin Cards", "You Ain't Real", "Moe Love On The 1 & 2", and "Porno Star". LP, Vinyl record album

A pivotal album from the early 90s – one that not only furthered the rebirth of live funk instrumentation at a time when ditigal elements dominated the scene – but also really opened up that mode to a whole new generation of hip hop as well! At a time when the music was all about the samples and beats, Brand New Heavies took it back to the generation before – and provided live instrumentation for a host of fantastic talents – a legendary lineup that includes performances from Main Source, The Pharcyde, Black Sheep, Kool G Rap, Gang Starr, and Masta Ace – all young and at the top of their game, with a quality level that alone would make the album great – then really sends it over the top when paired with the instrumentation! The whole thing's amazing – still maybe yet to be topped in such a style – and titles include "Who Makes The Loot", "It's Getting Hectic", "Wake Me When I'm Dead", "Soul Flower", and "Bonafide Funk". LP, Vinyl record album

A very different record than previous releases from Mansur Brown – as the musician really takes the "mixtape" in the title seriously, and blends plenty of beats and production touches with some jazz instrumentation at the core! That instrumentation is mostly in the background – so that the record is less of a jazz-solo-over-beats affair – and more in that post-jazz approach that so many of Mansur's London contemporaries have unlocked – pushed even father here in the mixtape approach, with a vibe that's hinted at by the hip hop styled image on the cover. Titles include "No Way", "My Luck", "Fever", "Rise", "Me & You", and "Mission". (Jazz, Hip Hop) LP, Vinyl record album

The long lost Charizma tapes are unearthed and see the light of day! We're real suckers around here for the salad days of the early 90s, before "underground" became a tag line for savvy promoters and music industry folks, and just meant an emcee straight spitting creative rhymes over tight, spare beats, which is exactly what you'll find here. We're not entirely certain all these tracks were set to be released on the Hollywood Basic album that never saw the light of day, but we are certain they're all dope, and a lost, but very necessary, piece of the West Coast puzzle. Includes "Here's A Smirk", "Methods", "Jack The Mack", "Talk About A Girl", "Tell You Something", "Gatha Round", "Devotion", "My World Premiere", "Ice Cream Truck", "Fair Weathered Friend" and "Soon To Be Large". LP, Vinyl record album

Childish Gambino once again transcends anything you might be expecting from an actor/musician – this is not some vain star trip at all, but a worthy, boundary-busting effort – and a pretty sizable step away from idiosyncratic, yet accessible hip hop into spacey pop funk! Strong stuff, following his own path in respectable, highly rewarding fashion. Includes "Me And Your Mama", "Have Some Love", "Boogieman", "Zombies", "Riot", "Redbone", "Terrified", "California", "Terrified", "The Night Me & Your Mama Met" and more. LP, Vinyl record album