That's quite an image on the cover, and Curly Castro follows through strongly with all the Afro-Futurist expectations it might trigger – not just in his words, but in the way the album comes together – as some sort of a moody, unified document – powerful words in the frontline, but all this sort of darkly shimmering static at the back! The intensity of the record never lets up, and contributions from Billy Woods, Mr Lif, Margel The Sophant, and Breeze Brewin only seem to add fuel to the fire – on tracks that include "Kill Her Priest", "Freehuey Fitteds", "Killmonger Was Right", "Khujo Taught Me", "Bleek Shadows", "F Stands For Hampton", "Black August", "Weapon 13X", and "Raynathan & Romello". LP, Vinyl record album

A wickedly sharp album from Earl Sweatshirt – a set that comes on strong from the very first notes, then keeps on with a tightness that really makes a nice difference from some of Earl's other albums – an approach that's maybe more compact in terms of the way the songs are laid out, especially compared to sprawling efforts from bigger names – at a level that shows that there's plenty to learn from the left side of the spectrum in hip hop! Production is by Black Noise and The Alchemist, Armand Hammer make a guest appearance on "Tabula Rasa", and other cuts include "Old Friend", "2010", "Sick", "Fire In The Hole", "Titanic", "Vision", "God Laughs", and "Lye". LP, Vinyl record album

A wickedly sharp album from Earl Sweatshirt – a set that comes on strong from the very first notes, then keeps on with a tightness that really makes a nice difference from some of Earl's other albums – an approach that's maybe more compact in terms of the way the songs are laid out, especially compared to sprawling efforts from bigger names – at a level that shows that there's plenty to learn from the left side of the spectrum in hip hop! Production is by Black Noise and The Alchemist, Armand Hammer make a guest appearance on "Tabula Rasa", and other cuts include "Old Friend", "2010", "Sick", "Fire In The Hole", "Titanic", "Vision", "God Laughs", and "Lye". LP, Vinyl record album

A rare studio set from Kazi and Madlib – recorded way back in the mid 90s, but with the kind of crispy intensity that would make Madlib so influential for years to come! The title and the occasional skits on the set refer to a search for a "blackmarket seminar" – an underground source for music this great, which Madlib especially helped bring to a wider audience in years to come. Yet back in 1996, the sound was plenty fresh, and nice and raw – and still sounds tremendously so all these years later. The set features guest work from Wildchild, MED, and Oh No – and titles include "Called Your Bluff", "Sleep If You Want", "Corrections", "Snake Eyes", "Friendly Fire", "Tha Unstoppable", "Down 4 The Kaz", "OX Veterans", "Put Your Title To Waste", "Make Yo Ears Bleed", "Battle Drills (rmx)", and "Mind State". LP, Vinyl record album

With all the singles they dropped in the years prior to this, everyone was anticipating this one with glee, and believe it or not, it still lives up to the hype. The first full length double feature with "1, 2, 1, 2", "Da Rockwilder", "Tear It Off" and another dozen smoked out cuts, including "Run 4 Cover", "Fire Ina Hole", "Mi Casa", "Maaad Crew" and "Dat's Dat S**t". CD

Music from Boyz II Men, BLACKstreet featuring Jay-Z, Milestone, Total, Puff Daddy featuring Lil' Kim, Dru Hill, Tenderoni, XSCAPE, OutKast with Cee-Lo, Monica & Usher, Tony Toni Tone, En Vogue & Earth, Wind & Fire. (Soul, Hip Hop) CD