Mos Def brings a veering diversity to New Danger – his first album in five years – a record that hits on tried-and-true Rawkus flavored beats and rhyme schemes, slow-rolling, smoked out soul & blues, and Quickness era Bad Brains-esque arena rock! Of course our favorite cuts are the straight up hip hop tracks, produced by Minnesota with a percolating, synth-layered sound that works really well – giving the backdrop kind of a pulpy, cinematic sweep. Other tracks feature Mos and his soul/rock/blues outfit Black Jack Johnson. Mos clearly refuses to be roped in by anyone's expectations at this point – a quality that reminds us of Common's Electric Circus – in spirit, if not in the actual sound. Tracks include "Boogie Man Song", "Ghetto Rock", "Zimzallabim", "The Rape Over", "Blue Black Jack" featuring some straight electric blues guitar work by the one-and-only Shuggie Otis, "Bedstuy Parade & Funeral March", "Sex, Love & Money", "Sunshine", "Grown Man Business", "Modern Marvel", "Life Is Real", "War" (produced by Beatnut Psycho Les) and more. CD

A real sleeper from the late 90s scene – a set that maybe didn't grab the charts as much as some of its major label hip hop contemporaries, but which has a lot more lasting power overall! There's a sense of variety to the songs here that's great – different themes, different modes, and a sense of production that's focused and to the point – very well-suited to the different lyrical modes throughout! Production is by Ski, rhymes by Sonny Cheeba and Geechi Suede, and the set features guest appearances from Trugoy, Ish, Jungle Brown, Bones, and Karachi Raw – on titles that include the classics "Luchini AKA This Is It", "Coolie High", and "Black Nostaljack AKA Come On" – plus "Rockin It AKA Spanish Harlem", "Sparkle", "Swing", "B-Side To Hollywood", and "Negro League". LP, Vinyl record album

Aggro experimental hip hop and fiercely creative noise from Death Grips – their first for Epic Records – and it's still one of the most surprisingly uncompromising, genre-defying records to get a major platform at the time! The way the group splices scattershot yet momentum-building beats with rawly shouted, yet hip hop-rooted rhymes makes them impossible to categorize, but it's truly gripping stuff. Includes "Get Got", "The Fever", "Lost Boys", "Blackjack", "Hustle Bones", "System Blower", "The Cave", "F*** That", "Punk Weight" and "Hacker". (Rock, Hip Hop) CD

Quite possibly our favorite installment so far in the Madlib Medicine Show series – as the set's a treasure trove of rare work from the many-faceted Yesterday's New Quintet combo – that genius funky jazz ensemble headed by Madlib! According to the notes, some of these cuts are from rare small-batch releases (although we're not even sure those exist) – and others are previously unreleased numbers that are finally seeing the light of day – all together a brilliant illustration of the sorts of sounds that Madlib's pulled up from the American underground of the 60s and 70s – weird space jazz, offbeat funk, modal moments, and more – played with completely amazing rhythms, and production that really lives up to the spirit of the inspirations! There's plenty of great keyboards, and all tracks are instrumentals – with titles that include "High Jazz" by The Kenny Cook Octet, "Pretty Eyes" by Jahari Massamba Unit, "Electronic Dimensions" by Generation Match, "Funky Butt (part 1)" by Poyser Riggins & Jackson, "Space & Time" by RMC, "Conquistador" by Yesterday's New Quintet, "Tarzan's Theme" by Big Black Foot Band, and "Kimo" by Joe McDuphrey Experience. LP, Vinyl record album

A nice bit of New Jack from Wreckx-N-Effect – Teddy Riley production firmly in place, and a bit less of the hard sound than earlier work, but still pretty bounce-y and catchy. 12-inch, Vinyl record