A landmark effort from the Legendary Roots Crew – one that a lot of folks hail as their greatest album – and there's a strong case to be made for that! Jazzy soul backdrops and lyrics that both personally and culturally reflective – and it's also the best produced Roots album to this point, with an unpredictable, yet perfect flow from track to track. Guests include Mos Def, Common, Erykah Badu and JazzyFatNastees. Titles include "The Next Movement", "Step Into The Realm", "The Spark", "Dynamite", "Without A Doubt" "Ain't Sayin' Nothin' New", "Double Trouble", "Adrenaline!" and "Don't See Us". LP, Vinyl record album

"I rap with the Passion of Christ, Ni**a, cross me!" BE isn't exactly a back-to-basics LP in the vein of his classic work for Relativity – but it is indeed a return to a focused, genuinely soulful, no BS approach – and it's a very welcome one at that! It seems like Com was a bit affected by some of the criticism folks had for the spacious, astral Electric Circus LP – if you ask us Common had no reason to apologize, but we'd be lyin' if we said we weren't hoping for another batch of tracks that sound like they could have been written on a front porch on the southside of Chicago. This is indeed that record – 12 tracks, few guest appearances, and a warm, consistent sound all the way through. There's a 3 track span on this album, from "Chi-City" through "Real People", that's seriously close to perfection. Welcome home, Common! Ruggedly produced by Kanye West, with a couple of stellar production contributions from Jay Dee! Other tracks include "The Corner" feat Last Poets, "Go!", "Faithful", "Testify", "Love Is. . .", "The Food (live)" (this great track has been circulating for a while since it was performed on Chappelle's Show, and we're thrilled Common and Kanye had the good sense to include it on the album), "They Say" featuring John Legend and "It's Your World (Part 1 &2)". LP, Vinyl record album

The second major label set from The Roots, and what many consider their first and definitely not their last) irrefutable classic! We could make the case for the debut Do You Want More? as a bonafide classic, too, but this is certainly the tone certainly the one that cemented their status and one of the greatest live-tested hip hop bands. Given how strong and far reaching The Roots pedigree would become over the years, this one's all the more amazing to revisit – and it's fresh and distinctive to this day. 20 tracks including intro & outro, with "Respond/React", "Clones", "No Alibi", "No Great Pretender" "Universe At War" (featuring Common while he was still Common Sense), "What They Do", "Ital (The Universal Side)", Concerto Of The Desparado", "The Adventures In Wonderland" and more. CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

The classic critical breakthrough from The Roots – the one that really cemented their legacy as one great hip hop live bands ever, and help paving the way for many fascinating records to come! Do You Want More is a modern hip hop essential, changing the way we looked at hip hop, and certainly one of the most successful efforts at bridging live band playing, sample based beats and smart rhymes. Titles include: "Proceed", "Distortion To Static", "Lazy Afternoon", "Mellow My Man", "I Remain Calm", "Datskat", "What Goes On Pt. 7", "Silent Treatment", "You Ain't Fly", "Do You Want More?!!!??!", "The Lesson Part 2" and "The Unlocking". LP, Vinyl record album

BE isn't exactly a back-to-basics LP in the vein of his classic work for Relativity – but it is indeed a return to a focused, genuinely soulful, no BS approach – and it's a very welcome one at that! It seems like Com was a bit affected by some of the criticism folks had for the spacious, astral Electric Circus LP – if you ask us Common had no reason to apologize, but we'd be lyin' if we said we weren't hoping for another batch of tracks that sound like they could have been written on a front porch on the southside of Chicago. This is indeed that record – 12 tracks, few guest appearances, and a warm, consistent sound all the way through. There's a 3 track span on this album, from "Chi-City" through "Real People", that's seriously close to perfection. Welcome home, Common! Ruggedly produced by Kanye West, with a couple of stellar production contributions from Jay Dee! Other tracks include "The Corner" feat Last Poets, "Go!", "Faithful", "Testify", "Love Is. . .", "The Food (live)" (this great track has been circulating for a while since it was performed on Chappelle's Show, and we're thrilled Common and Kanye had the good sense to include it on the album), "They Say" featuring John Legend and "It's Your World (Part 1 &2)". LP, Vinyl record album

Ruggedly produced by Kanye West, with a couple of stellar production contributions from Jay Dee! Tracks include "The Corner", "Go!", "Faithful", "Testify", "Love Is. . .", "The Food", "They Say" and "It's Your World (Part 1 &2)". LP, Vinyl record album

A Shaolin hip hop essential! Heavy numerological rhymes, and the best production on any Wu project (still to this day, even). One of our absolute favorite albums in the classic Wu pantheon, and indisputably one of the very best – one of the very few that plays with hard solidity from start to finish. The way GZA's lowkey, unfazable flow delivers this sharp, gritty storytelling over prime RZA production – seriously, it is real Genius! Includes "Labels", "Cold World", "Shadowboxin", "Liquid Swords", "Living In The World Today", "Killah Hills 10304", "Investigative Reports", "Gold", "Duel Of The Iron Mic", "4th Chamber", "Hell's Wind Staff", "Unexplained", "Swordsman" and "I Gotcha Back". CD

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

A Shaolin hip hop essential! Heavy numerological rhymes, and the best production on any Wu project (still to this day, even). One of our absolute favorite albums in the classic Wu pantheon, and indisputably one of the very best – one of the very few that plays with hard solidity from start to finish. The way GZA's lowkey, unfazable flow delivers this sharp, gritty storytelling over prime RZA production – seriously, it is real Genius! Includes "Labels", "Cold World", "Shadowboxin", "Liquid Swords", "Living In The World Today", "Killah Hills 10304", "Investigative Reports", "Gold", "Duel Of The Iron Mic", "4th Chamber", "Hell's Wind Staff", "Unexplained", "Swordsman" and "I Gotcha Back". LP, Vinyl record album

... 12-inch, Vinyl record

A Shaolin hip hop essential! Heavy numerological rhymes, and the some of the best production on any Wu project ever. One of our absolute favorite albums in the classic Wu pantheon – indisputably one of the very best – one of the very few that plays with hard solidity from start to finish. The way GZA's lowkey, unfazable flow delivers this sharp, gritty storytelling over prime RZA production – seriously, it is real Genius! Includes "Labels", "Cold World", "Shadowboxin", "Liquid Swords", "Living In The World Today", "Killah Hills 10304", "Investigative Reports", "Gold", "Duel Of The Iron Mic", "4th Chamber", "Hell's Wind Staff", "Unexplained", "Swordsman" and "I Gotcha Back". LP, Vinyl record album

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

The second volume of rarities, alternate mixes and all around soulful hip hop genius from the one-and-only Roots crew – handpicked by ?uestlove! If you saw the title of the Home Grown sets and wrote them off as a simple "best of" roundup, well, you should have known better! The Roots have made a career out of sidestepping expectation and these sets will puzzle the mainstream as much as their LPs! Volume 2 features more new millenium material – featuring alternate versions of prime album tracks – providing another reminder of the indispensible, wholly unique Roots! Tracks include "Sacrifice" and "The Seed/Melting Pot/Web" (live on Gilles Peterson's Worldwide Show), "No Alibi", "Quicksand Millennium", "Pass The Popcorn (revisited)", "Adrenaline" feat Dice Raw and Beanie Sigel, "The Lesson Pt. 3" feat Dice Raw and Jaguar Wright, "Y'll Know Who", "Thought@Work", "BOOM!", "Din Da Da" and more! CD

The Roots make kind of a return to their own roots with Tipping Point – a loose, funky, hip hop soul opus from the legendary Philly crew! The record's got a much more streamlined and focused ambition than Phrenology or Things Fall Apart – and it's a brilliant extenuation of their established style of live funky soul under the forceful rhymes of Black Thought and soulfully sung hooks and choruses. There's that elongated, swirling psych-soul feel that trips it out in spots, but it remains a focused effort, even if the groove is loose. Nothing on the album betrays the crew's now classic approach to hip hop – no trendy concessions or a sad attempt at a radio single to be found. This, kids, is the Roots – they're not pandering to anyone. Tracks include "Star", "I Don't Care", "Don't Say Nuthin'", "Guns Are Drawn", "Stay Cool", "Somebody's Gotta Do It", "Duck Down!", "Why (What's Going On)" and a couple unlisted bonus tracks. CD

One of the better Wu side projects from 1998, includes "Fake MCs", "Cross My Heart", "Tai Chi", "If You Don't Know" & "Science Project", plus Killah Priest's version of the GZA classic "BIBLE (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth)". LP, Vinyl record album

The classic critical breakthrough from The Roots – the one that really cemented their legacy as one great hip hop live bands ever, and help paving the way for many fascinating records to come! Do You Want More is a modern hip hop essential, chainging the way we looked at hip hop, and certainly one of the most successful efforts at bridging live band playing, sample based beats and smart rhymes. Titles include: "Proceed", "Distortion To Static", "Lazy Afternoon", "Mellow My Man", "I Remain Calm", "Datskat", "What Goes On Pt. 7", "Silent Treatment", "You Ain't Fly", "Do You Want More?!!!??!", "The Lesson Part 2" and "The Unlocking". CD

Snoop brings Doggy Style over to Geffen – also the home to the Neptunes' Star Trak, Snoop's partners for this seriously strong later effort – also working with a diverse roster of producers and vocal guests including Alchemist, Lil Jon, 50 Cent, Hi Tek, and others. Snoops laidback rhyme style sounds really great on the Neptune productions, with that glittery minimalist electro sound and the digital handclaps that meld perfectly with Snoop's hazy delivery. The the now classic status of the standout single "Drop It Like It's Hot" is pretty much all the evidence you need, but Snoop's on a real high (artistically, that is) here, and mainstream street hop is all the better for it! Other tracks include "Bang Out", "Can I Get A Flicc Witchu" feat Bootsy Collins, "The Bidness", "Let's Get Blown", "Step Yo Game Up" with Lil Jon, "Oh No" with 50 Cent, "Pass It Pass It" and more. LP, Vinyl record album