... 12-inch, Vinyl record

Weirdly tripped-out funk from Baby Elephant – a compelling collaboration from Prince Paul, Newkirk, and P-Funk keyboardist Bernie Worrell! The sound here is quite odd – kind of a dismantling of older P-Funk modes, stripped down into a handful of key elements, then re-assembled in a range of different ways to suit the spirit of each tune. There's a good sense of humor to most of the tracks, but also an underlying sense of darkness as well – especially on some of the skits that link together the tracks, done by Prince Paul to give the album a slightly narrative feel. There's a huge amount of guest stars in the mix – including David Byrne, George Clinton, Reggie Watts, Yellowman, Nona Hendryx, and Shock 9 – and titles include "How Does The Brainwave", "Plainfield", "The Search", "Baby Elephants In Thanos", "Even Stranger", "Crack Addicts In Love", "Turn My Teeth Up", and "Fred Berry". (Deep Funk, Hip Hop) CD

Chief Xcel and Gift Of Gab move it over to Anti- for the long-awaited follow up to Blazing Arrow! The Craft is a much more streamlined effort – so if the stylistic sprawl and sidesteps into the pop realm that characterized the major label album rubbed you the wrong way, this may be the focused effort you were waiting for – plus the crew brings in some live funk elements to build into the solid sound! Of course a solid sound for Blackalicious is still more adventurous than just about any other crew. Elements of live strings, flute, guitar, bass and keys really flesh the tracks out! Soul chanteuse Ledisi contributes hook vocals to several tunes, and additional vocal guests include mothership captain George Clinton, Larry Saunders, PEACE, Lifesavas, Lateef & Pigeon John and others. Tracks include "World Of Vibrations" feat Ledisi, "Supreme People", "Rhythm Sticks", "Powers", "Your Move", "Lotus Flower", "My Pen And Pad", "Automatique" feat Floetry, "Black Diamonds And Pearls" feat Larry Saunders and Ledisi, "Give It To You" and "The Craft". CD

A sharp, angry salvo from Ice Cube! Cube's early 90s solo style was firmly established at this point, so Lethal Injection doesn't have the acknowledged classic status of his previous couple albums, but he's still close to his prime that it's well worth your dollar! As you'd guess from the title, he's still pretty angry – the reasons for that permanent scowl he wore at the time are all over the place, as is the firm Lench Mob production. Tracks include "Really Doe", "Ghetto Bird", "Bop Gun (One Nation)" featuring George Clinton, "What Can I Do?", "Make It Ruff, Make It Smooth" featuring K-Dee, "Down For Whatever", "Enemy", "When I Get To Heaven", and more. CD

Kendrick Lamar takes wider creative left turns than ever before on To Pimp A Butterfly – with a funk steeped production style that filters tried-and-true P Funk influences through leftfield modern beatcraft styles, inspired by cats like Madlib to Thundercat, the latter of whom is an official contributor. Fresh material from an increasingly pivotal figure – who may not be revolutionizing the game on the level of the heavy critical praise he's heaped with, but he's certainly marching to his own beat, rather than chasing hits! Includes "Wesley's Theory" with George Clinton & Thundercat, "King Kunta", "These Walls" with Bilal, Anna Wise & Thundercat, "Aright", "For Sale?", "Institutionalized" with a Slick Rick-homage of a guest verse by Snoop Dogg (sign us up for any record that gives props to The Ruler...and extra points for transplanting that style of flow to Compton), "Momma", "Hood Politics", "The Blacker The Berry", "How Much A Dollar Cost" feat James Fauntleroy & Ronald Isley, "Mortal Man" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

Still the Hot-lanta duo's high water mark – and yes, we did love Stankonia. Relentless hype, Grammys, and the Village Voice be damned! Tracks include "Rosa Parks", "Skew It On The Bar-B" featuring Raekwon, "Aquemini", "Synthesizer" featuring George Clinton, "Mamacita", and "Liberation" featuring Cee-Lo. 16 tracks total. LP, Vinyl record album

Public Enemy gave us plenty of knowledge and power back in the day – and we maybe need their message more than ever in 2020 – a year that marks their return to their original home at Def Jam! The group have help from plenty of guests here – maybe more so than they would have had back in the day, but very much in keeping with the legacy they inspired – in a lineup that includes Questlove, DJ Premier, Cypress Hill, Impossebulls, Black Thought, Nas, YG, Run DMC, Mike D, Ad Rock, and even George Clinton! The tunes have plenty of old school PE vibes – and titles include "Go At It", "Rest In Beats", "RIP Blackat", "Grid", "State Of The Union", "Toxic", "Yesterday Man", "Fight The Power Remix 2020", "Beat Them All", and "Smash The Crowd". LP, Vinyl record album

Redman at an early peak – raw cosmic funk-steeped hip hop from the wildly creative, gritty-voiced man himself! Like a lot of the greatest 90s hip hop, there's a strong George Clinton influence to the beats – but the thick atmosphere is really on another level – then and now, there's nothing exactly like Redman's flow, which is crazy and charismatic at the same time. The great Erick Sermon co-produces and probably had a big hand in keeping it funky and from going to far into the murky deep end, it's a straight up classic to this day. Tracks include "Dr Trevis", "Bobyahed2dis", "Journey Throo Da Darkside", "A Million And 1 Buddah Spots", "Noorotic", "Cosmic Slop", "Rockafella (R.I.P.)", "Rockafella", "Can't Wait", "Wuditlooklike", Sooperman Luva II", "We Run N.Y.", "Da Journee", "Slide And Rock On" and more. 19 tracks in all. CD