The LP and midnight mixes have that commercial friendly eazy jazz sound. The gangsta mix (not 'gangsta' at all) is completely different, and ends up sounding like something from the days when Lyte was dope. 12-inch, Vinyl record

A masterpiece from prime era Tribe Called Quest! Midnight Maurauders was Tribe's third LP, and even though there were no tracks yet credited to the Ummah, this is pretty much the beginning of Tribe's transition to that sound – with the same mellow, laid back vibe as their best early material, but less of an overtly jazzy reference in their sound. Phife and Tip are still on point lyrically, and honestly, this is pretty much the last LP that Tribe dropped that's got nearly all hits and no misses on it. With the cuts "Award Tour", "Midnight", "Electric Relaxation", "Clap Your Hands", "Oh My God", "The Chase, Part II", and "Keep It Rollin". CD

A masterpiece from prime era Tribe Called Quest! Midnight Maurauders was Tribe's third LP, and even though there were no tracks yet credited to the Ummah, this is pretty much the beginning of Tribe's transition to that sound – with the same mellow, laid back vibe as their best early material, but less of an overtly jazzy reference in their sound. Phife and Tip are still on point lyrically, and honestly, this is pretty much the last LP that Tribe dropped that's got nearly all hits and no misses on it. With the cuts "Award Tour", "Midnight", "Electric Relaxation", "Clap Your Hands", "Oh My God", "The Chase, Part II", and "Keep It Rollin". LP, Vinyl record album

A masterpiece from prime era Tribe Called Quest! Midnight Maurauders was Tribe's third LP, and even though there were no tracks yet credited to the Ummah, this is pretty much the beginning of Tribe's transition to that sound – with the same mellow, laid back vibe as their best early material, but less of an overtly jazzy reference in their sound. Phife and Tip are still on point lyrically, and honestly, this is pretty much the last LP that Tribe dropped that's got nearly all hits and no misses on it. With the cuts "Award Tour", "Midnight", "Electric Relaxation", "Clap Your Hands", "Oh My God", "The Chase, Part II", and "Keep It Rollin". LP, Vinyl record album

Common newcomers who buy Electric Circus for the single with Mary J Blige are going to be left with some head scratching – but if you like the spiritual/psychedelic Com that was hinted at on Like Water For Chocolate, this may be the follow up you were waiting for! This is still hip hop – with production by the Neptunes, Jay Dee, ?uestlove and others, but it's definitely a boundary stretcher. The mood runs from Roots style soul bumpers to Hendrix and Eugene McDaniels style feedback heavy freakouts. There's a guest on nearly every track, mostly from the Okayplayer camp and NuSoul titans, including Bilal, Omar, Pharrell Williams, Cee-Lo, Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Laetitia Sadier of Stereolab and others. We won't lie to you, we miss the Chicago hip hop Common that kicked insight over raw and soulful productions, but you can't fault the guy for being an artist, and he really has crafted something original here. A great cover – a kind of rainbow drenched cut and paste photo collage of the contributors and inspirations with Com out front, sort of reminding us of Tribe's Midnight Maurauders, and even Sgt. Pepper. Tracks include "Ferris Wheel", "Soul Power", "The Hustle", the first single "Come Close", "New Wave", "Star *69", "Jimi Was A Rock Star" and more. CD

A record that forever changed the role of the DJ and turntable when it was dropped on the world – certainly not the first record to feature an artist building sound out of a mixture of old records and his own creation, but definitely one of the most hyped and most exposed over the years! For some reason, Shadow was able to find a way to take all the skills that hip hop DJs had been developing for 20 years, mixing them with some of the darkness of the European production scene – and then getting a wider audience to really appreciate both his own talents, and all the other inspirations that drove him – something that still seems to resonate all these many years later, as Shadow opened the door for many others to appreciate all the sounds that we'd been loving in the underground! And despite all his later work, this classic full length set might still be his best – a well-deserved classic, with titles that include "Building Steam With A Grain Of Salt", "The Number Song", "Changeling", "What Does Your Soul Look Like (pts 1 & 4)", "Mutual Slump", "Organ Donor", and "Midnight In A Perfect World". LP, Vinyl record album

Sim-E Auto smoked it up on the third volume of this great series, and he returns with even more force on this collection of well-chosen cuts! Production on most of side one is by Temper3000 – and tracks include "Mind Trixxx" and "After Midnight" – plus a guest appearance from Bogey on "Rokk Dis" and Ill Seed on "Men Or Mice". The flipside features a more varied mix of cuts and collaborations – with cuts that include "Un Game (rmx)" with Illanoyz, "Impervious" with Denmark Vessey, "Tyme" with Skyzoo, "Sultan Of Ishtar" with UG, and "3 Roundzzz" with Guilty Simpson and Sean Price. LP, Vinyl record album

Beats, Rhymes & Life – crucial aspects of Tribe Called Quest and hip hop in general – and the fourth album by the inimitable Tribe! After a couple or three years of down time following Midnight Marauders, the Tribe returned with this extra stripped down sound, collaborating with Jay Dee and the Ummah. Titles include "Jam", the r&b crossover ready "Stressed Out" feat Faith Evans, "Motivators", the great "Phony Rappers", and "Keeping It Moving", "Word Play", "The Pressure", "Word Play" and much more. CD

Beats, Rhymes & Life – crucial aspects of Tribe Called Quest and hip hop in general – and the fourth album by the inimitable Tribe! After a couple or three years of down time following Midnight Marauders, the Tribe returned with this extra stripped down sound, collaborating with Jay Dee and the Ummah. Titles include "Jam", the r&b crossover ready "Stressed Out" feat Faith Evans, "Motivators", the great "Phony Rappers", and "Keep It Moving", "Word Play", "The Pressure", "Word Play" and much more. LP, Vinyl record album

An assortment of rare female hip hop tracks from the old school – including a few by MCs we're not sure we've ever heard before! Tuff City must have dug deep in the vaults for this one – as we're not sure these all were issued on the label at the time – and titles include "The Goddess" by Wanda Dee, "Round One" by Roxanne Shante with Sark D, "Sparky's Turn" by Sparky D, "Roxanne's Revenge" by Roxanne Shante, "Greetings From The Queen" by Queen Latifah, "We Are The Champs" by Nasty Girls, "The DMX Will Rock (rap mix)" by Davy DMX with Sweet Tee, and "Sixteen" and "The Boogaloo" by Traedonya. LP, Vinyl record album

Beats, Rhymes & Life – crucial aspects of Tribe Called Quest and hip hop in general – and the fourth album by the inimitable Tribe! After a couple or three years of down time following Midnight Marauders, the Tribe returned with this extra stripped down sound, collaborating with Jay Dee and the Ummah. Titles include "Jam", the r&b crossover ready "Stressed Out" feat Faith Evans, "Motivators", the great "Phony Rappers", and "Keep It Moving", "Word Play", "The Pressure", "Word Play" and much more. CD

Jive reissue that compiles two great cuts from the Midnight Marauders LP, complete with the good Mr. Muhammad mix of "Check The Rime". 12-inch, Vinyl record