It's hard to imagine a more exciting single from the early 80s – as both sides of this one completely changed our way of listening to music, and set the tone for a generation of sounds to come. "Moments In Love" is that breathy slow stepper, presented here in long and short versions – and "Beat Box" is the hip hop inspired groover that helped these guys win Best New Black Artist from Rolling Stone in 1984, in spite of their non-blackness. (Soul, Hip Hop) 12-inch, Vinyl record

Include music by Kurtis Blow, Sugarhill Gang, Treacherous Three, Eric B. & Rakim, Too $hort, Roxanne Shante, Naughty By Nature, Biz Markie, Public Enemy, 3rd Bass, Black Sheep, Onyx, Method Man, Wu-Tang Clan, Common, Busta Rhymes, 2Pac, and more! CD

Brilliant work! Would music ever be this great again? We're hard pressed to think so. Trevor Horn, fresh from his vamped-up work with Yes, hits the beat box with the Dudley, Horn, and Jeczalik team, and comes up with these crossover instrumental tunes that took a hip hop groove to the next level, shoved together sheets of sound and noises, and probably influenced the sound of 95% of TV commercials in the 90s! (Funky 45's, Hip Hop) 7-inch, Vinyl record

After having built his reputation with some amazing performances during The Roots non-stop live performances, the Roots human beatbox releases his first solo LP, and does a respectable job on the mic, rhyming that is. Beats by Marley Marl, Pete Rock and Scott Storch, guest spots by Meshell N'Degeocello, Q Tip and ?Love. Includes "Make The Music 2000", "Super Dee Jay", "All I Know", "Bubblin Bubblin", "Steal My Soul" and "Southern Girl". CD

With the remix of Wu-Tang's "Can It Be All So Simple", Genius' "I Gotcha Back" and Raekwon & Ghostface Killah "Heaven & Hell". Also has lots of choice old school cuts (though some of them have been shortened from their full 6+ minute 12" versions): Cold Cut Brothers "Fresh, Fly, Wild & Bold", Fearless 4 "Rockin It", Funky 4 + 1 More "Do You Wanna Rock", Spoonie G "Spoonin Rap", Masterdon Committee "Funkbox Party", Fresh 3 MC's "Fresh", Whodini "The Freaks Come Out At Night" and T-Ski Valley "Catch The Beat". CD

El Michels return again to the Wu-Tang chambers – and the results this time might even be better than before! Wu-Tang forged their initial sound out of a love of offbeat samples and unusual funk – so it's only fitting that one of the hippest funk groups around strip the music right down to its roots – performing new live interpretations with their wickedly sinister groove – all at a level that makes the whole thing a slow funk masterpiece from start to finish! El Michels has always been one of the few real standouts in the deep funk scene – and it's records like this that keep us loving them so much. And even though the set features vocals from Lee Fields on two tracks, and Lady Wray on one more – the instrumental groove is what dominates and draws our ears, on tracks that include "Tears", "Sipped Up", "Shadow Boxing", "Iron Man", "4th Chamber", "Shaolin Brew", "Drums For Sale", "Verbal Intercourse", "Tearz", and "Wu Tang Clan Ain't Nuthin Ta F Wit". (Deep Funk, Hip Hop) LP, Vinyl record album

Pick any 10 words out of any Outkast album description on our pages at random, and you'll see how dearly we've loved these boys throughout the years – but truth be told, deep down we didn't think that they would be able to pull off the double album/solo album project(s). We were seriously wrong – Speakerboxxx/Love Below is HUGE in every way, and both halves are great all the way through! If you were worried Big Boi's Speakerboxxx half would be lazy southern hip hop without Andre's freaky presence throughout, you can put those fears to rest right now. Speakerboxxx is a deeply soulful electro hopping pounder from front to back – every bit as innovative as Andre's half! Tracks include "Ghettomusick" (which features one of just two appearances by A3000 on the whole disc), "Bowtie" with Sleepy Brown, "Bust" with Killer Mike, "Church", "Tomb Of The Boom" with Konkrete, Big Gipp and Ludacris, "Flip Flop" with Jay-Z, "The Way You Move" and more. A lot of press has been given to the assumption that Andre 3000 has largely forsaken hip hop on his half (The Love Below) and has instead dived head first into cosmic future funk. Well, the rumors are true. There's lots of straight up jazz piano and horn bits on the Love Below, with Andre's half serious, half tongue-in-cheek romantic soul cabaret croon way over the top. It's steeped in the classic Outkast party vibe, but with lots of Sign Of The Times-era Prince (complete with androgynous distorted vocals), Parliament and Cameo thrown into the mix. Sick, energetic genius! Tracks include the deliriously great "Hey Ya!" single, "She Lives In My Lap", "Love Hater", "Happy Valentine's Day", "Roses", "Good Day, Good Sir", "Behold A Lady", "Pink And Blue", "Spread", "Dracula's Lady" with Kelis, and more. Who the hell knows what they can possibly do to surprise us after this – but wherever Andre 3000 and Big Boi go from here, they each have yet another classic in the discography! LP, Vinyl record album

A huge dip into the history of hip hop – in a set that's something of a groundbreaking effort from the folks at the Smithsonian! If we're honest, we'll tell you that we're old enough to remember a time when folks thought that hip hop was just a fad – when it was a musical style that would disappear in just a few short years. But now, all these many decades later, the form has had such an impact on American culture that the Smithsonian Institute is giving it some official sort of due – something we never would have believed back in the 80s! The package is huge – 9CDs with a whopping 129 tracks in all, and a 300 page book that supports the recordings with an insane amount of notes, photos, and all sorts of other information – alongside a track list that was put together by folks who include Questlove, 9th Wonder, Chuck D, Jeff Chang, and MC Lyte! The set is especially great on old school tracks up through the golden era hip hop years – but also moves into the 21st century too – and artists include Treacherous Three, Afrika Bambaataa, Fearless Four, Cold Crush Brothers, Herbie Hancock, Run DMC, Fatback, Sugarhill Gang, Kurtis Blow, Funky Four +1, T La Rock, Schoolly D, Beastie Boys, Kool Moe Dee, LL Cool J, Eric B & Rakim, Mantronix, Stetsasonic, Audio Two, Big Daddy Kane, MC Lyte, Marley Marl, Tone Loc, Jungle Brothers, NWA, Public Enemy, Slick Rick, 3rd Bass, De La Soul, Queen Latifa, DOC, 2 Live Crew, Dr Dre, Sir Mix A Lot, Digable Planets, Positive K, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, Naughty By Nature, Black Sheep, Tribe Called Quest, Geto Boys, Pharcyde, 2Pac, Warren G, Gang Starr, Notorious BIG, and many many more! CD

Pick any 10 words out of any Outkast album description on our pages at random, and you'll see how dearly we've loved these boys throughout the years – but truth be told, deep down we didn't think that they would be able to pull off the double album/solo album project(s). We were seriously wrong – Speakerboxxx/Love Below is HUGE in every way, and both halves are great all the way through! If you were worried Big Boi's Speakerboxxx half would be lazy southern hip hop without Andre's freaky presence throughout, you can put those fears to rest right now. Speakerboxxx is a deeply soulful electro hopping pounder from front to back – every bit as innovative as Andre's half! Tracks include "Ghettomusick" (which features one of just two appearances by A3000 on the whole disc), "Bowtie" with Sleepy Brown, "Bust" with Killer Mike, "Church", "Tomb Of The Boom" with Konkrete, Big Gipp and Ludacris, "Flip Flop" with Jay-Z, "The Way You Move" and more. A lot of press has been given to the assumption that Andre 3000 has largely forsaken hip hop on his half (The Love Below) and has instead dived head first into cosmic future funk. Well, the rumors are true. There's lots of straight up jazz piano and horn bits on the Love Below, with Andre's half serious, half tongue-in-cheek romantic soul cabaret croon way over the top. It's steeped in the classic Outkast party vibe, but with lots of Sign Of The Times-era Prince (complete with androgynous distorted vocals), Parliament and Cameo thrown into the mix. Sick, energetic genius! Tracks include the deliriously great "Hey Ya!" single, "She Lives In My Lap", "Love Hater", "Happy Valentine's Day", "Roses", "Good Day, Good Sir", "Behold A Lady", "Pink And Blue", "Spread", "Dracula's Lady" with Kelis, and more. Who the hell knows what they can possibly do to surprise us after this – but wherever Andre 3000 and Big Boi go from here, they each have yet another classic in the discography! CD

The new album from Outkast and the soundtrack to their film Idlewild! Outkast has been daring haters for years to pounce at will – and they really take that approach to the next level by making what is far and away their oddest project in midst of the most scrutiny they will probably ever receive. We're lacking a bit of perspective in that we haven't seen the movie – but the best stuff probably makes it worth picking up. Idlewild continues the tag team style of Speakerboxx/Love Below in that the duo rarely appear together on the same tracks. The single "Mighty O" is the most notable expection, in that both rappers do their thing on it – and 3000 is actually rapping! The rest of the album, surprisingly, has a fairly coherent flow – with little touches of the 1930s vibe and atmosphere ( the setting of the film) – as envisioned by forward looking hip hoppers. It's a daring set of tracks with strong moments – and lots of additional singing by Sleepy Brown and others. Tracks include "Mighty O", "Peaches" feat Sleepy Brown & Scar, "Idlewild Blue (Don'tchu Worry 'Bout Me", "N2U" feat Khujo Goodie, "Morris Brown" feat Scar & Sleepy Brown, "Chronomentrophobia", "The Train" feat Sleep Brown & Scar, "Life Is Like A Musical", "Hollywood Divorce" feat Lil' Wayne & Snoop Dogg, "Buggface", "PJ & Rooster", "Greatest Show On Earth" feat Macy Gray. "When I Look In Your Eyes", "Dyin' To Live" and "A Bad Note". CD

The second Stet LP, with the group repping BK in fine style. There's a fair share of Prince Paul niceness here, and Daddy-O's beats are no slouch either, in case the matching sweatsuits aren't enough to get you open. In the time of rappers cobbling together LPs with mix and match producers, it's nice to look back on groups like Stets that did it all, rhyming, DJing, beatboxing. . . Includes the classic title track, "Talkin' All That Jazz", "Float On", "Sally", "This Is It Y'all (Go Stetsa II)", "Miami Bass", "Pen & Paper", "Miami Bass" and "Music For The Stetfully Insane". CD