Ahhh. . . Nice! Wonderful intelligent, spiritual rhymes, full of Islamic prayer references, blunt antagonist rhymes, a battle with the ugliest of inner demons and broken artist poverty all hugged by catchy bouncing hook filled choruses. And all the production is handled by Ant, a true autuer akin to Pete Rock, now becoming more comfortable with his art with each release: tight organ loops, snapping drums, bright horns and nice upright basslines. "Soulful" is the key adjective here. Tracks include "Star Quality", "Pay Them Back", "Shadows On The Sun", "Forest Whitiker", "Room With A View", "Back Stage Pacin", "Missing Teeth", "Dorian", "Soul Whisper", "Champion", "Prince Charming", and more! CD

The highly anticipated full length from the Minneapolis hip hop RhymeSayers crew. Slug rhymes like a storyteller, in his prime when weaving songs of demented heartbreak, his voice pushes forth in a tortured singing style, hook friendly, ironic, and angry (dude still hasn't gotten over Lucy). Ant does all the production, with some dubby beats, some nice spidery piano loops, some drums are a little more quirky and off kilter (in a good way) than his previous work. 18 tracks in all, including "Onemosphere", "The Bass And The Movement", "F#ck You Lucy", the creepy anthem "God Loves Ugly", "Saves The Day", "Vampires", "Modern Man's Hustle", "Blamegame" and "Shrapnel". CD

Formative material from DJ Shadow – his early original breaks and loops that took shape after young Mr. Davis got his hands on his first 4-track cassette recorder – blueprint Shadow craft from 1990-1992! Titles include "DJ Shadow's Theme (Original Version)", "The Source Is Serious Business", "Make It Critical", "Rock Lesson", "Cult Of Brutality", "Do You Remember", "Lesson 5", "Reverse Beat" and "Closing Credits". LP, Vinyl record album

Pete Rock didn't invent the genre of instrumental hip hop, but he's always perfecting it with records like this – a set that's a great follow-up to the first in the series, which Pete gave us way back at the start of the century! As with some of the best Pete Rock productions from back in the day, there's a lot more going on here than just beats and samples – way more energy than some of the simpler loops that others pass off in the genre – proof that the originator's still very much at the top of his game! Tracks include "Time For Learning", "Flick Of The Wrist", "Pain", "Brother On The Run", "The Message", "When It Comes To Music", and "Das Me King". LP, Vinyl record album

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