Just when you thought Prince Paul and Cat Power would never make a record together PRESTO – it's the new Handsome Boy album! HBMS takes a bit more of a chillout tack with this long overdue second opus – with lots of laidback beats and samples, and a surprising amount of live instrumentation! The gleeful, sarcastic comedy of the stellar first album remains intact, with some genuinely amusing skits (including one with Jay Z appearing under the pseudonym Hines Buchanan), and the deep range of guest vocalists isn't as surprising as how strong their work is in the best tunes. It would have been pretty easy for Prince Paul and Automator to find a bunch of interesting names to flesh out their big pop culture frappe, but something else altogether to make trippy hip hop tracks featuring Cat Power and the Hieroglyphics make sense on the same record. A pretty solid set from the most adventurous pseudo duo in the game! Guests include Del The Funky Homosapien, De La Soul, RZA, Lord Finesse, AG, Rahzel, Jazzy Jay, Qbert, Mike Patton, Casual, Hieroglyphics, Grand Wizard Theodore, El-P, John Oates, Pharrell, Kid Koala, and George W. Bush (just kidding). Tracks include "If It Wasn't For You" with De La, "Are You Down With It" with Mike Patton, "The World's Gone Mad" with Del and others, "It's Like That" with Casual, "I've Been Thinking" with Cat Power, "Rock And Roll (Could Never Hip Hop Like This) Pt 2" featuring Lord Finesse, Qbert and others,"First. . .And Then" featuring Dres from Black Sheep, "A Day In The Life" featuring RZA, AZ and others and more, plus intro/outro by Father Guido Sarducci. LP, Vinyl record album

The classic agit-rap-rock debut of Rage Against The Machine – with the most fiery political lyricism and imagery of any massively popular record of its time – and as great of a pairing of revolutionary rap and heavy guitars as there ever was! It's hard to imagine now, but there were very few straight up rap rock bands before Rage Against The Machine. Hard rock breaks were ample, of course, but straight up rap rock bands were pretty scarce, pre-Rage. Rage Against The Machine's pop culture revolution was as massive as the social and political revolution that their songs called for! Includes "Bombtrack", "Killing In The Name", "Take The Power Back", "Settle For Nothing", "Bullet In The Head", "Know Your Enemy", "Wake Up", "Fistful Of Steel", "Township Rebellion" and "Freedom". (Rock, Hip Hop) CD

The classic self-titled debut LP from Run-DMC – one that not only changed hip hop, but much of modern pop and rock forever! There's little we can add to the canon for this record, but the way Run-DMC ushered in a new era in contemporary urban culture, a harder hitting style of rap that managed to bust out of the inner cities and into consciousness of an entire generation, was unforeseen and never to be duplicated to say the least. You can literally call this album revolutionary without sounding heavy handed, it's something very few artists can ever hope to achieve. Amazing! Tracks include "It's Like That", "Sucker MC's", "Rock Box", "Jay's Game", "Hard Times", "30 Days", "Hollis Crew", "Wake Up", and "It's Like That". CD

The classic self-titled debut LP from Run-DMC – one that not only changed hip hop, but much of modern pop and rock forever! There's little we can add to the canon for this record, but the way Run-DMC ushered in a new era in contemporary urban culture, a harder hitting style of rap that managed to bust out of the inner cities and into consciousness of an entire generation, was unforeseen and never to be duplicated to say the least. You can literally call this album revolutionary without sounding heavy handed, it's something very few artists can ever hope to achieve. Amazing! Tracks include "It's Like That", "Sucker MC's", "Rock Box", "Jay's Game", "Hard Times", "30 Days", "Hollis Crew", "Wake Up", and "It's Like That". LP, Vinyl record album

The classic self-titled debut LP from Run-DMC – one that not only changed hip hop, but much of modern pop and rock forever! There's little we can add to the canon for this record, but the way Run-DMC ushered in a new era in contemporary urban culture, a harder hitting style of rap that managed to bust out of the inner cities and into consciousness of an entire generation, was unforeseen and never to be duplicated to say the least. You can literally call this album revolutionary without sounding heavy handed, it's something very few artists can ever hope to achieve. Amazing! Tracks include "It's Like That", "Sucker MC's", "Rock Box", "Jay's Game", "Hard Times", "30 Days", "Hollis Crew", "Wake Up", and "It's Like That" – and this expanded edition includes the bonus tracks "Rock Box (B-Boy Mix)", "Here We Go (Live At The Funhouse)", "Sucker MCs (Live)" and "Russell & Larry Running At The Mouth". CD

The funky Root Down EP by the Beastie Boys – riding high on a mid 90s creative peak! Root Down featuring a trio of versions of the title track and Ill Communication album standout, based on the Jimmy Smith's classic of the same name – and in hindsight, you really have to hand it to the Beasties, not only sampling and celebrating classic early 70s jazz funk, but for their earnest wish to introduce Jimmy Smith to the pop culture kids of the 90s – including a killer remix by the mighty Prince Paul. Also includes some live recordings from the time of classic Beasties tracks like"Time For Livin", "The Maestro", "Somethin's Got To Give", Time To Get Ill", thier punky "Heart Attack Man", "Sabrosa" and "Flute Loop". CD

The funky Root Down EP by the Beastie Boys – riding high on a mid 90s creative peak! Root Down featuring a trio of versions of the title track and Ill Communication album standout, based on the Jimmy Smith's classic of the same name – and in hindsight, you really have to hand it to the Beasties, not only sampling and celebrating classic early 70s jazz funk, but for their earnest wish to introduce Jimmy Smith to the pop culture kids of the 90s – including a killer remix by the mighty Prince Paul. Also includes some live recordings from the time of classic Beasties tracks like"Time For Livin", "The Maestro", "Somethin's Got To Give", Time To Get Ill", thier punky "Heart Attack Man", "Sabrosa" and "Flute Loop". CD

A righteous album recorded in memory of the Tulsa Massacre of 1921 – done to showcase the continued vibrancy of culture in the city, and handled with a collaborative spirit that really makes the whole thing shine! The recording features contributions from over 50 different artists from the current scene in Oklahoma – rappers, producers, singers, and other creative talents – all coming together to deliver a very positive message, and show the world that the legacy of Tulsa and Greenwood has not been lost over the years. But even without the legacy behind it, the album's got a mighty nice vibe – summed up on titles that include "Our World", "Reparations", "Creme Of The Crop", "North Tulsa Got Something To Say", "Brunch At The Brady", "Young & Free", "City Of Dreams", "Shining", and "Been Through It All". LP, Vinyl record album

Pop culture baggage aside, this is some pretty mesmerizing stuff from Kanye West! Ye the album, if his persona hasn't turned you off by now, is a compelling effort from what we'll dub Kanye's "puzzle period" – this strange era of his recorded output that's a long time since his creative and popular breakthroughs, past the more challenging and complex work circa My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy that enchanted critics and polarized fans, and just got more polarizing from there. The man is a riddle, wrapped in an enigma, hiding behind a Twitter handle but this might be very well be pop art genius...we'll see how it holds up over time! Pretty stripped down compared to some of his denser productions the past few years, and lyrically daunting, but oddly hypnotic all the way. Includes "I Thought About Killing You", "Yikes", "All Mine", "Wouldn't Leave" and "Ghost Town" with PartyNextDoor, "No Mistakes" and "Violent Crimes". LP, Vinyl record album

Pop culture baggage aside, this is some pretty mesmerizing stuff from Kanye West! Ye the album, if his persona hasn't turned you off by now, is a compelling effort from what we'll dub Kanye's "puzzle period" – this strange era of his recorded output that's a long time since his creative and popular breakthroughs, past the more challenging and complex work circa My Beautiful Dark Twisted Family that enchanted critics and polarized fans, and just got more polarizing from there. The man is a riddle, wrapped in an enigma, hiding behind a Twitter handle but this might be very well be pop art genius...we'll see how it holds up over time! Pretty stripped down compared to some of his denser productions the past few years, and lyrically daunting, but oddly hypnotic all the way. Includes "I Thought About Killing You", "Yikes", "All Mine", "Wouldn't Leave" and "Ghost Town" with PartyNextDoor, "No Mistakes" and "Violent Crimes". LP, Vinyl record album

The massive third album from Run DMC – made at the top of their game – an pivotal effort that brought them to peak popularity and helped break hip hop in a huge way in the pop culture landscape! Part of the album's strength is its guitar-heavy sound on some of the grooves – produced by Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons with a classic early Def Jam vibe, in the same manner that helped the Beastie Boys get their records in the hands of folks who'd never buy hip hop otherwise! That sound comes to culmination on the album's hit collaboration with Aerosmith on a remake of "Walk This Way", resulting in the commercial breakthrough, but the real triumph here is the increased complexity in both the lyricism, and the way Jam Master Jay serves up their beats – which makes for a stone classic all the way through, on tracks that include "Peter Piper", "It's Tricky", "My Adidas", "Proud To Be Black", "You Be Illin'", and more. LP, Vinyl record album

The massive third album from Run DMC – made at the top of their game – an pivotal effort that brought them to peak popularity and helped break hip hop in a huge way in the pop culture landscape! Part of the album's strength is its guitar-heavy sound on some of the grooves – produced by Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons with a classic early Def Jam vibe, in the same manner that helped the Beastie Boys get their records in the hands of folks who'd never buy hip hop otherwise! That sound comes to culmination on the album's hit collaboration with Aerosmith on a remake of "Walk This Way", resulting in the commercial breakthrough, but the real triumph here is the increased complexity in both the lyricism, and the way Jam Master Jay serves up their beats – which makes for a stone classic all the way through, on tracks that include "Peter Piper", "It's Tricky", "My Adidas", "Proud To Be Black", "You Be Illin'", and more. 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