Ice T's third album, and a set that still has all the nicely biting style of his early best! The approach here is great – as political as the cover implies, but with a nice sense of wit, too – that quality that already made Ice stand so far apart from others who were getting mired down in their hardass stance – but without also ever sounding too flip about the subject matter. The balance is what soon brought him to Hollywood, but it's always got a lot more edge on record – served up here with superb production and beats from Afrika Islam. Titles include "You Played Yourself", "The Girl Tried To Kill Me", "Freedom Of Speech", "What Ya Wanna Do", "Hit The Deck", "Peel Their Caps Back", "Shut Up Be Happy", "Lethal Weapon", and "The Hunted Child". CD

Ice T's fourth album. 24 tracks, including "New Jack Hustler", "Straight Up Nigga", "OG Original Gangster" and "Lifestyles Of The Rich & Infamous". CD

(Rock, Hip Hop) CD

(New Grooves, Hip Hop) CD

(New Grooves, Hip Hop) CD

What we once thought might've been a short-lived, if rewarding east coast team up of Wu Tang's Inspectah Deck and Boston heroes 7L & Esoteric has gone on to be one of the longest running later career supergroups this side of Run The Jewels! Old and mid school styled funky/sci-fi/vintage comic book style like we haven't heard since Doom left us, paired with some icey cool bits of synth and other and fresh touches on the production side – nicely setting up Deck's rhymes, still spitting sharp and smart after all these years. Includes "Czarchimedes' Death Day", "Blast Off", "All That For A Drop Of Blood", "Mama's Basement", "Frenzy In A Far Off Land" with Frankie Pulitzer, "Czarsenic", Gate Crasher" with Logic, "Sirens" and "Helicopter" Godfather Don & Kool Keith and more. CD

A fierce 10th album from the Roots – hard hitting and straight up angry, without sacrificing the musicality that makes them the most unique crew in hip hop of the past 15 years! We'll do our best to recommend this vital LP without tagging it with the dreaded "concept album" tag (wish us luck on that) but it's for the most barbed commentary on the state of Philly – and the larger social and cultural landscape. The Roots are still bringing some truly exhilarating material after all these years! Titles include "Rising Down" feat Mos Def & Styles P, "Get Busy" feat Dice Raw & Peedi Peedi, "@ 15", "75 Bars (Black's Reconstruction)", "Becoming Unwritten", "Criminal" feat Truck North & Saigon, "I Will Not Apologize" feat Porn & Dice Raw, "Lost Desire" feat Malik B & Talib Kweli, "The Show" feat Common & Dice Raw, "Rising Up" feat Wale & Chrisette Michelle and more – plus a few unlisted bonus tracks on the CD version. CD

A huge hit for Drake, still riding high commerically, all the while dropping introspective material – with appearances by Rihanna, Pimp C & Dvsn, Wizkid & Kyla, Kanye West and more. Titles include "Keep The Family Close", "9", "U With Me?", "Feel No Ways", "Hype", "Redemption", "Still Here", "Controlla", "Grammys" with Future, "Too Good" feat Rihanna, "Fire & Desire", "Views", the bonus hit "Hotline Bling" and more. 20 tracks in all. CD

A huge hit for Drake, still riding high commerically, all the while dropping introspective material – with appearances by Rihanna, Pimp C & Dvsn, Wizkid & Kyla, Kanye West and more. Titles include "Keep The Family Close", "9", "U With Me?", "Feel No Ways", "Hype", "Redemption", "Still Here", "Controlla", "Grammys" with Future, "Too Good" feat Rihanna, "Fire & Desire", "Views", the bonus hit "Hotline Bling" and more. 20 tracks in all. CD

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