Hip Hop — Recently Added

Sure, maybe Breakin wasn't the most accurate, most faithful portrait of life on the streets in the early 80s – but the film was a great breakout moment for hip hop culture in the mainstream, and also helped sell the new style with a heavy dose of soul! The real stars here are Ollie & ... LP, Vinyl record album

A surprisingly strong set from a match that might sound a bit odd at first, but which comes across beautifully throughout! At some level, Elzhi is the lead act here – dominating most of the songs with his well-crafted rhymes – and letting Georgia Anne Muldrow to handle the production, ... LP, Vinyl record album

A fantastic set from the late 80s – one of the first records to really herald the new generation to come with De La Soul and Tribe Called Quest – served up by Native Tongues partners The Jungle Brothers! While this set never got the major label push that debuts by the other groups ... LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

Not the Let's Get It record, but instead a Thug Motivation collection of classics – a package that's overflowing with hits – including "Trap Star", "And Then What", "Soul Survivor", "My Hood", "Go Getta", "I Luv It", "Lose ... LP, Vinyl record album

Early work from the Ultramagnetic MCs – all from the mid-80s, and predating their later album classics – but cuts that show the trio very much at the top of their game! Kool Keith is already full-formed as the unique talent we know and love – and Ced Gee provides plenty of raw ... LP, Vinyl record album

Gift of Gab left this planet all too soon – but he left behind this final set of tracks that shows that his lyrical skills were every bit as sharp as in his early days in Blackalicious! As back then, there's a deftness to both the dynamics and the subjects of the lyrics – delivered at ... LP, Vinyl record album

We lost the mighty Stezo during 2020, but his music lives on in this well-titled final set – a record that really has us surprised at how much strong sounds the 80s hip hop pioneer has to offer! You might know Stezo from his early efforts for Sleeping Bag – and although this set is a ... LP, Vinyl record album

Hard to believe this is the fifth project together between Curren$y and Harry Fraud – and definitely a standalone project, despite what you might guess from the title! The album was originally supposed to be a deluxe take on Outrunners, but the duo are so quickly collaborative, they ended up ... CD

A fresh update from Chicago MC, DJ and producer Epik 1 – following up his strong, features-free solo debut with a second album featuring an all star roster that includes Chicago heroes and heroines like DJ 3rd Rail, MzSaigon and Lyric Versatile, fellow midwest veteran Copywrite, NY heavies ... LP, Vinyl record album

Hip hop for the Gainsbourg fan? This Handsome Boy Modeling School spin off has Nathaniel Merriweather, aka Dan The Automator, working in his smoothest, sexiest, loungiest mode ever! Like Handsome Boy, Lovage is packed to the rafters with mysterious guest appearances, including the turntable and ... CD

A split album – featuring work from Seattle up-and-comer AJ Suede, and longstanding resident artist Specswizard! There's a strong sense of history that runs through the AJ Suede titles – vintage soul snippets and historical recordings – laced together carefully to accompany AJ's ... LP, Vinyl record album

A classic masterpiece from J Dilla – a record that set the tone for countless hip hop releases in years to come – but which still shows Jay Dee as one of the smartest, sharpest, most forward-thinking producers to rule the roost! The set's got some incredible live instrumentation – ... CD

A nicely done compilation of the some of the best of Just-Ice – culled from the legendary Fresh, Warlock and Sleeping Bag recordings – a solid entry point for hardcore hip hop pioneer if you don't already own those records! Includes some the most legendary Mantronix productions, the ... CD

Righteous sounds from this overlooked duo – a record that was one of the first in the Blackwatch movement, and which also features guest work from Professor X too! There's a spirit to the lyrics that prefaces some of the more conscious work to come in the early 90s – and titles include ... CD

The incredible follow-up to I Wish My Brother George Was Here – and a record that was initially underappreciated, mostly because it was such a radical departure from the George – but it's one that we loved from day one and we're thrilled is getting some love all these years later! ... CD

The second post Mantronik set from the frequently slept on 80s rap genius Just-Ice – featuring production by none other than KRS-One – with a few righteous and ruthless tracks that stand up with the best from the earlier classic LPs! The rugged and raw KRS backdrop serves Just-Ice's ... CD

Mykill Miers works here with beats from the Parisian scene – a nicely intense, layered blend of sonic currents over the beats on "Stressed Out" – which seems to produce an equally intense quality in the lyrics! "Target Practice" is a bit more varied, with turntable ... 12-inch, Vinyl record

The first full length from MF Doom – a record that set the standard for underground hip hop to come! On this modern classic, Doom caps off the 90s with more jazzy soul in the beats, and some semblance of straightforward rhyme mastery from both Doom & his guests – taken to the outer ... LP, Vinyl record album

Del Tha Funkee Homosapien, Kid Koala, and Dan The Automator pool their skills for this dawn of the 2000s sci-fi hip hop classic – the masterful Deltron 3030! The guest list is almost too long to get into, but Money Mark, Prince Paul, PB Wolf and Mr. Lif are all here, along with many others. ... LP, Vinyl record album

Slum Village's legendary Fantastic Vol 1 – one of the most sought-after hip hop albums of the era – with the most rugged-and-raw Jay Dee production on record! Honestly, we're left pretty close to speechless by how tightly these tracks hold up. This is indeed the template for so many ... LP, Vinyl record album

A surprisingly strong set from a match that might sound a bit odd at first, but which comes across beautifully throughout! At some level, Elzhi is the lead act here – dominating most of the songs with his well-crafted rhymes – and letting Georgia Anne Muldrow to handle the production, ... CD

The debut full length from Pete Rock & CL Smooth – a standard-setting record from the 90s that's still among one of the greatest of the decade! The set bristles with new energy and excitement right from the start – as Pete Rock's trademark mix of heavy soul, jazz, and funk ... CD

Tough, righteous rap from King Sun – 1989's XL – a set that still looms large after all these years! King Sun dropped knowledge from a Five Percenter influence with a flow that's as smooth, solid and authoritive as any Bronx rapper of the day – and the production by Sun Born ... CD

Maybe the crowning achievement of DJ Cash Money – a sharp DJ from the early Philly scene – and a talent who was every bit as great at the time on as Jazzy Jeff on the wheels of steel! Cash is paired here with Marvelous, an MC whose sense of wit really matches the sharpness of the ... CD

The debut of Nicki Minaj – a record that's issued in a much longer legacy than some might have thought at the time! The charms of Nicki are well-known, and we hardly need to recount them here – but that take-charge quality of her work still comes through loud and clear after all these ... LP, Vinyl record album

The debut of Nicki Minaj – a record that's issued in a much longer legacy than some might have thought at the time! The charms of Nicki are well-known, and we hardly need to recount them here – but that take-charge quality of her work still comes through loud and clear after all these ... LP, Vinyl record album

A legendary record from KMD – the group's second album, which was unissued at the time because their label had an issue with the now-famous cover image! The set is every bit as fantastic as their first – with some of that strong influence from jazz that marked their music as a real ... CD

Uncut, full version Jay Love Japan – one of the best of the early posthumous Dilla releases – originally slated exclusively for the Japanese market! This is Dilla in a mostly uptempo vibe, with soulful strings and vocal samples and blunt, snapping beats. There are a couple vocal ... CD

Madlib invades Blue Note! He gets free reign of the catalog for this mix of sampler genius and live band interpretations, too, as/with Ahmad Miller, Yesterdays New Quintet, Malcolm Catto, Medaphoar, and others from the Stones Throw camp. This one's truly a conceptual triumph, if there ever was ... LP, Vinyl record album