$30.00
Large Professor is one of the few Hip-Hop producers who hasn't strayed from his original sound. Check out his record "The LP" which was supposed to be released in 1996, and then put on his latest release "Re:Living" - they aren't that different. Put a Preem or Pete Rock beat on from the 90s, and it's definitely distinguishable from their recent work, helping to highlight just how timeless Large Pro's sound really is. He rarely gets mentioned in the same sentence as Premier or Pete, and that's a damn shame. – Rap Reviews
Label: Fat Beats – FB5173 |
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album |
Country: US |
Released: 2015 |
Genre: Hip Hop |
$39.00
After seemingly coming out of nowhere, Your Old set the internet aflame in 2014 with his self-titled debut EP, catching the attention of bloggers all over the web from New York Magazine’s Vulture to NahRight.com. Before long, conspiracy theories started and people began to posit that Droog was another older, legendary New York rapper in disguise. Profiled in The New Yorker, Droog (meaning “friend” in Russian) set the record straight about who he was: a twenty-something Ukrainian immigrant who fell in love with hip-hop when he arrived in South Brooklyn as a small child. The timbre of his voice resembled that of a hip-hop legend but Droog’s content had more to it than street dreams or observations from a project window. His music reflected his own unique life experience as he referenced everything from sports, to crime, to Seinfeld and C-Span in his rhymes. He was an intelligent hoodlum with a stand-up comedian’s sense of humor—unafraid to be as self-deprecating as he was self-aggrandizing.
On his critically-acclaimed debut, the Your Old Droog LP, he vowed to “bring back storytelling” and now on his sophomore album, PACKS, Droog delivers on that promise. In addition to the raw rhyme displays on songs like the Alchemist-produced, “Winston Red” Droog flexes his narrative muscles both comically (“My Girl Is A Boy”) and dramatically (“G.K.A.C”) on this new album. For instance, the single “You Can Do It (Give Up)” is an ode to practicality over fantasy told in three vignettes. Co-produced by Edan, and Y.O.D. himself “You Can Do It (Give Up)” is almost the bizarro version of Biz Markie’s “Vapors.” The reclusive Edan also produces and appears on the raucous posse cut “Help” with Ratking frontman Wiki.The three MC’s trade bars over an explosive beat that is as inspired psychedelic rock as it is hip-hop.
Droog also shares mic duties with fellow rap iconoclasts Danny Brown (“Grandma Hips”) and Heems (“Bangladesh”) and, for good measure, comedian Anthony Jeselnik lends his dark humor to skits between songs. Besides the return of Droog’s go-to production partner El RTNC, PACKS also features production from platinum producers ID Labs (Wiz Khalifa, Mac Miller) and 88 Keys (Watch The Throne, Action Bronson, Mos Def). The sum of it all is an album that stands out from the predictable offerings of mainstream rappers today. PACKS is a project for fans of hip-hop’s fundamentals and those who are interested in the progress of the art form. Finally, an album from a new artist that rap fans can truly believe in. – Fat Beats
“Droog venerates the art of rap storytelling, weaving colorful street tales of hood characters that make up his perspective of New York City. Each of the three verses on “You Can Do It! (Give Up)” tells instantly recognizable stories of people with failed dreams of stardom: The hoop dreamer, the washed up model/actress, the struggle rapper. His tone is dry but empathetic, the hook evincing a perpetual motivational struggle, the drive to succeed (“You can do it!”) competing with self-defeating loathing (“Give up!”).
And of all the characters in Droog’s raps, New York looms the largest. His rhymes are full of borough references (Funkmaster Flex night, nubuck Timberlands, bodega loosies), and while he doesn’t front as a gangster, he’s unquestionably hood; when his first EP dropped in 2014 he told Rolling Stone he paid for the studio sessions with winnings from playing cee-lo. Packs is a record by, of, and for New York City, espousing the romantic notion it will never change, no matter how much the world does.” – Pitchfork
Item description:
Artist: |
|
Title: |
Packs |
Label: |
|
Format: |
Vinyl, LP, Album |
Pressing: |
US |
Release Date: |
2017 |
Genre: |
Hip Hop |
Style: |
Rap |
Catalog No: |
FB5181 |
Condition: |
New |
$30.00
L.A-based Emanon (aka Exile and Aloe Blacc) began experimenting with Hip Hop when Aloe was only 16 and Exile 17, with no more than a four-track tape recorder, turntable and a microphone. They built a fan base pre-internet by selling tapes on the streets all over the CA southland, eventually reaching the world. The duo have released many underground tapes and vinyl throughout the years and to the ears of many.
Both artists also saw plenty of success in their solo careers. Blacc launched his career as a solo artist in 2003, releasing two EPs, and signing to Stones Throw Records in 2006, after label head Chris Manak (known as Peanut Butter Wolf) heard Blacc and immediately offered him a contract for the 2006 full-length album Shine Through. He is best known for his singles "I Need a Dollar", "The Man", which topped the charts in the United Kingdom, and for writing and performing vocals on Avicii's "Wake Me Up", which topped the charts in 22 countries, including Australia and the United Kingdom.
Meanwhile, Exile laid the foundation for new West Coast classics with Dirty Science crew-mates: collaborating with rapper Blu on 2007 studio album Below the Heavens, producing rapper Fashawn's debut solo album Boy Meets World, as well as racking up countless production credits with Snoop Dogg, Whiz Khalifa and Big Sean.
Blacc and Exile have remained friends and continued to collaborate over the years, but it wasn’t until 2017 that the combination bore fruit—dipping into Blacc’s poetic, lyrical mind, with Exile at the production helm, to bring fans a modern classic Dystopia. – Wiki & Dirty Science
“The pounding, marching rhythm of “Death Is Fair” and the heavy groove of “Night Stalker” are two standouts that underscore the pair’s wealth of experience. Impressively, the whole album sounds fresh and free of the standard, clichéd hip-hop staples…
Free of any posing or posturing, this is an intelligent hip-hop album that shines a light on the times in which we live. It offers a resilient but often bleak outlook for African-Americans residing in the U.S. today. However, like the best political rap albums there are plenty of memorable melodies and hooks—these are songs not diatribes. At times it can be a dark and uncomfortable listen but the skilful backing and Blacc’s lean, fat-free flow make this a powerful statement. In a year of political hip-hop albums from the likes of Common and A Tribe Called Quest, this is up there with the best.” – PopMatters
Item description:
Artist: |
Emanon |
Title: |
Dystopia |
Label: |
Dirty Science |
Format: |
Vinyl, LP, Album, Blue Flexi-disc, 7", Single Sided |
Pressing: |
US |
Release Date: |
2017 |
Genre: |
Hip Hop |
Style: |
Hip Hop |
Catalog No: |
DS5004 |
Condition: |
New |