Vinyl - Hip Hop

People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm is the debut album by alternative hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest, released in 1990 on Jive Records. Although the album was critically acclaimed, it had little mainstream appeal. However, the album did earn the band a devoted following among the alternative hip hop community. The album was praised for its lyrical inventiveness and bizarre sense of humor, mixed with socially aware and literate message tracks.

One of three A Tribe Called Quest albums to be included in The Source's 100 Best Rap Albums, certified gold by the RIAA on January 19, 1996. The record was given the perfect rating of 5 mics in The Source in 1990 — according to Pitchfork, it was the first album ever to receive this honor.

“The group is marked for their social consciousness, but not merely because of their awareness, but their ability to wax simultaneously about politics and art. On "Push It Along", Tip traverses police brutality, community unity, and rap dreams in a few bars, managing to be an approachable advocate for responsibility without seeming didactic: "The pigs are wearing blue/ And in a year or two/  We'll be going up the creek in a great big canoe / What we gonna do? Save me and my brothers?/ Hop inside the bed and pull over the covers?/ Never will we do that and we ain't trying to rule rap/ We just want a slab of the ham, don't you know, black?" The lyrics are 25 years old. But were they released today they'd seem right on time, while being out of place—because all these many years later People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm is more than a nostalgia artifact. It's a worthy listen, not because of what it was, but because of what it is.” - Pitchfork

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A TAV Curator's Pick.

The Anthology is A Tribe Called Quest's 1999 greatest hits compilation spanning their entire career.

The compilation contains songs from all of their currently existing full-length catalogue, including People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm, The Low End Theory, Midnight Marauders, Beats, Rhymes and Life and The Love Movement. It also contains Q-Tip's "Vivrant Thing", which was featured on the first music compilation for Violator Management. The song would also later be featured on Q-Tip's solo effort, Amplified.

The album cover features Erykah Badu with fluorescent stripes of green and orange reminiscent of the traditional colors of the Kente tribe of the north Congo.

“For those who haven't discovered that A Tribe Called Quest made several of the best LPs in hip-hop history, Anthology is a perfect way to encapsulate the trio's decade-long career into one manageable portion.  All of their best and biggest songs are here, from the early neglected joint "Luck of Lucien" to classic jazz-rap from The Low End Theory like "Jazz (We've Got)," and their 45-rpm peak with "Award Tour," all the way to their last big hit, "Find a Way," from 1998's The Love Movement.  Yes, anyone who enjoys hip-hop needs to own at least Midnight Marauders and The Low End Theory, but Anthology succeeds in delivering all the highest points from a great hip-hop group's career. The collection also includes the first solo track from Q-Tip, 1999's "Vivrant Thing." – AllMusic

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A TAV Essential Listening Album.

The Low End Theory is the second album by American hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest, released after their debut album People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm (1990).

Originally released in 1991 through Jive Records, the album produced three singles: "Check the Rhime," "Jazz (We've Got)," and "Scenario."

The Low End Theory was one of the first records to fuse hip hop with a laid-back jazz atmosphere. Ali Shaheed Muhammad along with Q-Tip and Phife Dawg showcase how rap was done before commercial success influenced many rappers' creativity. The album's minimalist sound is "stripped to the essentials: vocals, drums, and bass." The bass drum and vocals emphasize the downbeat on every track.

The Low End Theory helped shape alternative hip hop in the 1990s. It established the musical, cultural, and historical link between hip hop and jazz. – Wiki

“From the sinuous Art Blakey samples and myth-making rhymes of "Excursions" to the joyous free for all of the epic posse cut "Scenario", The Low End Theory is a stone masterpiece that establishes Tribe's place in hip-hop's history. They draw on everything from the crowd-hyping improvisations of their early park jams, to the complex sciences of Golden Age rhyming styles. Simply put, The Low End Theory is essential for anyone seeking to understand hip-hop.” – Fat Beats

“While most of the players in the jazz-rap movement never quite escaped the pasted-on qualities of their vintage samples, with The Low End Theory, A Tribe Called Quest created one of the closest and most brilliant fusions of jazz atmosphere and hip-hop attitude ever recorded. The rapping by Q-Tip and Phife Dawg could be the smoothest of any rap record ever heard; the pair are so in tune with each other, they sound like flip sides of the same personality, fluidly trading off on rhymes, with the former earning his nickname (the Abstract) and Phife concerning himself with the more concrete issues of being young, gifted, and black.  … It's a tribute to their unerring production sense that, with just those few tools, Tribe produced one of the best hip-hop albums in history, a record that sounds better with each listen. The Low End Theory is an unqualified success, the perfect marriage of intelligent, flowing raps to nuanced, groove-centered productions.” – AllMusic

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The third and fourth installments of Madlib's Beat Konducta series take listeners on a tour of Bollywood, circa 1975. Beat Konducta in India pays sincere tribute to musical giants largely unheard by Western ears, while keeping the funk levels up all the way. – Press Release

Tracklist

A1        Enter: Hot Curry          

A2        Indian Hump   

A3        Movie Finale    

A4        Raw Tranquility Pt. 3     

A5        Freeze  

A6        Masala 

A7        Onthatnewthing           

A8        Indian Deli       

B1        The Rumble     

B2        Dancing Girls Theme   

B3        Piano Garden   

B4        Dark Alley Incidental Music       

B5        Early Party       

B6        Fifth Chant      

B7        The Rip Off (Scene 3)   

B8        Sitar Ride

About Beat Konducta:

Beat Konducta is a 7-album series released by hip hop musician Madlib. "Beat Konducta" is also an alias which Madlib uses. The series began officially in 2006 with the release of Beat Konducta Vol 1-2: Movie Scenes. The album was stylistically a companion to (James Yancey) J Dilla's Donuts, which was released a month earlier just before Yancey's death. He has since followed with Beat Konducta Vol 3-4: Beat Konducta in India in 2007 and Beat Konducta Vol. 5-6: A Tribute to...(Dil Cosby and Dil Withers Suite) in 2008, which is a tribute to Yancey. – Wiki

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Big Grams is the self-titled debut EP by American hip hop trio Big Grams, which consists of rapper Big Boi and electronic rock duo Phantogram., featuring guest appearances by Run the Jewels and Skrillex.

In December 2010, Big Boi, one half of famed hip hop duo Outkast, accidentally discovered Phantogram, an electronic rock duo consisting of Josh Carter and Sarah Barthel, when hearing their single "Mouthful of Diamonds" in a pop-up ad. Big Boi shared the song on his website as the "Jam of the Week". Barthel saw the post and contacted Big Boi, which led to future collaborations. Big Boi's 2012 studio album Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors, included three tracks featuring Phantogram: "Objectum Sexuality", "CPU" and "Lines", and in a interview days before its December 11 release, Big Boi revealed that he and Phantogram were planning to record a "one-off EP type of thing" titled Big Grams.

Carter described the project's sound as "sort of" "psyched-out hip-hop". Barthel and Big Boi provided sung vocals and rapped vocals respectively, while Carter only occasionally provided vocals and was the project's primary producer. – Wiki

“Since the dissolution of OutKast, Big Boi has proven himself to be a restless worker, creating Southern rap epics like 2010's Sir Lucius Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty as well as experimenting with other genres and collaborating with a bevy of often surprising artists. Primary among them is the indie electro-pop group Phantogram, who appeared a couple times on Big Boi's last record, Vicious Lies and Dangerous Rumors. During the sessions for that album, Big Boi revealed that he was pursuing a continued project with the band, and now we have the BIG GRAMS EP. It's been a few years, and despite the curiosity about the success of such a collaboration, the EP works surprisingly well.

If you thought that Big Boi's funky Southern rap wouldn't quite mesh with the smooth, woozy electronic pop of Phantogram, you're not alone. And while the EP really sounds like an exact collision of the two sounds, Big Grams, as the group calls themselves, nail a lot of the hooks and psyched-out verses.”  - Under the Radar

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A TAV Curator's Pick.

Black Star, an American hip hop duo consisting of Mos Def (now known as Yasiin Bey) and Talib Kweli formed in 1997 from Brooklyn, New York City, New York. Black Star’s ‘Mos Def & Talib Kweli are Black Star’ is the duo’s only studio album released on August 18, 1998 to widespread critical acclaim and has gone on to be considered a seminal classic of the 90s underground hip hop scene. The title references the Black Star Line, a shipping company founded by Pan-Africanist Marcus Garvey. The album deals with modern-day issues, philosophies and life in Brooklyn.

This pressing is part of Universal Music Enterprises’ (UMe) "Respect the Classics" series, which pays tribute to many of hip-hop's finest albums on vinyl. This release features a limited edition two-tone black on black picture disc.

“There's no slack evident in the tight wordplays of Def and Kweli as they twist and turn through sparse, jazz-rooted rhythms calling out for awareness and freedom of the mind. Their viewpoints stem directly from the teachings of Marcus Garvey, the legendary activist who fought for the rights of blacks all around the world in the first half of the 20th century. Def and Kweli's ideals are sure lofty; not only are they out to preach Garvey's words, but they also hope to purge rap music of its negativity and violence.” - AllMusic

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“Eminem's claim that "nobody listens to techno" notwithstanding, hip-hop and dance music have often enjoyed a mutual respect in Detroit. Countless artists have tried their hand at both—just look at the tracklist for the 1998 compilation Eleven Phases. J Dilla, possibly the city's most loved hip-hop producer, had two posthumous releases on Moodymann's label, Mahogani Music. Danny Brown, the city's biggest rap export at the moment, put out an album on Warp Records that began with the line, "I'm sweatin' like I'm in a rave."…”

“…In this context, a figure like Tadd Mullinix makes sense. Alongside the grimy techno he makes as JTC (or James T. Cotton), the Ann Arbor producer has, over the last two decades, sidelined in glistening hip-hop beats, most of which have come out in a three-part series of albums on Ghostly International. Three/Three, which lands nearly 12 years since the last installment, is the final chapter in the series, but not, we're told, the end of Dabrye's run…”

“…The cast of collaborators on Three/Three shows this is more than a techno artist's side project. There are two generations of MCs, from Detroit old guard like Guilty Simpson and Phat Kat to newer names like Danny Brown and Nolan The Ninja. There's a bit of rap royalty as well, namely MF Doom and the Wu-Tang Clan's Ghostface Killah. Fellow Ghostly International staple Shigeto stops by as a guest producer.” - Resident Advisor

“Three/Three is stacked with features from Detroit area MCs (Danny Brown, Clear Soul Forces) and heavy-hitting veterans (MF DOOM, Ghostface Killah), but only a handful of his guests truly rise to the occasion. On “Pretty,” Los Angeles journeyman Jonwayne effortlessly delivers tongue-in-cheek punchlines overtop muffled horns and jazzy keys. Elsewhere, the eerie, Sunday morning cartoon-sampling “Lil Mufukuz” reunites the producer and DOOM, who gleefully schools SoundCloud stars and “snotty-nosed club rats.” Less successful are the relatively unknown trio of Kadence, Intricate Dialect, and Silas Green, whose clunky socio-political musings on “Culture Shuffle” will make listeners wish somebody had gotten Mullinix a landline to Jay Electronica instead.” - Pitchfork

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“Due to popular demand, Damu The Fudgemunk's "Supply For Demand" LP (2010) is back in stock. This time redef's go-to visual artist Joseph Buckingham, who recently contributed to De La Soul's mega successful Kickstarter campaign, decided to completely redesign the album packaging from the ground up. Besides the updated artwork, the music remains the same as heard on last year's remastered pressing, featuring a potent mix of instrumental and vocal tracks featuring Damu himself as well as a Y Society collabo in the form of "Don't Do It."

We here at Redefinition Records appreciate the simplicity of this arrangement and are certainly not of the mind to buck fundamental economics. We're also in the enviable position of having a loyal fan base that keep pushing us to put out quality product (that's the supply bit in case you weren't paying attention).

Supply For Demand is therefore what you've come to expect from Damu: Gimmick-free head nodders that wrap themselves around you like sheets of sonic velvet. Keep askin' and we'll keep givin'. The pleasure is all ours.” - UndergroundHipHop.com

About Damu The Fudgemunk:

“Damu the Fudgemunk (born Earl Davis on June 8, 1984, in Washington, DC) is an American hip hop music artist and producer from Washington, DC. In addition to his career as a solo artist, music producer, and DJ, he is a member of the groups Y Society and Panacea.

Damu released his official debut album as a member of Y Society, Travel at Your Own Pace, on October 10, 2007, to positive reviews. The album is reminiscent of true-school hip-hop with its liberal use of jazz and soul samples and scratching throughout. In 2008, Damu released two free albums primarily composed of instrumental music, titled Spare Time and Overtime. He built himself a respectable and loyal fan base through his unique YouTube videos and live street performances around Washington, DC, and New York City, which require him to use a portable electricity generator to power his sampler and speakers.

Damu the Fudgemunk releases the bulk of his music through Redefinition Records, a label that he co-owns and operates. The label focuses on releasing vinyl records and cassettes even if the records are also released on CDs.” - Wiki

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The Mouse and the Mask is a collaboration album by Danger Mouse and MF Doom under the name Danger Doom, released on October 11, 2005 by punk label Epitaph Records in the United States, marking it the third hip hop release for the label. The album is composed almost entirely of raps by MF DOOM, performed over beats created by Danger Mouse sampling music from various television shows airing on Cartoon Network's programming block Adult Swim. – Wiki

“MF Doom, Danger Mouse, and Cartoon Network's Adult Swim have each ascended to countercultural glory using the sum of popular culture as their outsized playpens, reconfiguring cartoon and comic-book iconography and/or old sounds into giddily ridiculous yet strangely fitting new arrangements. Collectively, they've transformed third-rate superheroes into attorneys and oblivious talk-show hosts, deadpan rappers with an endless reservoir of obscure pop-culture references into comic-book supervillains, and The Beatles and Jay-Z into unwitting collaborators. Separately, they've radically appropriated other people's creations to fit their own ends with the kind of brash, smartass irreverence that tends to result in obsessive cult followings, legal threats, or both.

Danger Mouse provides the beats and Doom the rhymes, while the cult icons and sentient meat patties of Adult Swim run amok in the margins, heckling the headliners, making bids for the spotlight, and rhapsodizing about "heartwarming but rarely amusing Ziggy cartoons." […] Danger Mouse knows this territory well, and he lays down happy horns and a day-glo retro vibe for "Old School," where Doom and guest Talib Kweli trip giddily down memory lane, reminiscing about the simple pleasures of Saturday morning cartoons and sugary cereal. Danger Mouse overlaps rubbery and sci-fi synths on "Benzie Box," as Cee-Lo Green purrs an infectious chorus that could double as Doom's super-villainous theme music.” – AV Club

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Old is the third studio album by American hip hop recording artist Danny Brown. The album was released in 2013 under Fool's Gold Records.

The album includes production from American, British and Canadian record producers such as A-Trak, BadBadNotGood, Frank Dukes, Oh No, Paul White, Rustie and SKYWLKR, among others. The album also features guest appearances from fellow artists such as Freddie Gibbs, ASAP Rocky, Schoolboy Q, Ab-Soul, Scrufizzer, Charli XCX and Purity Ring.

The album was supported by three singles, "Dip", "25 Bucks" and "Smokin & Drinkin". Old received widespread acclaim from critics. - Wiki

On the Deluxe box set:

“Fans have been clamoring to hold Danny Brown's Old album on wax since the acclaimed album was first released. Bruisers, your day has come! Danny's modern-day rap masterpiece is now available in a deluxe 4xLP vinyl box set featuring the full album - and exclusive instrumentals! - pressed on heavy duty 180 gram wax, full lyric booklet and liner notes, mp3 download card and a 24" fold-out poster, all housed in a high-quality collectors box.” – Fool’s Gold Records

“Danny Brown's XXX was a concept album about desperation and Old is a concept album about existential confusion. Growing up might not be as dramatic a subject as burning out, but it's more relatable to most of us, and it's no accident that it resulted in the best and most resonant album of the rapper's career.” - Pitchfork

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A TAV Curator's Pick.

Hailing from Sacramento, California, Death Grips was formed in late 2010 and consists of vocalist Stefan Burnett and production team Zach Hill and Andy Morin.

The band dropped the highly acclaimed mix tape Exmilitary featuring the standout track "Guillotine", Time Out NY 's #1 single of 2011. The release garnered critical praise from tastemakers such as Pitchfork, NME, Spin, The New Yorker, and more, with many call outs on year end best of lists.

Death Grips follow up Exmilitary with their Epic Records debut, The Money Store. The album builds on Exmilitary's unique punk rap sound and explores new territory with standout tracks "Get Got", "Blackjack", and "I've Seen Footage". 

“The Money Store is an important record that's also compelling, loaded with kinetic blows against the empire and fully stuffed with that attractive maverick spirit.” – AllMusic

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The Powers That B is the fourth studio album by experimental hip hop group Death Grips, released via Harvest Records in 2015.

A double album, the album's first disc, Niggas on the Moon, features instrumentation performed en-tirely on a Roland V-Drum kit by drummer Zach Hill and features chopped vocal samples of Icelandic singer-songwriter, Björk, on every track.

The second half, Jenny Death, features Nick Reinhart of Tera Melos, and Zach's former high school bandmate, Julian Imsdahl, on guitar and organ respectively.

"both N***as on the Moon and Jenny Death have at last been united as The Powers That B. Known to innovate and reshape themselves with each release, it should come as no surprise that the Sacra-mento trio have done so twice over this time around, with each disc taking a strikingly different ap-proach to their brand of challenging hip-hop. Whether the aforementioned antics were part of the conceptual art or not, the exploration of sounds here both polarizing and palatable was worth the mystery.... Though radically different in execution, The Powers That B is a compelling look at the band's ability to work with sounds both minimal and monumental, while containing some of their most riveting lyrical and musical work in recent memory. One wouldn't be wrong to question the deci-sion to release both discs as a double album, given that neither demonstrates a great sonic reliance on the other." - Exclaim

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Born Like This is the sixth studio album by British-American emcee/producer MF Doom. It was released under the pseudonym DOOM, originally in 2009 through Lex Records.

“In addition to tracks produced by DOOM, the album includes production by frequent collaborator Madlib, as well as J Dilla. The album title is borrowed from Charles Bukowski's poem, "Dinosauria, We," which employs it as a cadence. A reading of the poem by Bukowski himself is in the beginning part of the track "Cellz." It is an aggressive album that follows a loose storyline, and its lyricism involves verbal braggadocio, social commentary on police brutality and the ghetto condition. Pitchfork Media included Born Like This in their best albums of 2009, placing it at #48.” - Wiki

“It's funny that Born Like This starts off feeling unfinished and, a couple listens later, starts to resonate as strongly as anything he's done since Madvillainy. I don't know if Born Like This arose from disillusionment or fatigue or something else, but whatever caused DOOM to scale back his output and go off the grid, he's only come back from it sharper, stronger, and more powerful than before. Villains don't really die, they just emerge from the rubble even more determined to make the world see their way.” - Pitchfork

“DOOM here rifles through his own past as fruitfully as he ransacks pop culture, living out his ’70s TV fantasies along Ghostface Killah (“Angelz”), casting aspersions on Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson’s sexuality (“Batty Boyz”), and sampling Charles Bukowski, Mr. T, and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.DOOM still has the sickest vocabulary, broadest frame of reference, and densest, most quotable rhymes in hip-hop. Out of shopworn material, he has created an album of sublimely half-assed super-genius.” - AV Club

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Shadow of a Doubt is the second studio album by American rapper Freddie Gibbs. The album was released in 2015 by ESGN and Empire Distribution.

“After dropping last year’s Piñata with Madlib and two subsequent EPs, Freddie Gibbs is back with his third full-length studio album. Shadow of a Doubt features over a dozen wide-ranging names contributing beats, from Canadian hitmaker Boi-1da to 808 Mafia’s Tarentino, and his roots and aspirations have never been clearer.” - Pitchfork

“Gary, Indiana rapper Freddie Gibbs is a tough, urban storyteller who can rifle off a steady stream of greatness before he lands on the hook, and with his 2015 release, Shadow of a Doubt, the hooks, plus production, are on the same level as his rhymes.” - AllMusic

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Evol is the fourth studio album by American rapper Future. It was released in 2016 by A1 Recordings, Freebandz and Epic Records.

It premiered on DJ Khaled's We The Best Radio debut on Beats 1.

“The album boasts some of Future's more interesting beats since 56 Nights or "I Serve the Base," particularly "Photo Copied," which pops and boops like "Beez in the Trap"'s cousin, and the sing-song patter of "Xanny Family" which uses an ultra-repetitive hook to mesmerizing effect. "Low Life" has the sultriness of House of Balloons/Thursday-era Weeknd, when Abel still seemed like a mysterious, hedonistic force, and Future's by-the-numbers bars reinforce the feeling that it is, in fact, a Weeknd track featuring Future. It ends up an album highlight.” - Pitchfork

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Everybody Looking is the ninth studio album by American rapper Gucci Mane. It was released on July 22, 2016, by 1017 Records and Atlantic Records,[1] serving as Gucci's first studio release since The Return of Mr. Zone 6 (2011). Recording sessions on the album took place in under six days. The album features three guest appearances from Drake, Kanye West and Young Thug, while the majority of production was provided by Gucci Mane's longtime collaborators such as Mike Will Made It and Zaytoven, among others.

Everybody Looking was met with positive reviews from critics, with the album peaking at number 2 on the US Billboard 200 and becoming Gucci Mane's highest-charting album. – Wiki

“Executive produced by Mike WiLL Made-It, Everybody Looking features a spacey, brooding backdrop that’s custom built to help Guwop find his footing once again. As an integral part of his original sound, Zaytoven also does a majority of the heavy-lifting, providing an occasionally lively contrast to Mike WiLL’s typically murky aesthetics. Their collaboration on “Waybach” perfectly matches Gucci’s air of nostalgia, while their work on the sunny instrumentation for “At Least a M” makes it an instant contender for summer anthem. Despite only making brief appearances, Murda Beatz (“Back on Road” w/ Drake) and Drumma Boy (“All My Children”) also fit comfortably into Zay and Mike Will’s newfound dynamic. Everything is methodical, from the thunderous “No Sleep” intro to the way the “Waybach” hook comes back around for an encore towards the end of “Richest Nigga In The Room.”” – HipHopDX

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J Dilla is widely regarded as one of the greatest hip-hop producers of all time, having supplied timeless soundbeds for the likes of A Tribe Called Quest, Slum Village, The Pharcyde, Busta Rhymes, Common, De La Soul, The Roots, D’Angelo, Erykah Babu, Madlib, and many more. In 2005, rumors began circulating about an album called “”Jay Love Japan””, a J Dilla solo project inspired by one of Jay Dee’s favorite locations to visit on tour. After Dilla’s untimely death in early 2006, the album became a lost classic shrouded in mystery, with only unofficial bootlegs and promo versions available. An official CD version was eventually released in 2008, but quickly went out of print.

Now, the album is finally receiving the official release it always deserved. J Dilla’s mother Ma Dukes and her label Vintage Vibez Music Group are proud to present official Vinyl and CD versions of “Jay Love Japan”. With six soulful Dilla instrumentals and vocal appearances from Blu, Miguel, J*Davey, Ta’Raach, Exile, Baatin, and more, this 11-track collection is a perfect snapshot of late-period J Dilla brilliance. – Fat Beats

The official vinyl release features deluxe packaging, printed inner sleeve and a die-cut jacket.

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A TAV Curator's Pick.

4 Your Eyez Only is the fourth studio album by American rapper J. Cole. It was released on December 9, 2016, by Dreamville Records, Roc Nation and Interscope Records. The album was Cole's first release with Interscope—his previous albums were released by Columbia. The album also serves as Dreamville's president Ibrahim Hamad first executive producer credit for a Cole album. Most of these recordings took place from 2015 to 2016, while the production on the album was primarily handled by Cole himself, alongside several other record producers such as Vinylz, Boi-1da, Cardiak, Ron Gilmore, Frank Dukes, Chargaux and Elite, among others. Promoting the release, Cole released a one-hour documentary (by the same name) on April 15, 2017 on HBO, featuring music from the album. 4 Your Eyez Only was released exactly two years after Cole's previous studio album, 2014 Forest Hills Drive.

The album received generally positive reviews from critics, some of whom called it Cole's best album to date. 4 Your Eyez Only debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, selling 363,000 copies in its first week (492,000 with additional album-equivalent units) earning Cole his fourth consecutive number-one album in the country. It had the third-largest weekly sales for an album in 2016. On January 12, 2017, 4 Your Eyez Only was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America, and was certified platinum on April 7, 2017. The album also debuted at number one on Billboard's Canadian Albums Chart. The album was supported by two singles: "Deja Vu" and "Neighbors". – Wiki

“4 Your Eyez Only is ten tracks, no features and perfect ingredients. It's simple, confident, assured…Eyez is about trying to be a good man, even though circumstances don't permit you to. It's about how the people you love view you; how you may want to impress them, but might not be able to. It's a love letter, and yet, it's astonishing just how hard-hitting it is…

It could have been pretentious, but Cole has always been one of the most slept-on songwriters in hip-hop, and on this record, he's better than he's ever been. Listening to him spit over the menacing harpsichord of "Immortal," or dropping confident, searing lines on "Neighbours" is a joy. The album's standout, "Folding Clothes," will probably spur a thousand new memes. The production — courtesy of some bubbling-under beatmakers, along with Cole himself — bangs.” – Exclaim!

“Supported by some of his best songwriting and an openness that adds real credence to his message. He has been on a path of gradual evolution ever since he appeared to lose his way upon signing to a major label at the turn of the decade and realising the weight of success was a heavy burden to carry. He has matured into a one of the most important figures in modern hip hop and 4 Your Eyez Only is the evidence of this. We can only hope his message can inspire hope and change in communities across the world.” – Popmatters

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Jack White's Third Man Records has prepared a limited-edition vinyl box set of Jay Z's 2013 LP, Magna Carta Holy Grail.

Playing on the theme of redacted government documents and expanding it into a full, clothbound binder with the entirety of the Magna Carta Holy Grail album spread across eight 7” 45rpm records, this piece conceived by Grammy-nominated designer Brian Roettinger is cryptographically breathtaking. It is limited to 1000 numbered sets and released in conjunction with Roc Nation.

Watch the trailer for the product below:

”Magna Carta Holy Grail is the twelfth studio album by American rapper Jay Z, released in 2013. The album features guest appearances by Justin Timberlake, Nas, Rick Ross, Frank Ocean and Beyoncé. Most of the album was produced by Timbaland and Jerome "J-Roc" Harmon, while other producers included Boi-1da, Mike Will Made It, Hit-Boy, Mike Dean, No I.D., The-Dream, Swizz Beatz, and Pharrell Williams among others.

The album spawned three successful singles, "Holy Grail", "Tom Ford" and "Part II (On the Run)" featuring Beyoncé. Multiple other songs on the album achieved chart success including, "FuckWithMeYouKnowIGotIt", "Oceans", "Heaven" and "Picasso Baby".

The album was named in multiple "Albums of the Year" lists by major publications. It was nominated for Album of the Year at the 2013 BET Hip Hop Awards and for Best Rap Album at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards.

Complex ranked the album at number 23, on their list of the 50 best albums of 2013. They praised the "high-gloss production," and strong rhymes by Jay-Z, deeming it "very listenable". Rolling Stone named it the tenth best hip hop album of the 2013 saying, "The legendary MC explored of-the-moment sounds, textures and tempos in ways only he could [...] Even on a bit of an off day, Jay is still plenty impressive."” - Wiki

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A TAV Curator’s Pick.

The original release of the Madlib and J Dilla collab, created between Los Angeles and Detroit in 2002-2003. 

The project was conceived in fall 2002 after Stones Throw released a limited edition 12" featuring "The Message," a track made by Madlib in 2000, flipping Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five's lyrics over a J Dilla beat. The song, unofficially credited to "Jaylib," was never intended for commercial release, but it got the two producer/mc's together to talk about an equal collaboration. Dilla & Madlib previously worked together briefly in Detroit, late 2001, on a project which was never completed.

This Jaylib project is all-new hip hop material.

Jaylib's album will be Madlib's first as emcee since "The Unseen" by Quasimoto in 2000.

Source: Stones Throw Record

Half of the songs are produced by Madlib and feature J Dilla on vocals, and the other half are pro-duced by J Dilla and feature Madlib on vocals. This album was the first of the Madlib duo collabora-tion albums made during the 2000s.

In 2010, Champion Sound was listed by Black Milk as one of the "Top Ten Albums of the Last Dec-ade". In 2015, it ranked at number 41 on Fact's "100 Best Indie Hip-Hop Records of All Time" list. In that year, it was also listed by HipHopDX as one of the "30 Best Underground Hip Hop Albums Since 2000".

Source: Wiki

“As each were situated in their home towns (Dilla in Detroit and Madlib in L.A.), they fleshed out Champion Sound, which will easily win the award for the Most Blunted Album of the Year; these guys were smoking serious greens while working this one out. As one might expect, the production qualities of an album made by two of hip-hop's most celebrated producers is rich in texture, innovation, and solid momentum. Where Madlib is a seasoned MC (look at Lootpack's Soundpieces or Quasimoto's The Unseen), Dilla is not. He's not bad, just rougher around the edges, which lends to a disorienting listen in general. The beats are slapped together, whacked samples are abruptly dropped, and the lyrics are steps behind the beat and generally about nothing but b-boy posturing and other nonsense. All of which results in a very unique and strangely rewarding album. While it may require repeated listens to take hold, Champion Sound is full of a lot more winners than losers.” – AllMusic

Tracklist:

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A TAV Curator’s Pick.

Untitled Unmastered is a compilation album by American hip hop recording artist Kendrick Lamar, released in 2016 by Top Dawg Entertainment, Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records

It consists of previously unreleased demos that originated during the recording of Lamar's album To Pimp a Butterfly (2015), continuing that work's exploration of politically-charged and psychological themes, as well as its experimentation with free jazz, soul, avant-garde, and funk styles. - Wiki

"Issued without advance notice 17 days after Kendrick Lamar's riveting 2016 Grammy Awards performance, untitled unmastered. consists of eight demos that are simply numbered and dated. Apart from segments previewed at the Grammys and late-night television appearances, there was no formal promotion. A postscript, it's (artfully) artless in presentation -- not even basic credits appear on the Army green liner card in the compact disc edition -- yet it's almost as lyrically and musically rich as To Pimp a Butterfly." - AllMusic

"As with To Pimp A Butterfly, Untitled Unmastered straddles the personal and political to make some salient points and advances...A perfectly fine release, Untitled Unmastered doesn't exist to change anyone's mind about Lamar. That ship has sailed, and for the foreseeable future the narrative course is a righteous one. But the vessel has cracks, as it always has, and if we continue to rely on the immensely talented and imperfectly mortal Lamar in the ways we've been relying on him, we're likely to end up dashed on the rocks." - The Quietus

"This eight-track, 35 minute set begins in a bedroom, incense burning, Lamar sexing up a lover over soul-jazz, bass-and-percussion foreplay. But before we hit the two-minute mark he's seeing rapists and murderers, "death faces screaming in agony," "atheists for suicide/planes falling out the sky/trains jumping off the track." And this is a jam about uplift." - Rolling Stone

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A TAV Essential Listening Album.

““I wanted to make a record that would be weird forever.”  — Kid Koala

Part radio play, part comedy, all turntables… and next to no beats!  Carpal Tunnel Syndrome includes the hits “Barhopper 1,”  “Barhopper  2,” and “Drunk Trumpet,” as well as the Thom Yorke-approved “Like Irregular Chickens.”” – Kid Koala

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is the first album by turntablist Kid Koala.

The track "Like Irregular Chickens" is a reference to fellow Ninja Tune artist Amon Tobin's track "Like Regular Chickens" on the album Permutation, which itself references the David Lynch film Eraserhead. – Wiki

“"Carpal Tunnel Syndrome was not an easy record to make," says Kid Koala, erupting into one of his trademark peals of laughter. It's a fair point, too. First, there was the pressure of being signed to his dream label, Ninja Tune; then the fact that he told them he'd deliver an album in six months. Four years later, he handed in Carpal Tunnel Syndrome - possibly the weirdest artist album the label had put out, and for them that's saying something.

It runs at just over half an hour, but takes the listener on a timeless and phantasmagorical journey through the mind and record collection of this celebrated Canadian turntablist and producer.

The striking thing about it is that it was made almost entirely by hand-cutting vinyl records onto an eight-track recorder. No computer splicing or looping was used to arrange it, and no samplers were employed to trigger the hundreds of records that were assembled to piece the tracks together.

"None of these tracks are songs," says Kid Koala. "They were more inspired by the Monty Python mantra of, 'Now for something completely different', or the sketches from The Muppet Show. That's what was informing Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, more than me making some type of dancefloor destroyer or something. It was much more on the topic of it being an adventure in sound and records."

The results were staggeringly good. Not that Kid Koala likes to blow his own trumpet. In fact, at the time, he was riddled with self-doubt over his attempt to be an artist.

"The sample that rings truest for that whole era in my life is at the end of A Night At The Nufonia and says, 'And that, of course, is what he deserved for pretending to be a musician when he was only a butcher' [laughs].

"I wanted to make this album purely on turntables, so the question was, can this be musical? I had to wrestle with that throughout. At times, it did break through and transcend that realm, and go into a place where I could see it as a future."” – Music Radar

“Koala makes it easy for listeners to follow the transformation of his source material into totally different creations, and builds some deceptively dense, layered tracks; plus, his explosive scratching (best heard on "A Night at the Nufonia") is the equivalent of a guitar shredder soloing. His infectious sense of fun is simply a gateway to Carpal Tunnel Syndrome's readily apparent musical sophistication. All in all, a superb and accessible introduction to a specialist art form.” – AlMusic

About Kid Koala:

Kid Koala is a world-renowned scratch DJ, music producer, and award winning graphic novelist. He has released four solo albums on Ninja Tune the most recent being 12 bit Blues. He has also released two graphic novels: Nufonia Must Fall and Space Cadet. He has also been involved in collaborations such as Gorillaz, Deltron 3030, and The Slew.

Kid Koala has toured with the likes of Radiohead, the Beastie Boys, Arcade Fire, Money Mark, A Tribe Called Quest, Mike Patton, DJ Shadow, and The Preservation Hall Jazz Band. He has contributed to scores for the films Shaun of the Dead, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Looper and The Great Gatsby. He has composed music for The National Film Board of Canada, the Cartoon Network, Sesame Street, and Adult Swim. He has also been commissioned to create music for runway shows for Belgian fashion designer Dries Van Noten. Kid Koala’s unforgettable live shows range from silly touring turntable carnivals like Short Attention Span Theater (featuring turntable bingo) and Vinyl Vaudeville (including puppets and dancers) to quiet-time events like Music To Draw To and his Space Cadet Headphone Experience. – KidKoala.com

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As his alter-ego, "Kid Koala", might suggest, Eric San applies a joyous childlike vision to his music on Some of My Best Friends Are DJs. Following turns with Money Mark, Deltron 3030 and Lovage, Canada's cheekiest mixologist defied weighty expectations with his beguiling debut album, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Three years later, and Kid Koala has retained his youthful verve. Packaged with a 52-page, self-penned comic and a travel chess kit, Some of My Best Friends Are DJs offers less in the way of music, with the 35-minute running time meaning the restless sonic snippets wisely end before his humour has a chance to grate.

Mixing sleazy whisky-bar vibes with adolescent antics, his second album never allows the listener to settle. Moments of playful mixing magic are at times followed by baffling inanity as "Skanky Panky"--with its wonderfully shattered Ska rhythm and frantic scratches--runs into "Flu Season", ostensibly a series of beat-accompanied coughs, sneezes and sniffs. Blending blues, jazz and funk with a myriad of bizarre samples, moments of pure eccentric genius such as "Robochacha" and "More Dance Music" make this a flawed yet fascinating slice of beat-driven bravura. - Christopher Barrett

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A short collection of tracks from Madlib Medicine Show #1-13 called Pill Jar. The collection has now been expanded to 20 tracks and pressed onto limited edition vinyl.

Featured artists include: DOOM, J Dilla, Karriem Riggins, James Poyser, Guilty Simpson. Artwork by Rogerio Puhl, design by Jeff Jank. – Press Release

“THE BEST OF THE MEDICINE SHOW... kind of. Back in 2010, Madlib did the impossible and released an album and or mix tape every month for the entire year. That's 12 full releases for the Medicine Show series and a whole lotta beats to digest. Now if you couldn't swallow that big of a Madlib pill, then the Pill Jar is a great way to catch up. Originally put together for his 2013 Asia Tour, this puts together standout tracks from Medicine Show #1-12 on a long player sampler of sorts with guest spots from big dawgs like J Dilla, Doom, and Guilty Simpson. 20 tracks with twisted cartoon pic sleeve that seals the deal.” – Turntable Lab

Tracklist

A 01.    Static Invazion  

A 02.    Episode XVI   

A 03.    Kill' Em Remix 

A 04.    The Paper        

A 05.    What Can U Tell Me     

A 06.    The Frontline   

A 07.    African Voodoo Queen

A 08.    Afrosound Panorama   

A 09.    Kane   

A 10.    Interlude          

B 01.     Plastic Cup       

B 02.     Watch Out       

B 03.     The Poet          

B 04.     Interlude          

B 05.     Afritronic Pt.1  

B 06.     The Show (Inner View) 

B 07.     Jungle Sounds  

B 08.     Red, Black & Green Showcase   

B 09.     Interview #4080           

B 10.     Funky Butt

About Madlib Medicine Show:

Madlib Medicine Show was a 13-album series by Madlib originally scheduled to be released monthly on his own imprint, Madlib Invazion throughout 2010 and into 2011. Odd months present releases featuring Madlib's production work while even months showcase DJ work and mixing skills.

Originally planned to be only 12 albums and mixtapes, however a secret Medicine Show titled Medicine Show #13: Black Tape was released in March 2012, to complete the Madlib Medicine Show series. – Wiki

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Madvillainy without the raps is still a classic. 

Madvillainy is a collaboration between rapper MF Doom and producer Madlib under the group name Madvillain.

MF DOOM and Madlib were off the radar to many in 2003, but the announcement of a collaboration and the first track, “America's Most Blunted”, brought all the quiet fans out of the woodwork, and let to a controversial and highly acclaimed album release in early 2004 that helped expose the two artists to a large audience for the first time. While the producer and MC both did was what completely natural to them at the time, they turned the formula of popular rap at the time on its head, creating an album that is both unique and true to it's hip-hop influences.  - Stones Throw

Buy the original version of Madvillain here.

Tracklist:

About Madvillain :

MF DOOM and Madlib are Madvillain. The two met in 2002 and soon began working on Madvillainy which would be finished over the next year and released in March 2004. The music on Madvillainy went against the grain of all popular conventions in contemporary hip-hop: short songs, dirty sound, no choruses, and with lyrical themes which were not always clear to everyone on first listen. The album received the highest critical praise of a hip-hop album released in 2004, and years later has continued to generate interest and controversy.

MF DOOM went on to work with DANGERDOOM (with Danger Mouse), Gorillaz and Ghostface Killa. Madlib has continued developing his diverse production style for the likes of Erykah Badu, Talib Kweli, Ghostface, as well as releasing several solo products under his own name and self-made creations Quasimoto, Yesterdays New Quintet and Beat Konducta.

In 2008, prolific as usual, Madlib remixed Madvillainy in its entirety. It was released in a limited edition box set in 2008.

DOOM and Madlib have worked on a second Madvillain album on and off for several years. If you're waiting for it, wait in line behind us.

Source: Stones Throw

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Unexpected Guests is a compilation album by hip hop artist MF DOOM, released under the shortened pseudonym DOOM. The album is made up of a collection of songs performed by, produced by or featuring DOOM and previously released at various points throughout his career. Unexpected Guests was released under the label Gold Dust Media (Studio !K7). – Wiki

“DOOM is notorious for embarrassing his own guest rappers on his CDs, but this isn't the case for once on this CD. This is a collection of guest features that mostly hold their own alongside DOOM. Whether it was connecting with emcee greats like Talib Kweli and GZA or legendary producers like J Dilla, this CD turns out to hold a collection of some of DOOM’s best beats and lyrics overall, and if you know anything about DOOM you are already downloading this by now. While Unexpected Guests might not stack up to classics like MM.. Food or Madvillainy overall, on many tracks it replicates the comic book atmosphere and lyrical brilliance that only DOOM is capable of pulling off.” – Sputnik Music

“It’s surprisingly well-mixed and cohesive for an album that spans almost his entire career. And he made sure to lessen the impact of any abrupt cuts between tracks. For example, there is the one heard as “Sniper Elite”, which was meant to be part of the DillaDOOM project, bleeds into “Yikes” by Scienz of Life. Instead of being a cluttered mess, the supervillain handled the transition perfectly and it’s relatively smooth. On top of all that, the DOOM even threw some more old school Fantastic Four samples into the mix for good measure. As a result of all the aforementioned editing, this plays much more like an album than a compilation.” – Popmatters

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A TAV Curator's Pick.

From his early days in 90s collective KMD to his reinvention as a masked supervillain leading the indie hip-hop revolution, MF DOOM has consistently pushed the boundaries of hip-hop in new and unexpected directions. While DOOM’s lyrical genius is well-documented, he has quietly become an important figure behind the boards as well. DOOM has always produced his own music, and in the early 2000s he released the acclaimed ten-part Special Herbs instrumental series, introducing the world to the dusty, lo-fi loops that define his production aesthetic.

In the years since, DOOM has supplied soundscapes for Ghostface Killah’s classic Fishscale album, produced an entire album for Masta Ace, and witnessed a new generation of emcees (including Joey Bada$$, Capital STEEZ, and Bishop Nehru) using Special Herbs beats on their breakthrough mixtapes.

Now, the villain is putting the spotlight back on his production with the official vinyl release of Special Blends, Vol. 1 & 2. Originally self-released in extremely limited quantities back in 2004, Special Blends Vol. 1 & 2 pairs vintage DOOM-produced Special Herbs instrumentals with classic hip-hop and R&B vocals. Mixed by DOOM himself, this collection incorporates vocals from a wide range of iconic records.

Tracklist:

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A TAV Essential Listening Album.

With the release of Illmatic, Nas quickly established himself as a hip hop icon and has become one of the hottest artists on the music scene today. The landmark album has been lauded by critics as one of the most exemplary hip hop recordings of all time. 

Illmatic contributed to the revival of the New York City rap scene and has been consistently ranked near the top of many “best album” lists.

Today, the collection remains one of the most widely celebrated and influential albums in history with Rolling Stone proclaiming, "a portrait of an artist as a hood, loner, tortured soul, juvenile delinquent, and fledgling social critic… [the album] still stands as one of rap's crowning achievements.” NPR Music called the collection “[a] masterwork of story-telling, lyricism and beat-making,” while upon the album’s release, The Village Voice gave Nas the title of, "one of the most important writers of the 20th century."     

Nas emerged from the Queensbridge neighborhood of Long Island City, a hotbed of rap artists since the ’80s. The son of jazz trumpeter Olu Dara, he has since gone on to sell over 20 million albums worldwide over the span of his legendary career, and has acted as an ambassador for hip-hop culture throughout the globe. Since the release of Illmatic, he has released 9 solo albums and 3 compilations all of which have been certified double-platinum, platinum and gold. His most recent release was 2012’s Life Is Good, which debuted at #1 on the Billboard Top 200, marking the sixth #1 album that Nas has produced in his career. The collection also received four GRAMMY nominations bringing the rap icon’s Grammy recognition count to 13 overall. – Nas Official Website

Long considered one of the greatest Hip Hop albums of all time, Illmatic is a densely textured, deeply lyrical portrait of life in the US's largest public housing project, Queensbridge.

“With Illmatic, I didn't think about it. I just did it. I believe everybody has good instincts. Now I’m a man from that past and I'm supremely grateful. There's a Nigerian proverb ‘What is past is prologue’.  I'm here today because of Illmatic.” - Nas 

Illmatic XX, released in 2014, is a special 20th Anniversary Edition of Nas’ seminal debut album. Illmatic XX fetaures several rare remixes, unreleased demos and freestyles to commemorate the anniversary.

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A TAV Curator's Pick.

Fundamentals, Parisian producer Onra’s third solo LP with All City Records, is a paean to 90s hip-hop and R&B long players, an album that wears its Golden Era inspirations proudly on its sleeve.

Far more than the sum of its influences, it’s a retro-futuristic sound, looking back but thinking forward. A collaborative project with a busy line up, which has taken a while to cook up, the features run the gamut from back-in-the-day heads to fresh up-and-comers. Taking the production levels up a notch with a more crafted, polished sound across the whole LP, the album was produced entirely on an MPC with no computer software used.

Young Harlem MC Perrion kicks off proceedings, making the step up from mixtapes to vinyl effortlessly.Chuck Inglish flies solo on “So Long” and long time Onra friend Olivier Daysoul pairs up with Daz Dillinger of Dogg Pounder on one for the Lowriders – “We Ridin”. Cult Chicago rap group Do or Die also team up with a soul singer – their old collaborator Johnny P – “Over & Over” has the whole Rap-A-Lot crew in action and the soulful theme continues with a Suzi Analogue slow jam and Dutch MC Melodee on a Love Tip. KC of bubbling up London collective Last Night in Paris shows why he can count Pharrell among his devotees and other guests include rap crew the Doppelgangaz and Black Milk, who brings it to a close, ending a very personal project for the French producer, built on hip-hop and R&B foundations and flipped in his own signature style. – Press Release

“Representing Paris, France, Onra finds many different influences to make his sound. He has sampled from different influences his entire career. From his soul music influenced first album (the Quetzal collab called Tribute) to the Vietnamese Pop stylings of his Chinoiseries, Onra has made use of what moves him. Now, he wants to make a desirable dedication to 90’s hip hop. Fundamentals is aptly titled due to its fundamental ground work in funky rhythms and slow grooves.

Onra showcases production that would make west coast and Midwest music lovers excited with nostalgia. MC Melodee spits over rolling funky sampled melodies on Love Tip. Meanwhile, Chuck Inglish rides the slow, low riding production of So Long. Yet, when Over and Over drops with Johnny P singing while Do or Die spits those rapid fire pimp raps, it is understood what Onra truly enjoys.” – Wordplay

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A TAV Essential Listening Album.

Stankonia is the fourth studio album by American hip hop duo OutKast. It was released in October 2000 by La Face Records. The album was recorded in the duo's recently purchased Atlanta recording facility Stankonia Studios, which allowed for fewer time and recording constraints, and featured production work from Earthtone III (a production team consisting of Outkast and Mr. DJ) and Organized Noise.

For the follow-up to their 1998 album Aquemini, the duo worked to create an expansive and experimental musical aesthetic, drawing on a diverse array of sources that included funk, rave music, psychedelia, gospel, and rock within a Dirty South-oriented hip hop context. During the recording sessions, André 3000 began moving beyond traditional rapping in favor of a more melodic vocal style, an approach to which Big Boi and several other producers were initially unaccustomed. Lyrically, the duo touched upon a wide range of subject matter, including sexuality, politics, misogyny, African-American culture, parenthood, and introspection. Stankonia featured appearances from a variety of local musicians discovered by the group while they were visiting clubs in the city of Atlanta, Georgia.

Stankonia produced three singles: "B.O.B", "Ms. Jackson", and "So Fresh, So Clean"; "Ms. Jackson" became the group's first single to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100. At the 2002 Grammy Awards, OutKast won Best Rap Album for Stankonia and Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for "Ms. Jackson". In 2003, the album was ranked number 359 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. - Wiki

"Stankonia was OutKast's second straight masterstroke, an album just as ambitious, just as all-over-the-map, and even hookier than its predecessor. With producers Organized Noize playing a diminished role, Stankonia reclaims the duo's futuristic bent. ... It takes a few listens to pull everything together, but given the immense scope, it's striking how few weak tracks there are. It's no wonder Stankonia consolidated OutKast's status as critics' darlings, and began attracting broad new audiences: its across-the-board appeal and ambition overshadowed nearly every other pop album released in 2000." - AllMusic

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In the beginning there was Outkast, the prolific Hip Hop duo hailing from Atlanta, who made music sound like Soul Food; fatty, funky, fresh. Then, in 2003, Big Boi and Andre 3000 released solo-albums under their shared moniker and named it Speakerboxxx / The Love Below, and saw that it was good. And so did we.

Both albums display the playful experimentation of their two very distinct styles and yet it is still un-doubtedly an Outkast album. Big Boi takes us into a darker, 808-fuelled world of true Hip Hop on Speakerboxxx, while Andre 3000's eccentricity is given free rein on The Love Below, with pit stops at crooner-Jazz, Soul and Funk. – Music On Vinyl

“…a sprawling double album so overflowing with ideas, so liberated by its sense of eclecticism, as to feel somehow uncontainable. Big Boi’s disc is driven by a mastery of everything that made Southern-fried Goodie Mob-era hip-hop fresh; Dré’s is as horny as space-funk could possibly get in a 2003 fogged by war and terror. Sure, it’s got filler — but so does Stankonia. The highs here are as high as OutKast ever got.” – Consequence of Sound

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