Vinyl - Hip Hop

A TAV Essential Listening Album.

Midnight Marauders is the third album by hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest, originally released in 1993 on Jive Records. It was released two years after A Tribe Called Quest's second album, The Low End Theory.

Midnight Marauders is also seen by many fans and critics as a classic jazz rap album along with The Low End Theory.

“Though the abstract rappers finally betrayed a few commercial ambitions for Midnight Marauders, the happy result was a smart, hooky record that may not have furthered the jazz-rap fusions of The Low End Theory, but did merge Tribe-style intelligence and reflection with some of the most inviting grooves heard on any early-'90s rap record.

The productions, more funky than jazzy, were tighter overall -- but the big improvement, four years after their debut, came with Q-Tip's and Phife Dawg's raps. Focused yet funky, polished but raw, the duo was practically telepathic on "Steve Biko (Stir It Up)" and "The Chase, Pt. 2," though the mammoth track here was the pop hit "Award Tour." A worldwide call-out record with a killer riff and a great pair of individual raps from the pair, it assured that Midnight Marauders would become A Tribe Called Quest's biggest seller.  …

A Tribe Called Quest's Midnight Marauders was commercially successful, artistically adept, and lyrically inventive; the album cemented their status as alternative rap's prime sound merchants, authors of the most original style since the Bomb Squad first exploded on wax.” – AllMusic

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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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“Alfa Mist is laying himself bare on Antiphon. Based on an insightful conversation he and his brothers had about mental health and relationships, it feels like a record of firsts for this young British musician, once and for all freeing himself creatively to explore his jazz affinities. The first track "Keep On" clocks in at almost 11 minutes and truly feels like a defining piece, nearly anticipating this album's main sound and theme, and capturing a fitting snapshot of its essence. The mellow organ textures, enticing percussion work and melancholic saxophone leads are able to mesh perfectly, extracting natural beauty out of turbulent feelings of loneliness and depression. The song allows for plenty of improvisation but successfully avoids becoming meandering: instead, it feels as if every single note is absolutely essential to its complexion. It is a definite standout on a project of many highs, and, like its opener, so appears a vast majority of Antiphon: loose but focused, and an exercise of almost subtle yet intense catharsis…

… The record is assuredly abundant in highlights but does its trick even better when heard in its entirety. Antiphon captures a defining time for Alfa Mist both musically and personally, and represents a tremendous leap for this young promising artist. One can only hope it's only a sign of even better things to come. Perfect for a late listen, it sees him refine his craft while opening up artistic roads for him to hopefully explore even deeper.” – Sputnik Music

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A TAV Essential Listening Album.

Paul's Boutique is the second studio album by the American hip hop group Beastie Boys, released in 1989 on Capitol Records. Featuring production by the Dust Brothers, the recording sessions for the album took place in Matt Dike's apartment and the Record Plant in Los Angeles from 1988 to 1989, after which the recordings underwent mixing at the Record Plant in Los Angeles. Subsequent remixes were done at the Manhattan-based Record Plant Studios. The album is noted for being almost completely composed of samples, excluding the group's vocal output.

Paul's Boutique was initially considered a commercial failure by the executives at Capitol Records, as its sales did not match that of the group's previous record, Licensed to Ill, and the label eventually decided to stop promoting the album. The album's popularity continued to grow, however, and it has since been touted as a breakthrough achievement for the Beastie Boys. Highly varied lyrically and sonically, Paul's Boutique secured the Beastie Boys' place as critical favorites in the hip-hop genre. The album's rankings near the top of many publications' "best albums" lists in disparate genres has given Paul's Boutique critical recognition as a landmark album in hip hop.

In 2003, the album was ranked number 156 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. The album was re-released in a 20th anniversary package remastered in 24-bit audio and featuring a commentary track in 2009. - Wiki

“Paul's Boutique is a landmark in the art of sampling, a reinvention of a group that looked like it was heading for a gimmicky, early dead-end, and a harbinger of the pop-culture obsessions and referential touchstones that would come to define the ensuing decades' postmodern identity as sure as "The Simpsons" and Quentin Tarantino did. It's an album so packed with lyrical and musical asides, namedrops, and quotations that you could lose an entire day going through its Wikipedia page and looking up all the references.” - Pitchfork

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Solid Gold Hits is a greatest hits collection by Beastie Boys, released in 2005.

In contrast to 1999's The Sounds of Science anthology, Solid Gold Hits consists only of tracks that were released as singles.

“Solid Gold Hits spans eighteen full years of musical chaos, during which the three skinny white boys from New York matured from macho party dudes into right-on hipster kings.

The greying freedom fighters have rhymed about everything from throwing eggs to the racial politics of their home town, creating classics with the explosive mayhem of "Intergalactic" and the disorienting scream-punk of “Sabotage".” - BBC

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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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“Negro Swan is the fourth studio album by Blood Orange, an alias of British musician Dev Hynes. It was released on 24 August 2018, through Domino. The album was preceded by the singles "Charcoal Baby" and "Jewelry". On 19 July 2018, Hynes shared a teaser video of the album featuring a snippet of new music, before announcing the album and making it available for pre-order later the same day. The cover art features an image of Kai the Black Angel sitting on a car's front window with a white do-rag on his head and wings clipped to his back…

…In a press release, Hynes described the album as "an exploration into my own and many types of black depression, an honest look at the corners of black existence, and the ongoing anxieties of queer/people of color. A reach back into childhood and modern traumas, and the things we do to get through it all. The underlying thread through each piece on the album is the idea of hope, and the lights we can try to turn on within ourselves with a hopefully positive outcome of helping others out of their darkness." The press release also stated that the album was entirely written and produced by Hynes." – Wiki

“On his fourth studio album as Blood Orange, musical polymath Devonté Hynes explores the comforts and complications of living a life as both/and—of being treated, to borrow from Thelonious Monk, as an ugly beauty. Negro Swan captures the scattershot, jittery, anxious, blissed-out-depressive feeling of what it’s like to be a marginalized person at a toxic and retrograde moment in global culture and politics. “No one wants to be the Negro Swan,” he laments on “Charcoal Baby.” “No one wants to be the odd one out at times…/Can you break sometimes?” Hynes goes for the anachronistic “Negro” to suggest the history of racial abjection—just like the phrase “Charcoal Baby” evokes 19th-century blackface performers who used burnt cork, or charcoal, to darken their faces for white audiences. The album’s cover photo, shot by the designer-photographer Ana Kraš, drives home the ugly beauty idea: A black man perches on a car windowpane, rocking a white, studded do-rag, eyeshadow, and wings on his back.” – Pitchfork

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“BROOKZILL!'s debut album, Throwback to the Future, is an exuberant mash-up of old-school hip-hop, funky jazz, and Brazilian funk and pop that captures the best aspects of all the separate ingredients and revels in the combination they make. Created by legendary producer Prince Paul, Digable Planets' Ladybug Mecca, keyboardist Don Newkirk (who trainspotters might remember from his voice-overs on De La Soul's Three Feet High and Rising), and Brazilian hip-hop icon Rodrigo Brandão, the project is good-time grooves and grin-inducing fun from beginning to end. With guests on board who range from Gil Scott-Heron collaborator Brian Jackson to Del the Funky Homosapien and a raft of Brazilian artists, Throwback plays out like a street party where the alcohol flows and people are dancing like the weekend will never end. Prince Paul holds down the turntables, dropping in samples and locking down rock-solid hip-hop beats and rollicking Brazilian grooves while Ladybug lays down rhymes like it was 1993, and her sweet vocals add some honey to the mix.” – All Music

“About half of the lyrics on BROOKZILL!’s debut, Throwback to the Future, are in Portuguese, but this doesn’t obscure the album’s overarching themes of unity, tribute, and spirituality for non-native speakers. While they possess more polemical meanings, certain words and phrases, like “macumba,” a Brazilian religious practice, will ostensibly be accepted at face value for its celebratory invocation on “Macumba 3000.” Macumba is an encapsulation of BROOKZILL!’S syncretic purpose: bringing people together under the banner of music.

BROOKZILL’s cultural synthesis wouldn’t be possible without the skillfully realized instrumentation: 808-style breakbeats are masterfully mixed with samba percussion on “Raise the Flag,” “Mysterious,” and “S. Bento MC5,” creating unexpected rhythms, but ones which still make sense within a traditional hip-hop framework. On “Nascido No Céu,” bossa-nova horns and woodwind instruments align with synthesizers and turntablism to lay slow-jam groundwork for Ladybug Mecca and Gorila Urban’s rhymes. Though the beats never threaten to become generic like on “Mad Dog in Yoruba” and “BROOKZILL Suite,” which lean more on the album’s Brazilian musical influences, they emphasize Throwback to the Future’s individuality and cross-cultural appreciation in a way a more streamlined mash-up would not.” – Slant Magazine

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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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“Ta13oo (stylized TA13OO and pronounced Taboo), is the third studio album by American rapper Denzel Curry. The album was released on July 27, 2018 by PH Recordings and Loma Vista Recordings. The album serves as the follow-up to Curry's second studio album, Imperial, released in 2016, and the 13 EP, released in 2017. Ta13oo features guest appearances from GoldLink, Billie Eilish, J.I.D, JPEGMAFIA, Nyyjerya, Twelve'len and ZillaKami. Production was handled by FnZ, DJ Dahi, Ronny J, Illmind, Charlie Heat and Mickey de Grand IV, among others. It was supported by four singles: "Sumo," "Percs," "Clout Cobain," and "Vengeance."” – Wiki

“On his third official full-length, TA13OO, Florida rapper Denzel Curry took a big step into the majors with conceptual depth and expanded artistry. Incorporating varied delivery and production, TA13OO taps into his established style, which combines aggressive trap with rapid-fire bars ("Sumo," "Super Saiyan Superman"), while also adding smoothed-out hip-hop atmosphere and patient vocal restraint ("Sirens," "Cash Maniac"), which was only hinted at on Imperial's throwback gem "Zenith." TA13OO is split into three sections -- Light, Gray, and Dark -- and delves into introspective self-examination and unflinching social commentary that tackles politics, sexual abuse, and mental health. Part 1 (Light) offers the most pleasant and purely enjoyable offerings, sounding like early Frank Ocean on the title track and standout "Black Balloons." Gray plunges into the rabbit hole, maintaining an ominous and threatening tone over its five tracks. Dark pushes TA13OO into the shadows, coming hard and strong with the detached "The Blackest Balloon," the threatening "Vengeance," and the scary "Black Metal Terrorist," an unhinged attack that taps into the darkest impulses of his punk/metal-loving Florida contemporaries. With this additional substance and strategic guest contributions, Curry is elevated on TA13OO -- despite this deep dive into despair and darkness -- hinting at more insight on future efforts.” – All Music

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A TAV Curator’s Pick.

Blowout Comb is the 1994 second album by cult, Brooklyn-based hip hop trio Digable Planets.

"The album is named for the combs used to maintain an Afro hairstyle, and that’s significant. The group’s Ishmael “Butterfly” Butler said it summed up what they wanted to do with it: "It means the utilization of the natural, a natural style,” he has said.

Like with 1993’s debut Reachin’ (A New Refutation of Time and Space), ‘utilizing the natural’ meant creating hip hop that blended jazz with the formidable rap skills of the aforementioned Butterfly, Craig ‘Doodlebug’ Irving and Mary Ann ‘Ladybug Mecca’ Vieira. Unlike that debut, it meant broadening to include guests such as Gang Starr’s Guru, Jeru the Damaja, and Jazzy Joyce.

Following the gold-selling commercial success of their debut, they here set out to prove their artistic prowess. This is intelligent, alternative hip hop that sounded like party music. Its lyrics are dense with wit, social commentary and politics – and its original inner sleeve was modeled on the newspaper of the Black Panther movement.

 Its instrumentation includes sax, vibraphone and flute. Its samples – gathered from global cratedigging trips while touring the first album around the world – included Grant Green, Eddie Harris, Shuggie Otis and jazz-funk pioneer Roy Ayers (whose “We Live in Brooklyn, Baby” became “Borough Check” here). And yet at the same time its beats are infectious and its spirit undeniable.

 This is an album firmly rooted in Brooklyn. “Growing up hearing and cherishing this album, it created a textured soundscape of a mythical world of rhymes, jazz, breakbeats, culture, art and urban ambiance,” says DJ and fan Mick Boogie in the liner notes. “When I moved to Brooklyn years later, I found that the world I imagined while listening to this classic LP actually really existed…”

 Though Digable Planets have reunited on occasion since – and though their influence endures in every top-shelf rap act with a jazzy sensibility – the trio parted ways after Blowout Comb, citing that old favorite "creative differences”. Sometimes, the most volatile combinations create the best art.” – Light In The Attic

More about Digable Planets:

“Blowout Comb is named for the combs used to maintain an Afro hairstyle, and that’s significant. The group’s Ishmael “Butterfly” Butler said it summed up what they wanted to do with it: "It means the utilization of the natural, a natural style,” he has said. Like with 1993’s debut Reachin’ (A New Refutation of Time and Space), ‘utilizing the natural’ meant creating hip hop that blended jazz with the formidable rap skills of the aforementioned Butterfly, Craig ‘Doodlebug’ Irving and Mary Ann ‘Ladybug Mecca’ Vieira. Unlike that debut, it meant broadening to include guests such as Gang Starr’s Guru, Jeru the Damaja, and Jazzy Joyce. Following the gold-selling commercial success of their debut, they here set out to prove their artistic prowess. This is intelligent, alternative hip hop that sounded like party music. Its lyrics are dense with wit, social commentary and politics – and its original inner sleeve was modeled on the newspaper of the Black Panther movement.” – Light In The Attic

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“ “Think J-Dilla or The Roots and you’re probably hitting the mark.” – JazzBreakfast

DJM trio breathes fierce artistry into grooved out renditions of Solange, Patrice Rushen, Slum Village, Madvillain, Ohbliv and more. There’s writing on the wall that speaks of time immemorial, where symbols exist on the edge of language and abstraction. It’s upon this precipice that Dominic James Marshall makes his mark, at the helm and on the keys of Cave Art Two - a slate of scintillating digital sounds, spontaneously arranged, etched in wax. The project is a thoughtful and inventive response to a long tradition of musical sampling. Familiarity is a vessel through which Marshall channels a fierce artistry and selection is at the heart of what moves it. The trio build upon what makes beat music burrow into us so deeply, maxing out their offerings of giant synths, splintering chords and impactful beats to soul-shifting degrees. Marshall plunges into the uncanny valley and frolics in it, inventing a fresh path for the genre with irreverent wit and divine grace.

The DJM Trio is led by Dominic James Marshall, an Amsterdam native who is a current member of renowned British nu-jazz and electronic outfit The Cinematic Orchestra. A rising jazz piano star, Marshall was nominated for the Edison International Jazz Award, and the trio earned a coveted set at BBC’s Manchester Jazz Festival, as unanimously selected by a jury including Gilles Peterson, Jamie Cullum and Jez Nelson.” – Bandcamp

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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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The Ownerz is the sixth and final studio album by hip-hop duo Gang Starr (MC Guru & DJ Premier), recorded in 2003, two years before the duo broke up.

It was critically acclaimed and featured four hit singles, "Skills", "Rite Where U Stand", "Nice Girl, Wrong Place", and "Same Team, No Games".

“Primo's jazzy horn breaks underscore Guru's eloquent manifestos with assured refinement on every single track they turn on their own (which, impressively for a major-label hip-hop release, is over half the record), even redeeming what would've been the record's weakest cut with a bit of imagination: a reposession of Curtis Mayfield's "Kung Fu" that makes Guru's mack move narrative on "Nice Girl, Wrong Place" a little easier to stomach. For the record, Guru's candor and lack of romanticism are rather refreshing in this context-- just like hot pants, what you see is what you get.” - 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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A TAV Curator's Pick.

Guru's Jazzmatazz, originally released in 1993, is one of the first albums to combine a live jazz band with hip hop production and rapping.

Guru had a vision and brought together a diverse group of jazz cats both old and new school; Lonnie Liston Smith, Branford Marsalis, Ronny Jordan (check out his solo on the track "No Time To Play"), Donald Byrd and Roy Ayers and vocalists like Carleen Anderson, N'Dea Davenport (of the Brand New Heavies) and French rapper MC Solaar have cooperated on this classic album.

Jazzmatazz proved to be a highly influential album and a huge commercial success.

“After rhyming over Premier's doctored jazz beats in Gang Starr, Guru decided to take it to the next level, employing the talents of actual jazz musicians to create the grooves over which he would flow. Coming off like a jazzier extension of the Brand New Heavies' Heavy Rhyme Experience: Vol. 1, Jazzmatazz brought together a diverse group of jazz cats both old-school and new, including Roy Ayers, Donald Byrd, Lonnie Liston Smith, Ronny Jordan, and Courtney Pine. G

Guru even enlisted the serene pipes of Carleen Anderson and N'Dea Davenport and acted as something of an international hip-hop ambassador when he flipped "Le Bien, Le Mal" with French mic pro MC Solaar.

From the Blue Note-style cover art to the hepcat spoken-word intro, this package is pure hip-hop jazz music. Jazz purists may wish to note that the grooves lean heavily toward the funkier 1970s era of jazz, and hardcore hip-hop heads may be turned off by the mellower musical stance. But then again, this is neither pure jazz nor hardcore hip-hop but rather an extension of the two.”  - Spence Abbott

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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.

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

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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.

Damn (stylized as DAMN.) is the fourth studio album by American rapper Kendrick Lamar. It was released on April 14, 2017, by Top Dawg Entertainment, Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records. The album features production from a variety of record producers, including executive producer from the Top Dawg Entertainment label-head Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith, Sounwave, DJ Dahi, Mike Will Made It and Ricci Riera; as well as production contributions from James Blake, Steve Lacy, BadBadNotGood, Greg Kurstin, The Alchemist and 9th Wonder, among others.

Damn received widespread critical acclaim and debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, earning Lamar his third consecutive number-one album in the United States. The album was supported by three singles: "Humble", "DNA" and "Loyalty" featuring Rihanna. In July 2017, Damn was certified Double Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). – Wiki

“…it’s Lamar’s lyricism that holds court. Like his idol 2Pac, he explores the microcosm of his personal struggles through the macrocosm of society’s ills. Nowhere is this more powerful than when he pairs opposing concepts: the track PRIDE. is followed by HUMBLE.; LUST. is followed by LOVE.; and, perhaps most tellingly, GOD. is followed by DUCKWORTH. (Lamar’s last name). Somewhere in the constant tension between the three pairs lies their reconciliation.

Countless rappers claim to have transcended the game. Kendrick Lamar actually does. There’s the sense his ambitions on DAMN. are even larger, reaching toward something more universal, fateful, even spiritual in its reach to find the link tying all contradictions together. On FEAR., Lamar raps: “What happens on earth stays on earth / I can’t take these feelings with me / So hopefully they disperse.” One can spend hours unpacking what he really means.” – NOW Magazine

“DAMN. is a widescreen masterpiece of rap, full of expensive beats, furious rhymes, and peerless storytelling about Kendrick’s destiny in America.

Storytelling has been Lamar’s greatest skill and most primary mission, to put into (lots of) words what it's like to grow up as he did—to articulate, in human terms, the intimate specifics of daily self-defense from your surroundings. Somehow, he’s gotten better.” – Pitchfork

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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.

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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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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.

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A TAV Curator's Pick.

On The Soul Assassins Chapter 1, producer DJ Muggs assembled a hard-hitting album that combined a murderer’s row of hip-hop icons with Muggs’ laid-back, West Coast beats. With verses from Cypress Hill, Dr. Dre, RZA, GZA, Goodie Mob, KRS-One, Mobb Deep, Wyclef Jean and more, The Soul Assassins Chapter 1 is a one of a kind hip-hop touchstone. It’s being reissued for its 20th anniversary as a 12” picture disc featuring the original album’s striking cover illustration and logo. – Press Release

The Muggs Presents The Soul Assassins (Chapter 1) album was originally released in 1997 and is produced by DJ Muggs. It features tracks from a veritable 'who's who' list of rappers like Dr. Dre & B Real, Mobb Deep, RZA/GZA & Genius (Wu-Tang Clan), Krs-One (Boogie Down Productions), Goodie Mob plus contributions from his Cypress Hill fellow band members B-Real and Sen Dog.

DJ Muggs is Cypress Hill's official DJ and producer and the leader of LA art collective Soul Assassins. He also produced tracks for Funkdoobiest, House of Pain, Dizzee Rascal, U2, Depeche Mode, Die Antwoord and more.

The apocalyptic grooves on Muggs Presents The Soul Assassins (Chapter 1) steal the show, while the street beats and stark lyrics bring an eerie trip-hop feel to the whole album.

Earning critical praise from the hip-hop community, fans and censors, the Muggs Presents The Soul Assassins (Chapter 1) album reached #86 on the Billboard 200. Highlights of this diverse LP are "Puppet Master" by Dr. Dre & B Real, "Third World" by RZA/GZA & Genius plus the hidden gem, only to be found on the European release, "Runnin' Wild" from the LA Art Soul Assassins crew. – Press Release

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A TAV Essential Listening Album.

A TAV Curator’s Pick.

“Metaphorical Music is Nujabes' first solo album released in 2003. It offers a combination of hip hop and instrumental jazz, and features artists like Shing02, Substantial, Five Deez and Cise Starr (of CYNE). Despite the fact that the album has contributing vocals from several artists, it is roughly classified as a breakbeat album.Uyama Hiroto contributed to several notable tracks on the album, including Letter from Yokosuka and Next View, and would appear on subsequent albums Modal Soul and Spiritual State. Metaphorical Music received universal acclaim from fans of Nujabes and critics.” – Wiki

“Metaphorical Music is what I’d like to call the perfect upper. From start to finish the record is an unwinding euphoria trip. There’s just something awe-inducing about Nujabes’s approach to making beats. The traditionalistic boom bap infused with colorful, wavering, watery jazz is what makes me always come back for more. It’s a simple format, yet so damn effective. His sound is mellow, it’s melancholic, and it’s all too beautiful. The way the piano melody effortlessly flows through tracks with a simple yet enthralling boom bap beat hanging in the background in songs like “Blessing It” and “Kumomi”. The way the fast-paced and manic drumming passages on “Horn in the Middle” break into that iconic trumpet refrain. The way said trumpet refrain is followed by a small piano refrain. It’s all too engaging and hypnotic. The guitar loop on “Lady Brown” and the low key synth pattern on “Highs 2 Lows”. There’s just something innately down to Earth about these tracks. They feel as natural and blissful as a wave caressing your feet, or a summer breeze gracing your cheeks.” – Sputnik Music

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A TAV Curator's Pick. 

Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik is the debut album of American hip hop duo OutKast, rappers André 3000 and Big Boi, working together with production team Organized Noize. The album was originally released in 1994 by LaFace Records.

A Southern hip hop album, Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik features live instrumentation in its hip hop production and musical elements from funk and soul genres. Wanting to make a statement about urban life as an African American in the South, OutKast wrote and recorded the album as teenagers and addressed coming of age topics with the album's songs. They also incorporated repetitive hooks and Southern slang in their lyrics. – Wiki

“Southernplaylisticadillacmuzik will always be regarded as a stellar debut album, a left-field nuclear bomb that landed smack dab in the era of rap purists laud endlessly. The Illmatic, Ready to Die, The Chronic era, in which no rap or pop music critic was quite ready for the drawl-heavy, genre-blending series of cherry bombs Outkast dropped on the industry.” – The Source

 “OutKast would go on to make so much more great music, but we’d never hear them on each other’s level in quite the same way again. Maybe they lost something when they moved off in different directions. Or maybe they needed to establish a foundation as solid as Southerplayalistic before they nudged each other on to become their greatest selves. Either way Southernplayalistic stands as a truly great rap album on its own, and as a harbinger of even more great things to come. If you haven’t listened to it in a while — or if you’ve never listened to it — go back to it. It’s a nourishing experience.” – Stereogum

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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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