Vinyl - Hip Hop

A TAV Curator's Pick.

A Tribe Called Quest – Q-Tip, Phife Dawg (who passed away on March 22, 2016), Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and Jarobi White – the groundbreaking '90s group that forever transformed the urban music landscape, detonates new shock waves on their first – and last – new studio album together in 18 years, We Got It From Here...Thank You 4 Your Service. The landmark release represents the first new music from A Tribe Called Quest since they disbanded in 1998, after recording The Love Movement, their final album together. Renowned painter/photographer Richard Prince was commissioned to create the album's show-stopping cover art.

"The extraordinary times in which we now find ourselves desperately call out for a new message from A Tribe Called Quest, and We Got It From Here... is that message," said LA Reid, Chairman and CEO, Epic Records. "For nearly two decades, it has been my deepest personal wish to add one more chapter to their incredible legacy. I am deeply honored that Tribe entrusted us with this historic and final album."

Queens, New York natives Q-Tip, Phife Dawg, and Ali Shaheed Muhammad of Brooklyn, formed A Tribe Called Quest in 1985. The group is one of hip-hop's most legendary, beloved and revered groups of all time. Easily recognized for their unique approach to rap music by employing jazz infused soundscapes to Afro centric rhymes, ATCQ was largely responsible for the popularity of a new genre that dominated the East Coast sound of the early-90s. Sonically, ATCQ was a decisive and welcomed tangent of jazz, bass-heavy rhythmic vibes and eclectic sampling when compared to the mundane recycling of soul loops, breaks and vocals of their contemporaries.

Lyrically, emcees Q-Tip and Phife Dawg addressed social issues relevant to young blacks such as use of the n word and its relevance, date rape and other interpersonal relationships, industry politics and consumerism with infectious energy and fun and having a good time while still promoting positivity. ATCQ composed a number of successful singles and albums with their creative approach to rap music. In 1990, the group released Peoples Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm. Their sophomore effort, 1991'sThe Low End Theory, considered one of the greatest albums in hip-hop history, solidified them as legends.

In recent years, the anticipation for another ATCQ album has been building. Today, the power of the Abstract Poetic, Five Foot Assassin, and Mr. Muhammad is still evident in their dynamic stage shows and in the reception of their adoring fans. We Got It From Here...Thank You 4 Your Service finds the group paying respect to both their legacy and their fans and it's a cathartic moment for all. – Press Release

“It can’t be said enough how simply good this record sounds and feels. Everyone here shows themselves to be a better rapper than they have ever been before, but that still doesn’t capture the ease and exuberance of it all, how Q-Tip curls flows and words on “The Donald,” how Jarobi surprises with packed strings of rhyme at each turn, how Phife and Busta Rhymes dip effortlessly in and out of Caribbean patois and Black American slanguage. (And that’s not even taking into account Consequence’s inventive word marriages on “Mobius” and “Whateva Will Be,” Kendrick Lamar’s energetic angst on “Conrad Tokyo,” or André 3000’s and Tip’s playful tag team on “Kids…”) The music is decidedly analog, a refutation of polished sheen and maximal perfection; it’s an extension and culmination of ATCQ’s jazz-influenced low-end theory. But that doesn’t capture the bounces, grooves, sexual moans, random bleeps, stuttering drums that float throughout—like every classic Tribe album, it defies simple descriptions.” – Pitchfork

“A record rooted in anxiety and mourning, We Got It From Here remains musically as dark and electrically relaxed as 1996's Beats, Rhymes and Life and 1998's The Love Movement. With help from visionary producer J Dilla, those critically mixed, commercially sturdy records were moody, muted, experimental, deeply funky and remarkably prescient, but ultimately unable to wrangle the proper amount of attention in the shiny-suit era. We Got It From Here checks in with similarly off-kilter but undeniably grooving beats. Tribe utilize the Dilla innovation of letting samples clash at odd angles; they let a copy of Elton John's "Bennie and the Jets" skip endlessly until the real John pops in for a guest spot, and the drum beat to "Lost Somebody," one of the album's Phife tributes, doubles up and separates from itself like a Steve Reich phasing experiment before abruptly slamming into total silence. In a contemporary move, Tribe abandon the Nineties hip-hop format and allow for modern musical and melodic sprawl, like a guitar solo from Jack White, a psychedelic keyboard detour or a spiraling verse from Anderson Paak.” – Rolling Stone

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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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“Sought after instrumentals for critically acclaimed album Sour Soul, by Toronto jazz/hip hop band BADBADNOTGOOD and Staten Island rap champ, Ghostface Killah. Inspired by 1960’s and 70’s music and taking inspiration from the recording techniques and production of that era, they embrace live instrumentation and zero sampling. BBNG in collaboration with producer Frank Dukes created a dramatic, cinematic musical staging for Ghostface’s vivid storytelling.

"Sour Soul is sublime” “It’s instrumental class” - 9/10 Drowned in Sound

"The Canadians deliver in spades, with lush arrangements" - Q Magazine

"Exquisite ‘70’s soul" - 8/10 Uncut Magazine

“How the group redefines the genre is through their unconventional influences, youthful vigor and musical experimentation” - Hypebeast

“…a vital, luxuriously live backdrop” - The Skinny

"A vivid pulsing rhyme banquet that’s out-there, edgy and kaleidascopic" - Mojo

“...even given the fairly proud lineage of wild musical juxtaposition, these kids are making waves.” - The Independent

“As self-confessed hip hop heads as well as jazz academics, BADBADNOTGOOD have the audacity to mix the unexpected and pull it off with finesse.” - Dazed & Confused” – Lex Records

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A TAV Curator’s Pick.

“BADBADNOTGOOD and Staten Island rap champ Ghostface Killah - inspired by 1960s and 70s music and taking inspiration from the recording techniques and production of that era, and eschewing sampling in favour of live instrumentation, BBNG with producer Frank Dukes have created a dramatic, cinematic musical staging for Ghostface’s vivid storytelling. Sour Soul also features guest spots from MF DOOM, Elzhi (Slum Village / J Dilla), Danny Brown and prodigal new rapper Tree (Project mayhem).

“As far as dream collabs go this one is hard to beat” Complex

“He might be the best, most colourful storyteller rap has ever seen” – Pitchfork on Ghostface

“How the group redefines the genre is through their unconventional influences, youthful vigor and musical experimentation” - Hypebeast

“As self-confessed hip hop heads as well as jazz academics, BADBADNOTGOOD have the audacity to mix the unexpected and pull it off with finesse.” – Dazed & Confused

“...even given the fairly proud lineage of wild musical juxtaposition, these kids are making waves.” - The Guardian “ – Lex Records

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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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The Mix-Up is the seventh studio album by the Beastie Boys, released in 2007 on Capitol Records.

Drummer Mike D said that "even though The Mix-Up is a 'post-punk instrumental' album, the Beasties have no plans to ditch vocals for good.

In an interview with The Aquarian Weekly, published in February 2008, the band was asked if they were making a statement about the status of hip-hop music by releasing an album strictly of instrumentals. “In a way, the album was a reaction to our hip hop," said Ad-Rock "Our last record was an all rap record, so when we started recording [The Mix Up] we wanted to work with some instruments, and it just sounded cool, so we kept with it.”

Mike D expanded on Ad-Rock's response, adding, "We get asked, ‘What do you think of the state of hip hop today?’ a lot. Maybe I’m being defensive, but it seems like people always look for us to come out and criticize hip hop. But hip hop is what we grew up on, and it continues to be one of the only forms of music left that strives on evolution and innovation. Yeah, we might be in a spell where we’re waiting for that next record to come out and change everything—but still, that’s what hip hop is and that’s what puts it in its unique place.”

The album consists entirely of instrumental performances and won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Album. - Wiki

“The Mix Up was designed as a specific project, so it holds together better, and it's also decidedly less knowing in its references than the cleverly kitschy In Sound (its title and artwork borrowed from classic '60s LPs). This is a fusion of sounds -- cool organs, elastic guitars, loping basslines, rolling rhythms -- where all of the elements are integrated together, turning into a style that's recognizable as uniquely, undeniably the Beastie Boys, even if they don't utter a word on this record. As always, they're more about feel than instrumental acumen, but they've sharpened as players, creating tighter, assured grooves and seamlessly blending their fascinations with funk, dub, soul, and Latin rhythms. Even if the instrumental interplay is tighter, the overall atmosphere is alluringly warm and friendly: it's music that flows easily and it's a perfect soundtrack for a slow summer afternoon.” - AllMusic

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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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Finding Forever is the seventh studio album by Common, originally released in 2007.

Like Common's previous album, Be (2005), Finding Forever is primarily produced by Kanye West. The album debuted at the number one on the Billboard 200, selling 155,000 units in the first week, becoming Common's first chart-topper.

Finding Forever was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Album at the 50th Grammy Awards 2007.

Common explains that "Finding Forever really means to find a place in music where you can exist forever. Music can be forever if you make it from the heart, if you make it from the soul and it’s good. And I look at music like Bob Marley's or Marvin Gaye's or Stevie Wonder's or A Tribe Called Quest's, that's forever music. And I’m continuing on the quest to make forever music."

Common also says: "And now with the death of J Dilla and other things, you start thinking about forever lasting for real through music [...] Jay Dee will last forever through his music and hopefully generations down the line will know about Common through his music. And it's also saying: I been doing this for a nice period of time, so I'm trying to find the place where I can keep existing in the game and make music I love." - Wiki

"Common is an exception, a man whose experimentalism and lyrical abstraction does not mask any MC shortcomings. He’s still at his best when he’s making hardcore hip-hop head-bumpers like the Gang Starr-esque ‘The Game’, and the Wu-Tang-style street symphony ‘Play Your Cards Right’. He has never been able resist straying once or twice, but thankfully the words ‘feat. Lily Allen’ next to ‘Drivin’ Me Wild’, which is drippier than an Ibizan ice lolly, means you can pre-programme your CD to skip it. The rest of it though, is soulful and intelligent where ‘intelligent’ is not exclusive to ‘good beats and rhymes.’ Which is what it’s all about." - NME

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CZARFACE (Wu-Tang Clan's Inspectah Deck & 7L & Esoteric) is back! Fresh off the heels of their collaboration with Marvel Comics the trio continues to combine music and art with their latest release "A Fistful of Peril."

The back story of this album begins in the summer while Deck and Esoteric were in the studio recording some new Czarface material. During this time Marvel Comics had reached out to Czarface wanting some music to soundtrack their Black Panther web series, promoting their breakout comic of the same name. This Marvel meeting spawned the lead track "All in Together Now" and served as the primary inspiration for a fleshed-out album that nobody saw coming. The group camped out in the studio playing beats, talking comics, video games, and pop culture....what came about was "A Fistful of Peril."

Starting the album off with the ARP keyboard odyssey of "Electric Level 1" is like entering the vortex of color and light in Kubrick's 2001. The aptly titled "Two in the Chest" showcases Deck & Eso's ability to deliver punchlines and pop culture references with ease over an exceptional bass and guitar combo. "Czar Wars" has the two sparring back and forth bringing that 'X-Men/Danger Room' mentality that Deck often to refers to when in Czar-mode. Psycho Les of The Beatnuts steps in on "Dust" while "Lizard City" introduces 'Czarface Pajamas'. Yes you read that correctly. The off-kilter "Steranko" has Meyhem Lauren and Rast join forces with Czarface as they weave their way through a mind-bending array of varying beats. Other features on the album are Conway on "Machine, Man & Monster" and AOTP's Blacastan on "Tarantulas." Another one of the album's highlights is "Dare Iz A Darkseid" which along with "Talk That Talk" is the perfect balance of wit and humor that make up the core of Czarface.

Building on an already rock solid foundation with two critically acclaimed albums, "A Fistful of Peril" features some of the groups most cohesive material. The chemistry between the hungry-as-ever Deck and Eso overflows as the two mc's trade lines, humor and plenty of razor sharp lyrics over the backbone of 7L and Todd Spadafore's production.

"A Fistful of Peril" in a word? "Excelsior!" – Press Release

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A TAV Curator's Pick.

The first weapon drawn in a conflict is language, but the first weapon drawn for Czarface is music. Wu-Tang Clan's Inspectah Deck & Esoteric carved a niche for Czarface with venomous vocals, but the musical production is their super power. Powered by the trademark sound of 7L and Todd Spadafore (The Czar-Keys), a sound that's been developed since Czarface's first LP in 2013, First Weapon Drawn serves as the soundtrack to Czarface's mysterious origin.

Fresh off of their collaboration with Marvel Comics, Czarface has not only delivered a new audio adventure complete with narration, it has given us an extra large, full color, action-packed 24 page comic book with it, housed in a beautiful gatefold jacket! In the spirit of the highly sought after Power Records series from the 70's, you can read along with the comic and hear the story come to life on vinyl. – Press Release

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A TAV Essential Listening Album.

Black Messiah is the third studio album by American recording artist D'Angelo. It was released in 2014 through RCA Records, bringing an end to his 14-year hiatus.

Black Messiah was among 2014's most highly anticipated albums and was released to commercial success. The album was also met with rave reviews from music critics, who praised the album's socially relevant lyrics and its use of multiple genres. The album was ranked as one of the best albums of 2014 by several publications.

 Black Messiah won Best R&B Album at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards as well as Best R&B Song for "Really Love" which also was nominated for Record of the Year. – Wiki

“The prodigal son of the soul and funk canon, D'Angelo, is back. His ever-awaited third studio album, Black Messiah, is his first album since the critically acclaimed Voodoo, bringing to an end a 14-year hiatus. The album blends 70's jazz-funk and neo-soul.

Anyone who's been keeping up should be keen to the fact that the long-lusted over project was recorded in full analog, so the liner notes' PSA “For best results, listen at maximum volume” should be taken as a direct order for fervent D'lievers. And what better way to experience the gritty greatness of the release than a heavy-bodied vinyl pressing for the audio junkies?

The album features tracks co-penned by Kendra Foster (Parliament/Funkadelic) and Q-Tip (A Tribe Called Quest). It's also co-produced by Questlove (The Roots), bassist Pino Palladino (John Mayer Trio, The RH Factor), and drummer James Gadson (Bill Withers, Temptations, Beck, Jamie Lidell).” – Fat Beats

"Black Messiah is a dictionary of soul, but D'Angelo is the rare classicist able to filter the attributes of the greats in the canon into a sound distinctly his own. It’s at once familiar and oddly unprecedented, a peculiar trick to pull on an album recorded over the span of a decade.The timeliness of Black Messiah’s message is doubly astounding." - Pitchfork

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Brown Sugar is the debut album of American recording artist D'Angelo, originally released in 1995.

Production, instrumentation, arrangements, and songwriting were primarily handled by D'Angelo, who employed both vintage recording equipment and modern electronic devices. Brown Sugar contains themes of love and romance, and features a fusion of contemporary R&B and traditional soul music, along with elements of funk, quiet storm, and hip hop music.

Upon its release, Brown Sugar received acclaim from music critics and earned D'Angelo several acco-lades, including four Grammy Award nominations. Regarded by music writers as a pivotal album in neo soul, the album provided commercial visibility to the musical movement, amid the prominence of producer-driven, digitally approached R&B.

The song "Brown Sugar" was nominated for the 1996 Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Per-formance and Best R&B Song. The album was also nominated for Best R&B Album. "Lady" was nominated for a 1997 Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance. – Wiki

“No matter how delicate or dusty sounding a track may be, D'Angelo flips the script with B-boy savoir-faire: He makes the nasty rhythms bubbling underneath his multilayered love songs seem old and new at the same time. Call him an ndegéocello (Swahili for "free as a bird"), a rebel soul. …

Like his fellow retrolutionaries Me'Shell NdegéOcello, Joi, Omar and Dionne Farris, he's shattering the conventional definition of "black music." …

Brown Sugar is a reminder of where R&B has been and, if the genre is to resurrect its creative relevance like a phoenix rising from the ashes, where it needs to go.”  – Rolling Stone

More about D’Angelo:

“D’Angelo is an American R&B singer-songwriter, producer, and instrumentalist. He was one of the most influential musicians during the rise of the neo-soul movement, often drawing comparisons to his influences, Marvin Gaye, and Prince.

1995’s debut Brown Sugar had already strategically positioned D’Angelo—born Michael Eugene Arch-er and Virginia-raised to a Pentecostal preacher father—as the next Hendrix-like deity in black music, after Prince and maybe Lenny Kravitz. But since its release, D’Angelo had become distracted by weed and weightlifting, shaken by the deaths of Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. and debilitated by sophomore pressure. In the interim he’d fathered two children, switched managers and jumped to a new record label. He wanted to be like Sly Stone, George Clinton and Al Green. And most of all, he wanted to be like Jimi Hendrix.

What happened next only added to D’Angelo’s myth. Having hit mega-stardom with the single “Un-titled” and its intensely sexual video, a follow-up was slow to come. So slow, in fact, it still hasn’t ar-rived. Though he’s since made guest appearances and even toured in 2012, his silence – both musically and in his refusal to talk to the press – has only helped his cult of status grow. Even if he never releas-es another album, he’s already given us so much.

He was one of the most influential musicians during the rise of the neo-soul movement and his im-pact on the movement continues with the recent release of his amazing follow up to "Voodoo," "The Black Messiah."” – Light in the Attic

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A TAV Essential Listening Album.

“Voodoo hit store shelves on January 25th 2000, just a few weeks after the New Year celebrations to end them all. But the first great album of the new millennium was born in the 1990s, and its muggy grooves capture the sound of premillennial anxiety. The album is the product of perfectionism, obses-sion and paranoia. 1995’s debut Brown Sugar had already strategically positioned D’Angelo—born Michael Eugene Archer and Virginia-raised to a Pentecostal preacher father—as the next Hendrix-like deity in black music, after Prince and maybe Lenny Kravitz. But since its release, D’Angelo had become distracted by weed and weightlifting, he’d been shaken by the deaths of Tupac Shakur and The Noto-rious B.I.G. and debilitated by sophomore pressure. In the interim he’d fathered two children, switched managers and jumped to a new record label.

Though inspired by the birth of his children and trips back to Virginia, Voodoo’s roots are in 1960s, ‘70s and ’80s funk and soul; a nostalgic nod to the ideas and inventions of black music trailblazers powered by avant-garde hip-hop and jazz-influenced rhythms. D’Angleo’s aim, he said, was to reclaim R&B. He wanted to be like Sly Stone, George Clinton and Al Green. And most of all, he wanted to be like Jimi Hendrix. Where does a potently focused young man go to remake Electric Ladyland? New York’s Electric Lady studios, of course: in the same rooms in which Hendrix and Stevie Wonder rein-vented music decades earlier, and on the same equipment too. In an era in which soul musicians were obsessing over all things synthetic, D’Angelo was looking to the warm sounds of the past. Electric Lady’s Studio C became D’Angelo’s brand new creative laboratory.

The concept behind Voodoo was simple. Put together a brilliant ensemble of R&B musicians bent on grooving together. Record them live, in real-time, jamming face-to-face in an effort to capture their conviviality and chemistry. For Voodoo’s core rhythm trio, D’Angelo recruited his friend and col-league, The Roots’ visionary drummer Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson, plus Welsh journeyman Pino Palladino to hold down the bass. It was a combination that gelled immediately.

Voodoo was like crack for purists—this was Real Music, serious as a heart attack, deeply reverent and worshipful of the past. D’Angelo once said about the content of Voodoo: “This album is a personal testimony about my life and my emotions. My life kinda changed overnight when Brown Sugar came out. It took me a while just to get used to that – the attention, the money, and everything that comes along with that… At times I felt like I wanted to run away from it. I still reject a lot of shit. A lot of people say, “Well you’re a superstar now.” If I start to look at it like that, then something’s wrong. I have to continue to remind myself why I’m doing this and the things that inspired or motivated me way back before Brown Sugar ever happened and before I ever got into this business – just my love for the music and wanting to reach the people.”

What happened next only added to D’Angelo’s myth. Having hit mega-stardom with the single “Un-titled” and its intensely sexual video, a follow-up was slow to come. So slow, in fact, it still hasn’t ar-rived. Though he’s since made guest appearances and even toured in 2012, his silence – both musically and in his refusal to talk to the press – has only helped the cult of Voodoo grow. Even if he never releases another album, he’s already given us so much.” 

Source: Light in the Attic

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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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A TAV Curator's Pick.

The Mouse and the Mask is a collaboration album by super-producer Danger Mouse and masked supervillain MF Doom under the name Danger Doom, originally released in October 2005, and is now being reissued for its 10^th year anniversary.

The album features Cee-Lo Green (also of Gnarls Barkley), Talib Kweli, Ghostface Killah, Money Mark and the cast of cult cartoon show Aqua Teen Hunger Force and ten years on remains DOOM's best-selling album to date.

Lex has a history of lavish packaging but this remains one of the lushest sleeves in the catalogue. Designed by EHQuestionmark, the outer sleeve is made from thick translucent textured plastic with DOOM's mask printed on cover, and mouse ears on each side of the mask forming a pattern that looks like a Rorschach test (a technique reused in another Danger Mouse project six months later).

The inner sleeves, visible through the outer at first glance pattern based on an Ishihara test, but inside the circles in the pattern are tiny icons depicting a different disasters - climate change, acid rain, holy war, nuclear leaks. - Lex Records

"Next out of the box is Danger Doom, the stunning and welcome collaboration of two of hip-hop's most innovative artists, both of whom already have close ties to the world of animation -- Danger Mouse not only named himself after a cartoon but is also a part-time Gorillaz beatmaker, and the rapper MF Doom has imagined himself variously as a comic-book character and fire-breathing monster-movie hero (not to mention, he's rarely photographed without wearing an iron mask that makes him look like an early version of the Marvel supervillain Doctor Doom).

Their partners for The Mouse and the Mask are the characters of Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming block, a cast whose creators share with Danger Mouse and MF Doom the same influences (obscure '70s superheroes, some making a resurgence on Adult Swim) and motivations (a parade of surrealist fantasies intersecting with real life, like the crusading happy meal that airs on Cartoon Network as Aqua Teen Hunger Force). Granted, none of these cartoon characters are rappers, and they're wisely given only backgrounds, transitions, or samples (all of them hilarious). No, it's the experts who handle nearly all of this record, and they're at the top of their game.

Doom's dense flow and ciphered allusions have much in common with Adult Swim; both presuppose a large body of cultural knowledge to appreciate what's going on and both rely on a series of bankable eccentricities presented at light speed with high artistry and innumerable subtleties for later parsing by fans.  ...

It all adds up to the best album of the year in the hip-hop underground, and perhaps the best with any degree of popularity." - AllMusic

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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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“And the Anonymous Nobody” is the first De La Soul studio album in eleven years and as independent artists, free of record labels interfering in the creative process. True to the roots of hip-hop, the new album incorporates elements of jazz, funk, rock, country western and more sampled to create the tracks. Sampling is how De La has always made music but after spending a huge part of their career fighting off the "sample police," De La decided to take a completely new approach, something hip-hop hasn't done before...sampling themselves.

Over three years, De La collaborated with some of LA's finest studio musicians and recorded them in free-styled, unrehearsed, jam sessions. They played everything from banjo to upright bass, sometimes up to a dozen musicians at once; simply allowing sounds to integrate. Recorded in one of LA's most classic studios, Vox, the recordings have that creamy analog warm mixing board sound that the old records our parent's once played had. With over 200 hours of sounds, and vibes, equal to about 250 to 300 full-length vinyl LPs, De La began listening, enjoying and discovering those special moments where, musically, something magical happens, where interesting sounds and layers were forgotten, where new sounds can be sampled, looped, chopped, filtered and arranged, freely, without the intrusive presence of publishing politics and the infamous "sample police."

"What we've done is created our own crates of records; album upon albums to mine and sample from. In our world, what we've created is freedom, freedom to make the art you believe in without having to compromise your vision. That's what we've always wanted most, that's what we've always believed in, that's what we've fought for..." - De La Soul

“A spectrum of guest stars appear on De La Soul's latest LP, and the Anonymous Nobody…, each from a disparate genre — grimy underground rap courtesy of Roc Marciano, mainstream G-funk-inspired hip-hop from Snoop Dogg, New Wave via David Byrne, neo-soul from Jill Scott, alt-rock bestowed by Blur's Damon Albarn and much, much more. That's a testament to the veteran hip-hop trio's popularity and, above all, their influence.

 But impressive as that range of collaborations might be, some of the LP's very best tracks feature founding members Posdnous, Dave and Maseo all on their own. …

These elements and more make and the Anonymous Nobody… one of the most thrilling, wide-ranging rap releases of the year. It's clear, from the way De La push themselves, to the way they buoy their more famous guest contributors, that the trio continue to defy the album's title — even 25 years into their career, De La Soul are anything but nobodies.” – Exclaim

“And the Anonymous Nobody… isn’t just an album that proves hip-hop elders are still capable of great work; it’s an LP that reaffirms De La Soul as standard-bearers for Gen-X rap artistry. There’s a lot to say about hip-hop artists “aging well,” but compared to rock and R&B, there isn’t the major bias against decades-deep MCs that there used to be. Of the rap game’s first wave of legendary album-driven artists that emerged in the late-’80s (up to the late-’90s), quite a few have recorded strong records deep into the 2010s: Ghostface Killah, Big Boi, the Roots, and mainstays like Nas and Jay Z are all still viable album artists in a genre inarguably driven by rhymers a generation younger. These seasoned rappers may not be consistently making hits, but they are delivering well-received LPs as evidence of a still-burning creativity: The album has become the refuge of the veteran rap great.” – Spin

About De La Soul:

“De La Soul is an American hip hop trio formed in 1987 on Long Island, New York. The group is best known for their eclectic sampling, quirky lyrics, and their contributions to the evolution of the jazz rap and alternative hip hop subgenres. The members are Posdnuos, Dave and Maseo. The three formed the group in high school and caught the attention of producer Prince Paul with a demo tape of the song "Plug Tunin'". With its playful wordplay, innovative sampling, and witty skits, the band's debut album, 3 Feet High and Rising, has been called "a hip hop masterpiece." – Wiki

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Bottomless Pit is the fifth studio album by the group Death Grips, released in 2016 on Third Worlds and Harvest Records. 

“On their new album Bottomless Pit, they stitch together one of their most cohesive grotesques ever, renewing their focus on songcraft, rather than chicanery. It's sure to elicit a sigh of relief among fans who’ve grown jaded with the band’s work. Opening track “Giving Bad People Good Ideas" opens on a feint—an eerie, descending vocal from Cherry Glazerr vocalist Clementine Creevy, the feminine foil to macho, malicious Burnett. The lilting intro gives way to a black-metal sprint, with Tera Melos’ Nick Reinhart churning out jagged tremolo riffs. The follow-up blow carries that momentum further: “Hot Head” starts off inside a cartoon fight cloud spinning off towards oblivion, a blur of percussive jabs, whooshing machines, and screamed gibberish.” - Pitchfork

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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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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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Directors of Photography is the fifth studio album by American hip hop group Dilated Peoples. The album was released in 2014 by Rhymesayers Entertainment.

The album features guest appearances from Vince Staples, Aloe Blacc, Catero, Gangrene, Sick Jacken, Krondon, Fashawn, Rapsody, Domo Genesis, Vinnie Paz and Action Bronson.

“The all-star production team, led by Evidence and Babu, includes Alchemist, DJ Premier and 9th Wonder, among others. The beats are predominantly dark, but in a good way. In his interview with DX, Babu alludes to this possibly being the final Dilated album, so the tone certainly reflects the notion. As a result, the verses hit a little harder, while also being a little bit sharper in general. And Babu’s scratches add a valuable layer to the experience, establishing a steady rhythm overall; the head-bobbing is contagious and continuous. Finding 100% sample-based Hip Hop albums in 2014 is almost a rarity, but Directors of Photography is the exception. There are no fancy effects or contemporary trends, like synths or EDM beats, which makes the album truer to its roots than most other recent veteran releases. There really isn’t a bad beat to be found.” - HipHopDX

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Jaku (寂) is the eighth solo album by Japanese underground hip hop producer DJ Krush. It was originally released in 2004. It features guest appearances from American rappers Mr. Lif ("Nosferatu) and Aesop Rock ("Kill Switch"), both of whom were signed to the Definitive Jux label at that time.

“Born in 1962 in Tokyo, DJ Krush is the internationally acclaimed producer, remixer and a DJ, who's produced music in vast variety of fields such as films, TV dramas and commercials. As a solo artist, he is greatly revered in the international club scene. He has done countless collaborations with artists transcending genres, such as Black Thought  of The Roots,  Herbie Hancock and k.d. lang.

After the break-up of his group Krush Posse in late 1991, Krush began pursuing his solo career and soon grabbed people's attention as the first DJ to use turntables as live instruments, doing free sessions with live musicians on stage. His 8th album Jaku was released in 2004, and topped the RPM chart of CMJ for 3 weeks in the US.

He still continues to renew this record, transcending all barriers, and leaving some distinctive footsteps of his own, achieving ever-increasing acclamation as an international artist.” – Music On Vinyl

"The more Zen moments of turntablist DJ Krush's Jaku may end up on a yakuza-gangsta flick, but his jigsaw connections between hip-hop and Japanese folk music should be beheld. ... Krush's use of space and texture remain not just formidable, but remarkably relevant." - Pitchfork

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“DJ Vadim is a prolific DJ and producer, born in Leningrad, USSR (now Saint Petersburg, Russia), raised in London and currently residing in both New York and Berlin, whose music combines hip hop, soul, reggae and electronica. He has been described as "one of the few artists creating genuinely new work in the Hip-Hop field" and an artist who "cannot be ignored”.” - Wiki

“Is it possible to create something entirely new? What does one of the fathers of the new beat scene do in a time of such huge tectonic plate movements? 'Don't Be Scared' is an album about change, about progress, about moulting the old, cutting the dead wood away and bringing in the new. Part hip hop in mind-set, part electronic in sound, and part soulful in spirit with undertones of tribalism and some very ethnic and hypnotic elements, this album is rooted to bass culture, connecting dots along the way. Abstract dark sounds from previous albums such as USSR Repertoire (96) get rediscovered. Twisted dancehall crunked bass lines meet traditional African rhythms in a Bollywood cinema, whilst lush strings and grand pianos sit next to haunting morphed keyboards; afro beat licks and smoked out grooves.

This album focuses on the instrumental and brings the beat to the foreground, but look forward to vocals from long-time collaborator and fellow 'Oneselfer' Yarah Bravo, Sabira Jade (The Electric) gets political, and new sounds resonate from upcoming singers D'Angelo'esque Jazz Bailey, Hawaiian soulstress Karen Be and gruff funkman Greg Blackman. More pensive than recent albums, melancholy meets tropical vibes meets a strange BBC reporter high on eboga root. Even Jamie Fox makes a guest appearance talking dance moves.” - UndergroundHipHop.com

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Flesh of My Flesh, Blood of My Blood is the second studio album by American rapper DMX. The album was released on December 22, 1998, a little more than seven months after his debut album It's Dark and Hell Is Hot. It entered the charts at #1 (and stayed there for 3 consecutive weeks) with over 670,000 units shipped in the first week. The album eventually went 3x Platinum in the US. He is the second rapper to have two albums released in the same calendar year debut at number one on Billboard's Top 200, the first being 2Pac with All Eyez on Me (February 1996) and The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory (November 1996), although the latter album was released posthumously under the alias Makaveli making DMX the first to release two number one albums alive by the same name in under a year. – Wiki

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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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L.A-based Emanon (aka Exile and Aloe Blacc) began experimenting with Hip Hop when Aloe was only 16 and Exile 17, with no more than a four-track tape recorder, turntable and a microphone. They built a fan base pre-internet by selling tapes on the streets all over the CA southland, eventually reaching the world. The duo have released many underground tapes and vinyl throughout the years and to the ears of many.

Both artists also saw plenty of success in their solo careers. Blacc launched his career as a solo artist in 2003, releasing two EPs, and signing to Stones Throw Records in 2006, after label head Chris Manak (known as Peanut Butter Wolf) heard Blacc and immediately offered him a contract for the 2006 full-length album Shine Through. He is best known for his singles "I Need a Dollar", "The Man", which topped the charts in the United Kingdom, and for writing and performing vocals on Avicii's "Wake Me Up", which topped the charts in 22 countries, including Australia and the United Kingdom.

Meanwhile, Exile laid the foundation for new West Coast classics with Dirty Science crew-mates: collaborating with rapper Blu on 2007 studio album Below the Heavens, producing rapper Fashawn's debut solo album Boy Meets World, as well as racking up countless production credits with Snoop Dogg, Whiz Khalifa and Big Sean.

Blacc and Exile have remained friends and continued to collaborate over the years, but it wasn’t until 2017 that the combination bore fruit—dipping into Blacc’s poetic, lyrical mind, with Exile at the production helm, to bring fans a modern classic Dystopia. – Wiki & Dirty Science

“The pounding, marching rhythm of “Death Is Fair” and the heavy groove of “Night Stalker” are two standouts that underscore the pair’s wealth of experience. Impressively, the whole album sounds fresh and free of the standard, clichéd hip-hop staples…

Free of any posing or posturing, this is an intelligent hip-hop album that shines a light on the times in which we live. It offers a resilient but often bleak outlook for African-Americans residing in the U.S. today. However, like the best political rap albums there are plenty of memorable melodies and hooks—these are songs not diatribes. At times it can be a dark and uncomfortable listen but the skilful backing and Blacc’s lean, fat-free flow make this a powerful statement. In a year of political hip-hop albums from the likes of Common and A Tribe Called Quest, this is up there with the best.” – PopMatters

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A TAV Essential Listening Album.

Mama's Gun is the second studio album by American neo soul singer Erykah Badu. It was recorded between 1999 and 2000 at Electric Lady Studios in New York and released on November 21, 2000, by Motown Records. A neo soul album, Mama's Gun incorporates funk, soul, and jazz styles. It has confessional lyrics by Badu, which cover themes of insecurity, social issues and personal relationships … Critics have also noted that while Baduizm contained its share of cryptic lyricism, Mama's Gun is much more direct in its approach, and places the artist in a subjective position more than its predecessor.

The album contains the single "Bag Lady", a top 10 Billboard hit, nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and for Best R&B Song. The song "Didn't Cha Know?" was also nominated for Best R&B Song ... It also features guests such as soul singer Betty Wright and trumpeter Roy Hargrove. Mama's Gun was met with great critical success and sold strongly, reaching Platinum two months after its release. Thematically the album explores topics regarding self-esteem, relationship breakdowns, and police brutality, and features a more eclectic sound than its predecessor. Rolling Stone magazine named it one of the Top 10 Albums of 2000. – Wiki

“Mama's Gun features a host of all-stars, including members of D'Angelo's Soulquarian crew: Pino Palladino on bass, producer and pianist James Poyser, producer Jay Dee, jazz trumpeter Roy Hargrove and drummer ?uestlove. There's also veteran funkateer Roy Ayers playing vibes and a duet with Stephen Marley, but this is the Erykah show, dominated by her confessional lyrics, her luscious voice, her sweeping musical vision. She begins with the rocking "Penitentiary Philosophy" and then gets you dancing with the soul of "Didn't Cha Know" and the James Brown-ish stanky funk of "Booty," each song bleeding into the next, each with abrupt shifts in texture that make the whole thing this restless soul fantasia.” – Rolling Stone

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“With Frankie Rothstein, his first album on Fat Beats Records which features production from the likes of J Rocc, J Dilla and DJ Rhettmatic, L.A. based, Detroit-bred MC Frank Nitt brings his distinguished, decades-long career full-circle, packing his inimitable style and years of industry-hardened grit in with a newfound maturity and growth.

From a young age, Frank Nitt was quick to absorb the rich musical history of his native Detroit, forming the rap duo Frank N’ Dank in his teens. The group eventually landed worldwide attention & acclaim for their contributions to Dilla’s debut album Welcome 2 Detroit in 2001 and soon after signed to MCA Records.

Poised to release their debut full length 48 Hours (entirely produced by Dilla) the album ended up shelved, seemingly indefinitely, due to label politics. It wasn’t until 2013 that the album finally saw a proper official release, garnering critical praise for its irreverent, light-hearted rhymes and unconventional production.

After years as a group, Nitt parted ways with Dank to pursue a career as a solo emcee, eventually connecting with prolific LA beatsmith Madlib to release Nittyville, an installment of Madlib’s acclaimed Medicine Show series.

Most recently, Nitt released Sunset Blvd., a collaborative full-length with Illa J (younger brother to the late J Dilla) over unreleased Dilla productions and featuring hip hop heavyweights Common, Talib Kweli and members of De La Soul and the Pharcyde.” - FatBeats.com

“Overall this project is pretty solid your definitely bound to hear a lot of traditional and grimey Detroit player hip-hop music. This will leave you wanting to go back to the crates to uncover those classic J Dilla, Eminem, and Black Milk albums. So if you’re looking for an album that’ll give you good vibes and something good to bang in your ride this is definitely well recommended.” - Stereo Champions

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A TAV Curator's Pick.

“This is the very first time Funky DL has ever produced and released an instrumental album based on music that he has never recorded any vocals for. The 10 tracks encapsulate the vibe and energy of the many places in Japan and this album is a perfect representation of the serenity absorbed through the nights of chilling, dining, entertaining and relaxing in one of the greatest countries in the world… “Nippon” (Japan)

The Nights in Nippon Jazzstrumental Album (N.I.N.J.A.) is the perfect audio backdrop for late night car cruising or open window chilling, releasing a sense of calm and contentment for any avid and discernable listener.” - FunkDL.Bandcamp.com

““Nights in Nippon” is an instrumental album and dedication to the fond memories Funky DL has accumulated over the many years of his travels in Japan. Having visited the many beautiful cities and towns across the prefectures of Japan, DL has enjoyed everything from the Temples of Kyoto to the flashing lights of Tokyo. From the chilled vibe of Osaka to the calming shores of Yokohama.

Funky DL has been fortunate enough to have been so kindly embraced by the people of Japan and states that he has always been very grateful that “of all the places in the world, the Japanese have supported me the most to make my career worthwhile – my love for Japan is more than I can explain”.

This is the very first time Funky DL has ever produced and released an instrumental album based on music that he has never recorded any vocals for. The 10 tracks encapsulate the vibe and energy of the many places in Japan and this album is a perfect representation of the serenity absorbed through the nights of chilling, dining, entertaining and relaxing in one of the greatest countries in the world… “Nippon” (Japan)” - Blackout Hip Hop

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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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