Vinyl Me, Please HHV Records 241 Items

Why you'll love it...
"Despite a boisterous personality from Chad “Pimp C” Butler and a steely menace from Bernard “Bun B” Freeman, the Underground Kingz rose as most men do: from gifted measures despite hard-scrabble surroundings. By the time they were 19, they crafted a crude, yet wholly Southern debut album titled Too Hard To Swallow. The genius within Too Hard To Swallow arrives when you realize it is an album of promising sonic development and two rappers wanting to find their footing as the rappers from their section of Texas."

Lasting two seconds short of 72 minutes, Ágætis byrjun was a seismic shift from their previous record, Von: more melody, drama and tone, more accessible and anthemic. Twenty-one years after its release, it hasn’t remotely dated, lacking any relationship to grunge, industrial, ambient, pop or any other genre — not even Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Mogwai, points of comparison that cropped up in reviews. Perhaps the album’s unique DNA is simply Iceland’s environment, the community, the people. This, after all, was not a band, just music. Or just, perhaps, a force of nature. And like the aftermath of a hurricane, the landscape out there is very rarely the same again.

Why you'll love it...
The War Report, the 1997 brilliantly militant debut from Capone-N-Noreaga, is the VMP Hip-Hop Record of the Month in December 2022. Celebrating the record's 25th anniversary, our edition is pressed on 2LP Yellow vinyl, with lacquers cut by Cicely Balston...

The Ramones’ Too Tough To Die is often positioned as a return to form for the band, but today, forty years since its release, their eighth studio album seems worthy of a far more radical categorization. In the musical landscape of the mid-1980s, the album was incoherent — not in a pejorative sense, but in how it reflected the paradoxes of its time. Made without a steady compass, the album’s incongruity became its center, and it holds. As Joey Ramone said in a 1988 interview: “Around ’84, the world was changing drastically with Iran and Gadaffi and all this stuff. Things were getting scary. So, our songs started changing.”

Echoing the surrounding instability, the Ramones created an album so layered, complex, and challenging that it can still be hard to pin down, even after four decades to ponder its songs. Too Tough To Die’s legacy lives in its chameleon-like textures, moods, and vocal styles — from the lofty to the sneering, from the cynical to the sentimental. Too Tough to Die was a reminder that it was the Ramones who initially inspired and influenced the Sex Pistols, not the other way around. If the word could be claimed by anyone, punk belonged to them.

With a set of undeniable “it” intangibles — his look, charisma, persona, and a bass-growl of a voice — DMX was the rare artist that transcended genre. He had the attitude of a rock star, the energy of 2Pac, and a vulnerability seldom seen in a rap artist, especially one considered as hardcore as he was. For many, DMX represented the streets in the mainstream. His breakthrough album, It’s Dark And Hell Is Hot, reveals a conflicted, complicated artist and man. Earl Simmons fought many demons for much of his too-brief time on earth, but he had a spiritual side where he found solace. Beaten by his mother and her boyfriends, raised by the streets, and introduced to crack cocaine in his early teens, X spent his life in and out of prisons and rehab, but when he performed he could create concerts that felt more like a church service.

Word...Life is the debut studio album by O.C., released on October 18, 1994, through Wild Pitch Records. O.C. (Omar Credle), a member of the Diggin' in the Crates Crew (D.I.T.C.), was highly regarded for his thoughtful and intricate lyricism. Word...Life is considered a classic East Coast hip-hop album, reflecting the 90s boom-bap sound with its jazzy, soul-infused beats and introspective lyrics.

The production on Word...Life was handled by prominent figures in the New York hip-hop scene, including Buckwild and Lord Finesse, both members of the D.I.T.C. collective. The beats feature a mix of jazz samples, soulful loops, and hard-hitting drums, typical of the 90s East Coast sound.
O.C.’s delivery on the album is laid-back yet razor-sharp, and his rhymes are filled with vivid imagery, social commentary, and personal reflections. The album is celebrated for its lyrical depth, with O.C. blending storytelling and wordplay seamlessly throughout.

"Time's Up" – This is O.C.’s most famous track and a standout from the album. The song addresses the fakeness in the rap industry, calling out rappers who portray false images of success and street life. The production, courtesy of Buckwild, is minimal yet powerful, with its heavy bassline and sparse drums giving space for O.C.’s sharp lyrics.
"Born 2 Live" – A reflective and nostalgic track where O.C. looks back on his youth, reminiscing about childhood experiences and the loss of friends. The beat, produced by Buckwild, is soulful and smooth, underscoring the bittersweet tone of the lyrics.
"Word...Life" – The title track is a declaration of O.C.’s philosophy and approach to hip-hop. His rhymes are thoughtful and reflective, addressing real-life struggles, growth, and staying true to one’s self. The beat features a jazzy piano loop, characteristic of the album’s overall production style.
"O-Zone" – A track that showcases O.C.’s lyrical prowess, where he delivers intricate wordplay and multisyllabic rhymes. The beat is more aggressive, with a harder bassline and sharp drum patterns, complementing the confident tone of O.C.’s verses.
"Ga Head" – This track has a more laid-back vibe, with O.C. discussing the realities of life in the streets, success, and staying grounded. The production is smooth, and the track has a reflective quality similar to “Born 2 Live.”

Authenticity in Hip-Hop: A major theme on the album, especially on tracks like "Time's Up", where O.C. critiques rappers who fabricate stories about their street credibility or success.
Reflection and Growth: O.C. often reflects on his life, past experiences, and the journey of growing up in a tough environment. "Born 2 Live" is one of the best examples of this theme, where he revisits childhood memories and the impact of losing friends.
Intellectual and Philosophical Insights: O.C.’s lyrics often touch on deeper, more philosophical ideas about life, the challenges of success, and the importance of staying true to oneself.

Buckwild, Lord Finesse, and O.C. himself contributed to the production on Word...Life. The beats are built around soulful and jazz-infused samples, and the production maintains a gritty, underground feel. The album’s production fits well within the aesthetic of 90s boom-bap hip-hop but is elevated by the thoughtfulness and precision of the samples and drum programming.

Word...Life was praised for its lyrical depth and intellectual approach to hip-hop, standing out in a year when many classic albums were released. Critics and fans alike admired O.C.’s smooth flow and ability to tackle both personal and broader social issues in his rhymes.
The album did not achieve massive commercial success upon release, but it has since been recognized as a cult classic and a staple of 90s underground hip-hop.
"Time’s Up" in particular became a defining moment in O.C.’s career and has been used in various hip-hop compilations and media over the years.

Word...Life has influenced many artists, particularly in the underground and conscious hip-hop scenes, where lyricism and authenticity are highly valued.
O.C. has continued to be an important figure in hip-hop, and his work on Word...Life is seen as a critical contribution to the legacy of East Coast rap, alongside artists like Nas, Big L, and other members of the D.I.T.C. collective.

Word...Life is a cornerstone of 90s underground hip-hop, showcasing O.C.’s lyrical prowess and commitment to authenticity. The album's introspective themes, sophisticated wordplay, and soulful production make it a classic that continues to resonate with fans of conscious and lyrical rap.

Why you'll love it...
Tical calls back to an oft-romanticized period when rockin’ the mic was more than enough, with no filler in sight.

Why you'll love it...
"“Released on September 30, 1982, Bruce Springsteen’s sixth studio album, Nebraska, came in a stark sleeve, dominated by David Michael Kennedy’s black-and-white photograph of a perfectly flat highway stretching down a barren wintertime plain. It sold enough copies to earn a Gold Record award, and if some listeners were mystified, or even disappointed, by the gloomy music, critics doubled down on their praise for Springsteen’s writerly skill and artistic daring. Other artists were inspired by the work; generations of subsequent musicians, ranging from Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello to pop country singer Kelly Clarkson, cited Nebraska as a crucial influence on their careers. Forty years later, the power of Nebraska is undiminished.”

Why you'll love it...
By All Means Necessary is often discussed like it’s some departure from Criminal Minded. The moment KRS turned into “The Teacha” and became a politically minded, socially conscious wordsmith. In reality, this is who he already was. Misunderstanding and tragedy is what compelled him to not only refocus on the role he wanted to play in hip-hop, but create an album that gave way to a very important movement in hip-hop, too.

By All Means Necessary is an essential and definitive BDP and KRS album. It marks the moment where KRS wasn’t just concerned with being a great emcee but a teacher, too, continuing his exploration of sociopolitical subjects on BDP’s following three albums, as well as throughout his solo career.

Why you'll love it...
“The Coup’s second album, 1994’s Genocide & Juice, was an emboldened level-up from their first full length. While early Coup material had moments that blossomed on later efforts, Genocide & Juice was where those ideas deepened, becoming more pronounced as their catalog grew. Production wise, it’s replete with colorful samples, thorough skits and big bass, a perfect intersection of ’90s sample-based ingenuity and West Coast funk.

Genocide & Juice is mainly two things: neighborhood tales and unapologetic worldviews bound with fisted activism — made by the group’s core members at the time — Riley, Pam the Funkstress and E-Roc. But there are voices and sound effects woven throughout that give it more texture. Killer production that was able to sound both clearly professional while retaining its edge. At a concise 14 tracks, this album is one of the best sophomore efforts by any group, in any genre.”

Why you'll love it...
TA13OO is the most realized, calculated Denzel Curry album by a mile; where Imperial honed in on the darker tones of his music, TA13OO offers the Dark, juxtaposed with fresh lenses on Curry’s experiences. We dwell in the light indulgence of his successes and attempts to achieve clarity, and an even deeper gray to illustrate the collisions and contradictions of our world.

Why you'll love it...
"Wow, i can hear myself learning how to make music in this song. I remember doing the vocal over the drums and then randomly trying that baseline and being like whoa! And kinda spiralling into this experiment," — Grimes on the opening track, "Infinite Love Without Fulfillment," in our pressing's Listening Notes.

Why you'll love it...
During the pagan hours of an otherwise uneventful Harlem pre-dawn in 1963, Gary Bartz glimpsed a galactic mystery that conventional aeronautics could not explain. Only a few weeks prior, the nascent alto saxophone virtuoso had acquired his first telescope to pursue a newfound passion for astronomy. The purchase was already yielding dividends.

The recent Juilliard graduate’s fascination with the heavens began with astrology, but the then 22-year-old quickly realized that those celestial sketches were just photographs of the sky as captured during a specific orbit. Why bother with the rough blueprint when you could witness the entire electromagnetic spectrum in its full glory?

Why you'll love it...
First Born is as integral to Minnesota rap as any album from that scene, including work from superstars like Atmosphere. It’s a perfect encapsulation of the city’s sound at a time when it was still being created. In Abilities’ own words, “It really sounds like a Minnesota winter.” While being transported to sub-zero temperatures doesn’t sound particularly appealing as we slog through a quarantined winter, the familiar sounds of First Born are a soothing balm.

For those willing to look, there was always something deeper than the fl
ip-fl
ops, Old English tattoos and shitkicker Oakleys. If the self-titled album belonged to the world, 40oz. to Freedom belonged to Long Beach, to Los Angeles, to California. It invents its own wild dialect, drunk driving with a shaggy genius often lost in translation, a goofball series of obscene surprises, soundtracking a house party that never ends, always in danger of getting busted up.

Blue Vinyl. For all the name Black Moses conjures, for all that it confers, it was not a name Isaac Hayes gave himself; that title was bestowed by a radio DJ sermonizing an intro to one of his songs. It was not a name Isaac Hayes - raised by his god-fearing grandparents in a former sharecropper's shed after his parents died before he turned two years old - thought was even appropriate. It seemed sacrilegious to him. But that name, it meant something that even Hayes had to acknowledge. He had ascended to a plane that no Black performer before him had ever reached before. He topped the R&B charts and, eventually, the pop charts without ever having to compromise who Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. Was. He had shown his people that James Brown's "I'm Black and I'm Proud" edict was possible. He dripped in gold chains inside his album gatefolds and drove cars literally trimmed in it. Unapologetically. Black Moses towers as Hayes' crowning solo achievement. It's 14 songs stand as a 90-plus-minute testament to Hayes' nonpareil greatness, songwriting ability, singing, and arranging. A monument to authenticity, Black Moses projects a self-confidence so mammoth it feels like receiving the stone tablets of swagger down from the mountain of cool.

Why you'll love it...
This album, a pair of gorgeous, androgynous longhairs with incredible cheekbones on its cover, showed up first. Its songs talked of girls with jewels on their lips riding zebras and a chance encounter with a wizard. The sound was a strange brew concocted from different strains of earlier rock ’n’ roll: some folk, some rock, and an undeniable debt to Eddie Cochran. Marc Bolan’s music, persona, and look were strange, beautiful, and whimsical enough that if you tried to explain his massive popularity to somebody born after the century Bolan lived in, for just shy of 30 years, it would probably sound like a story from eons ago. We know glam came after T. Rex, but it’s also just a skip to the Sex Pistols, Ramones, and more punk from there; it’s also not far from the “post” sounds that came out of New York and London around 1977 or the darkness and decadence of Siouxsie Sioux and Bauhaus either. The tarted-up heavy metal of Hanoi Rocks and Poison in the 1980s followed, and into this newer century, you can hear Bolan’s direction heeded and reimagined by Alison Goldfrapp or Devendra Banhart. All of that is because of this album, the sound of Marc Bolan turning the key to unlock his true potential. His magically strange vision took shape here, and nothing has been the same since.

Red & Cream Split Vinyl. Opening with one of the most well-known guitar riffs in rock music, Heart's Little Queen starts with a growl - a burning guitar tone that sounds like it originated from deep in the belly of a colossal and untamed animal. "Barracuda" harbors the undeniable sound of rage: not the strain of anger that renders you powerless and stewing, but the kind that burns so strong that it cuts you loose, let's you run free and leaves you no choice but to win. The sound is so indisputable because it embodies Heart's origin story: one of wrath and the triumph that follows.

Why you'll love it...
While fighting through label limbo and placing his budding film career on freeze, Antwan “Big Boi” Patton spent a couple years readying the artillery for his solo close-up. Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty is both a testament to the maturation of Big Boi and a tribute to his late father; underneath, it’s a speakeasy at breakneck speed, sittin’ on 32s. Where many other formidable MCs would be eaten alive, Big Boi shapeshifts across every mood and landscape with his trademark tenacity. He’s an effortless showboat who can portray sleaze with ease, but he’s a true class act who’s got nothing left to prove, yet will never let it show. Flanked by his known co-conspirators and many more, Big Boi blesses the senses the way only an East Point playboy can; it’s an intergenerational time warp, and another funky ride in HD. The final product is a natural progression of his Organized Noize lineage, sent across dimensions to return with an assemblage of time-tested potent Black grooves, then pressure-cooked in the kitchen of thefinest booty club in Georgia.