Hip Hop 467 Items

The producer’s own mixes – recently rediscovered – of his seminal EP, expanded with bonus tracks and now available in a special instrumental edition.

When Ruff Draft saw its initial release in 2003, J Dilla possessed production skills on par with anyone in hip-hop – technically and creatively. “At the top of his game,” says longtime friend and collaborator, Karriem Riggins. After years of building while modestly deferring to others of both greater and lesser notoriety, Dilla finally completed the first solo endeavor on his own label, entirely on his own terms. The significance of such an autonomous success often gets overlooked, and partly accounts for why Ruff Draft is one of the lesser-referenced entries in Dilla’s oeuvre. “It’s a mysterious little project,” says his mother, Maureen Yancey. “But out of his entire career, that was the happiest time.”
Prior to recording the EP, Dilla found himself at a crossroads. Estranged from his label, MCA, and separated from the mother of his youngest daughter, frustration abounded both personally and professionally. Dilla spent parts of 2002 and 2003 working on an album for MCA that featured his rapping over contributions from other producers with whom he had connected and whose music he respected. At the time, he was known primarily for his beats, yet reviled for his MCing by most anyone not from his hometown of Detroit. The project was to be an intentional freak of the industry.
The project would go on to spur his collaborative album with Madlib, Jaylib, and would first showcase the template that he would take to his greatest heights with 2006’s Donuts. The Stones Throw reissue of Ruff Draft from 2008 featured remixes of the songs from the album, done without Dilla’s involvement. This version of the album takes Dilla’s recently discovered mixes of the album and restores his vision for the project.

Hailing from Massilon, Ohio, rapper Stalley has a well-deserved reputation for being a potent on-stage presence, and a force of hip-hop lyrical acumen. Throughout his career he has lent his distinctly Midwestern take on Dirty South-style rap to collaborations with veterans like Scarface, Curren$y, Ski Beatz, Paul Wall, and Rick Ross, with whom he has had a longtime association with, from his time as a signee of Ross' own Maybach Music Group label.
Now in 2018, Stalley finds himself riding solo once again, and unrestrained by a label, and creatively free. This lack of inhibitions comes out in full force on his new EP Tell The Truth Shame The Devil. Produced largely by Supah Mario (Drake, Young Thug, 2 Chainz), Tell The Truth takes an emotional detour from the familiar club anthems of his previous works, touching on issues of vulnerability, suicidal thoughts, artistic freedom, and more intense lyrical fare. (Which is not to say the album is completely free of freewheeling, boastful party rap goodness.)
Featuring guest spots from the hip-hop rapscallions of Migos, and freestyle aficionado Young Scooter, Tell The Truth Shame The Devil is uncompromising, filled equally with starkness and bare honesty as it is with revelry and ostentation.

Rising from the wreckage of a war torn planet, Czarface joins forces with MF Doom in the epic Czarface Meets Metal Face!
Blending Doom's trademark abstractions and Czarface's in-your-face lyrical attack, this album is ripe with cartoon violence, societal observations and pop culture musings. Over banging beats provided by The Czar-Keys, the armored team give you the witty unpredictable treats any hip-hop fan can sink their fangs into.
Expect beats, rhymes, and metal as Czarface controlled by Wu-Tang Clan powerhouse Inspectah Deck and 7L & Esoteric team up with everyone's favorite villain, MF Doom. With track titles like "Nautical Depth","Meddle With Metal", "Astral Traveling"
to "Madness of Badness" this album packs a punch with 16 brand new tracks. Add that with features from Open Mike Eagle and Jedi Mind Tricks' Vinnie Paz, we promise you mind-bending metaphors and brain-melting beats as this powerful pairing sounds off in
March 2018!

Guest appearances from Talib Kweli, Krizz Kaliko, Masta Ace, Brother Ali, Tech N9ne, Hopsin, Vinnie Paz, Eamon, Sadat X and others … whoo!

You’ll fall in love with Slum Village all over again with these
collectible 45 issues of the J Dilla produced cut “Fall In Love” first
issued on the group’s Fantastic Volume II. Classic Slum Village song and instrumental on black vinyl 7" in a custom diecut sleeve"! This is the REMIX!

Planet Asia helped jump-start the West Coast independent hip-hop movement, and has solidified himself as one of the most consistent and respected MCs in the game over his 20+ year career. He dropped his debut EP with producer Fanatik in 1998, and followed up quickly with the singles "Definition of Ill" (Stones Throw) and "Place of Birth" (ABB Records). In 2001, The Source Magazine gave him the ‘First Round Draft Pick’ and ‘Independent Album of the Year’ awards for ‘How the West Was One’, which was recorded with fellow CA rapper Rasco under the group name Cali Agents. This landed him a deal with Interscope Records, where he was signed until 2003 without releasing an album.
Planet Asia was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2002 for his feature on the song "W" by Mystic, and was later signed to Avatar Records, which released his official debut album, ‘The Grand Opening,’ in 2004. It earned him another ‘Independent Album of the Year’ award from The Source. Later, he started his own imprint Gold Chain Music, on which he has churned out multiple projects. He has also collaborated on albums with the likes of DJ Muggs (‘Pain Language’), Evidence (‘The Medicine’) and Madlib (‘Cracks In The Vinyl’), among others, and released songs with artists such as Linkin Park, Bun B, Talib Kweli and Ghostface Killah.
The Fresno MC is fresh off of a strong 2017 which featured well-received collaborative albums with producers DirtyDiggs (‘Dirty Planet’) and Apollo Brown (‘Anchovies’). For 2018, Asia teamed up with Bay Area producer izznyce for this true solo project, sure to be considered the next classic in his vast catalog.
‘The Golden Buddha’ was produced entirely by izznyce (producer for Superstar Quamallah and more) and features AZ, Hus Kingpin, Turbin, Marvelous Mag, Killa Kali, TriState, Xiomara and The Architect. Speaking on the project, Planet Asia says: “This album represents the foundation of what Planet Asia is about and that is ‘balance’. Me and izznyce also took our time with the record, and had a chance to really vibe out and make the type of music we personally like that will stand the test of time!”

Delicious Vinyl will soon release "Sunset Blvd.", the all new album from Yancey Boys, the group piloted by John “Illa J” Yancey and Frank Nitt. The dynamic new collection is built around previously unheard tracks created by Illa J’s brother: the late, great J Dilla (James Yancey). With Frank Nitt’s standing as J Dilla Music Catalog Curator and the official approval of Yancey Media Group, all productions on "Sunset Blvd." originate from The Lost Scrolls — the stunning cache of beats Dilla left behind.
The first official single from "Sunset Blvd." is "Quicksand" which features Common & Dezi Paige. And the B-Side is no sleeper; “The Fisherman” is a full-court press featuring a chorus from Vice and blistering rhymes from Detroit Serious and cuts by J.Rocc of Beat Junkies. The track is, as Frank Nitt promises, “guaranteed to make you bang your head!” Nitt also reminds us that “this isn’t a nostalgia trip: Dilla’s beats were so future-forward that they’re right on time in 2013.”