Instrumental Hip Hop 496 Items

We are excited to present Tom Misch and Yussef Dayes’ “What Kinda Music” – an astonishing collaboration between two artists of very different disciplines, and one of the most unique and seamlessly original projects of its ilk to date.

Moving fluidly through sleek electronica, avant-garde jazz, vintage hip hop and so much more, Misch and Dayes take you on a journey that is by turns surprising and spontaneous, heady and head spinning, and nothing less than compelling – a singular vision which fuses the DNA of both musicians with spectacular results, as can be seen in the title track, which comes backed by a gorgeously atmospheric video by XX.

Even though the fundamental bones of this project came together very quickly, its actual provenance stretches back much, much farther back, with the pair not only growing up in the same area of South East London, but Misch actually seeing Dayes play on drums in the school talent show for the first time when he was roughly 8 or 9. They both kept tabs on each other – Misch becoming a fan of Dayes’ act Yussef Kamaal, Dayes clocking his videos in 2014 – but it was only when they met at a launch party for Misch’s debut LP “Geography” in 2018 that the proverbial creative sparks began to fly. “As a musician you’re always looking for contemporaries who can push you and challenge you and make you better”, says Dayes. “I instantly felt that with Tom – he was such a gifted musician, and so prolific”. That summer they decided to go into the studio together, jam a little, and see what happens, with no other expectation placed upon it.

As it turns out, the music came fast and furiously. Two initial tracks were suddenly followed by a handful of others, and the pair found themselves contemplating what to do next. “Pretty soon, we knew that something was gelling”, Dayes says. “It didn’t feel like a one-off collaboration, it felt like a body of work”. What made the pair click, according to Misch and Dayes, were the exact same factors that meant it shouldn’t, by all rights, work. Misch says, “Yussef comes from a more experimental background, and he has a lot of loose, crazy ideas. I know how to write a catchy melody, but with interesting chords and have a good understanding of popular song forms, so I think I streamlined those ideas and made them accessible”. And certainly, in “What Kinda Music” you can sense the DNA of both musicians, but fusing so effortlessly and beautifully that it creates something else entirely, the appropriately named “Lift Off” sending goosebumps with its jazz flecked crescendo, and “Night Rider” hynotising with its deeply mesmeric grooves. “I have a love for harmony and chords”, Misch adds. “Working with someone like Yussef, who has such a gifted sense of rhythm allowed a perfect balance”.

Throughout the record, there is an utterly joyful feel of two musicians at the top of their game sparking off one another, picking up ideas and running with them – zigging where the other zags, ebbing where the other flows, with Misch producing the majority of the record and both having a hand in the overall sound and feel of the record.

“Working with Yussef has actually changed the way I work as a musician”, Misch muses. “He’s pushed me and unlocked a more experimental part of me that I hadn’t really allowed myself to explore before. I think we really did impact each other in a fundamental way”. Dayes is similarly effusive in his praise for Misch. “A musician like him, who’s at the top of his game, he doesn’t need to do this”, he raves. “He can just keep doing the same thing and why not? He’s killing it. The fact that he’s so humble, that he’s so curious about everything and open to collaboration, speaks a lot to him as an artist, because it’s not easy finding musicians who want to collaborate. Something always gets in the way, whether it’s ego or their team or whatever. But with Tom it felt like the intention was purely creative, and that’s what made it exciting”. In fact, Dayes says that the intentions of the record go even deeper than just music. “Both our parents who’d never met each other before, are now best friends as a result of this, they now see each other more than we do! I’d like to think, in some small way, that this album has a similar impact for people too – everything feels so divided these days, it would be nice for people to hear the record and hear two very different musicians coming together and realise it doesn’t have to be that way”.

Apart from the overall trend in the contemporary music industry, the second collection album on the Hydeout Productions label, a rare independent label that has gained a large following among listeners by releasing purely sound=works without any advertising activities, the 2nd Collection is the second 2LP album on the label. It was released on. It is another world of Hydeout, parallel to the Nujabes' albums Metaphorical Music and Modal Soul, with a wider range of works and people. The album is a label collection album, including 'Another Reflection', which is another chapter of 'Reflection Eternal' from the last album 'Modal soul', but also shows the label's direction after Nujabes' second album 'Modal Soul'. This work shows the direction of the label after Nujabes' second album 'Modal Soul'.

Limited to 300 copies on purple vinyl, available at HHV only.

"Insomnia" is the third solo album of the Italian jazz beat maestro Koralle for Melting Pot Music. Without exaggerating, the Bologna-born producer's album can be described as his most mature and progressive work. On "Insomnia" Koralle unites a few of his favorite artists and musicians, exchanging sounds, ideas, beats, melodies and lyrics with them. The guest list consists of fellow producers FloFilz, Pachakuti, Figub Brazlevic, Kuranes, Phoniks and Brous One, as well as vocalists Kid Abstrakt, KeepVibesNear and Ryshon Jones.

The album finds the Haitian born, Montreal raised producer delivering on the promise of his early self-released EPs and remixes.

Since the age of fourteen, when he first began to DJ and when his brother introduced him to music production software, his output has been relentless. He explains, “after he showed me the basics, from that day on I couldn’t stop making beats,” pumping out a handful of tracks per day for the next couple of years.

Having released singles like ‘Drive Me Crazy‘ with Vic Mensa and ‘Leave Me Alone‘ with Shay Lia, Kaytranada has since cemented his reputation and his sound; an undeniable swing of the drums comparable to Dilla’s, a signature soulful touch in the melodies, and a healthy dose of funky bass lines.

99.9% features guest turns from Anderson .Paak, Vic Mensa, Little Dragon, Syd, Craig David, Goldlink, Alunageorge, BADBADNOTGOOD and many more.

They all started small. But it all - the art - has become so big for very few of them. Dexter has: The Stuttgart native has been involved as a producer in the last 13 years on iconic albums by Deichkind, Cro and Casper, he was responsible for three successful Fatoni albums and, together with Max Herre, most recently put together a showcase of the GDR label AMIGA ("hallo 22"). With three instrumental albums of his own and later with the producer supergroup Betty Ford Boys, he led the way for the new self-confidence of an entire generation of local hip-hop beatmakers - fewer service providers, more attention.

The fact that Dexter himself had once started out as a rapper was often forgotten. It wasn't until "Haare nice, Socken fly" (2017) that he released his first rap solo album, and with "Yung Boomer" in 2020 he got to the heart of how his very own Grown-Man Rap works in the field of tension between trap and jazz. The fact that he brought old-school legend Lakmann on an album with Lugatti & 9ine is just one of many proofs of Dexter's exceptional position in the scene.

With his new project, Dexter goes back to the beginnings, more precisely to the era in which he celebrated his breakthrough with "Jazz Files". That instrumental album from 2010 remains a milestone in the genre-defining "Hi-Hat Club" series (Melting Pot Music). "Jazz Files" brought him overnight onto the iPods of favorite rappers and post-Dilla beat nerds, into clubs, festivals and beat fights, and into the collective consciousness of a German rap landscape in upheaval.

From this era comes a hard drive with about 400 beats thought lost, which Dexter was able to rescue a few months ago. Dexter is now releasing 25 of these instrumentals for the first time on the album "BABY STEPS (BEATS 2010-2013)", which will be available digitally and on vinyl from July 14, 2023. The productions flow and push, rumble and clatter, are remastered, but otherwise unchanged Dexter - full of jazz, psych rock and soul. And the artwork? That's by Dexter's kids and was laid out by Dexter's sister.

Family first!

We're thrilled to present our first-ever compilation "Don't Sleep Records: The Instrumentals Volume One". This collection features a blend of our most popular records and personal favorites, including some slept-on beats that deserve a second chance to shine.

These tracks represent the diverse range of sounds and styles that have shaped the unique sonic fingerprint of Don't Sleep Records over our ten-year history. From jazzy, soulful tunes to hard-hitting boom bap and soulful bangers, this compilation offers something for every discerning listener.

We're excited to share this collection with our fans and we hope you'll enjoy it as much as we've enjoyed putting it together.

- Don't Sleep Records

Japanese import / Gatefold / First time on vinyl / Limited run

An independent label ‘’Hydeout Productions’’ releases the best compilation album for the first time.

Including from Nujabes’s fresh and passionate works only found in his early works to more emotional and metaphorical works which became the basis of his later success.

The Silhouettes Project a new platform for up and coming Hip-Hop, Soul and Jazz artists from the UK. It is not a record label or management team, it is a community project. The Silhouettes Project provides an open space - a recording studio and live venue located within the Total Refreshment Centre in Hackney, London - where MCs, singers, musicians and producers can connect and create.The Silhouttes Project was founded by community organisers/artists Asher Korner (aka Kosher) and Jaden Osei-Bonsu (Eerf Evil) in 2019. When they told us about the project and played us some of the music we were instantly hooked and joined the collective as label partner. The art direction is executed by Sergio „SagaUno“ Alferez, an acclaimed designer and illustrator from Medellín, Columbia.Starting in September, we release a new single each Thursday from artists like Kofi Stone, Summers Sons, Enny, KeepVibesNear, Manik MC, Lex Amor, Louis The Hippie, Summer-Pearl, Joe Beard and many more.

Here is the story of the Silhouettes Project as told by its founders Jaden and Asher: „We started The Silhouettes Project in February 2019, to shine a light on the new generation ofunderground Hip-Hop, Jazz, and Soul music in the UK. Community is everything to us, and wewanted to show that with a proper support network, access to professional facilities, and theencouragement of a family of artists, our community could produce something incredible. We felt a joint frustration that the current music scene in the UK only had structures in placeto support talent of a certain genre whilst overlooking a buzzing alternative Hip-Hop culture.We wanted to unify artists who are making ground-breaking music but who are in need of asolid structure to work within - artists who we felt deserved more recognition. This led us tothe name ‘The Silhouettes Project’, as we wanted to shine a light on those artists in theshadows. The journey started by embarking on a collaborative album project which allowed us to bringtogether more than 30 artists on a single tape and to create a network of incredibly talentedartists of the same calibre. The album took more than a year, working almost every day at theRoot 73 studio, a community space in Hackney. We knew from the first few sessions that wewere on to something, and the energy around the project kept it moving. As artists ourselves we understood that the creative process can be challenging and sometimesisolating, especially when there is no clear support network to fall back on. This led us to bringour efforts into the physical realm by organising a series of free live music events for all ofthese artists to come to, showcase their work alongside our house band, and connect witheach other. These events take place at The Total Refreshment Centre in Dalston, anunderground studio complex and warehouse space, which gave the events an intimatecommunity feeling and the people a sense of belonging. There is a desperate need for spaces in which people can come together and develop theircreative potential, especially with the consistent withdrawal of funding from the arts sector inthe UK and with the constant threat of gentrification which has seen the closure of countlesscommunity and grassroots creative organisations. As we grew as a brand and organisation, webegan to fully understand the importance of what we were doing. From the studio sessions tothe events, we saw the impact on people’s outlooks on their own careers, we saw them growin confidence in performing and collaborating and even taking their own initiative to utilise thenetwork provided for them. We heard their feedback, we felt the excitement in theatmospheres at our events and studio sessions, and we saw the community grow every timewe brought it together.“

Strictly limited edition of 500 copies in funky textile cover plus printed innersleeve.

DJ Buzz is repping his Vienna hood with the next episode in the KEATS series. The original Waxolutionist drops 16 beats based on slices of Jazz, Funk and Soul with the typical loop digger approach. Available on limited vinyl as well as digitally on all platforms.

2024 Repress!

Phoniks' latest album "Dreams" is a captivating journey that seamlessly blends live instrumentation and chopped samples across 19 tracks. The beats are carefully crafted to create a unique atmosphere and mood, taking the listener on an immersive journey through lush soundscapes and jazzy hip-hop beats. Phoniks' skillful layering of sounds from a diverse range of sample sources results in richly textured compositions that delicately capture the listener's attention.

As the spiritual successor to Phoniks' popular 2018 instrumental album "Down To Earth," "Dreams" builds upon the groundwork laid by its predecessor and elevates it to new heights. From the soulful chops of "That's All" to the mellow groove of "Ghosts," each track invites the listener to sit back, relax, and get lost in the dreamy vibes.