Search "lazer+sword+memory" 138 Items

Limited to 1000 boxes for the European market, 3000 in total worldwide.
In Europe exclusively available at HHV.

HHV is thrilled to be able to offer this milestone of rap history, one of the most iconic and important albums of all time as a limited box set of 45s. We can not be happier. Illmatic 30th Anniversary Box Set Includes:

-The full album plus 2 remixes on six big-hole 7-inches pressed on black vinyl.

-The 7-inches are housed in a custom hardbound casebook that includes a 64-page book of extended liner notes by Sacha Jenkins with full lyrics, photos, and 12-inch singles discography.

-The casebook is housed in a premium outer slipcase, featuring the iconic album art printed in gold.

-Limited to 3000 copies worldwide

Thirty years ago on April 19, 1994, Nasir "Nas" Jones dropped Illmatic which is regarded by many as the greatest hip-hop album of all time. Before 1994, Nas (under the name "Nasty Nas") was rapping and making demo tapes with Large Professor, and in 1991 performed an unforgettable verse on Main Source's "Live at the Barbeque." The next year Nas released "Halftime" for the Zebrahead soundtrack, another Large Pro cut, and signed a deal to record an album for Columbia Records. Nas was being compared to one of the lyrical greats, Rakim, and the pressure was on to drop a debut album to top all rappers. A dream team of hip-hop producers including DJ Premier, Large Professor, Q-Tip, Pete Rock, and L.E.S. was assembled to work on what would become the 5 Mic classic Illmatic. Not only did it establish Nas as the Best Rapper Alive in 1994, but it also raised the stakes for hip-hop production, lyrical technique, content, and overall artistic ambition.

Illmatic is the crown jewel of the mid-90s classics that still define the genre. No filler, one intro, and 9 tracks of hip-hop perfection. Every song on this album matters. From Premier's masterful "N.Y State Of Mind" to the AZ-assisted "Life's A Bitch" and Pete Rock's piano-laced "The World Is Yours" Illmatic starts with a powerful trio of songs that easily could solidify this album as classic if it stopped right there. Other tracks such as "Memory Lane" and "One Love" show Nas focusing on his neighborhood and local legends that molded him into the person he was which made them all just as important to us. Large Professor delivers the album's first single "It Ain't Hard To Tell" while Premier delivers the album's certified street anthem "Represent". Serious to a fault, and lyrically dense to an extent that has possibly never been matched, the 20-year-old Nas stood on the shoulders of his predecessors and made them proud with this one. Thirty years later the album stands the test of time, where time is truly illmatic.

To commemorate the 30th anniversary of the release of Illmatic, Get On Down in partnership with Sony's Certified is proud to present the entire album on six 7-inches with 2 remixes.

Rhythm Section International, the impossible-to-define label founded in South East London by Bradley Zero in 2014 has reached the ripe old age of 10 years. Funny thing is, it feels like it could have been almost double that. It’s hard to imagine the Landscape of the London music scene without this foundational force whose influence is felt more than ever.

With this special anniversary release, the label takes stock at this milestone to present a compilation in 3 parts: Past, Re-imagined AND Future: honouring the labels tradition of always paying homage to what has come before while setting sights firmly forwards.

With 100-odd releases in their extended back catalogue covering every imaginable style and boasting influence in every inhabited continent on earth, it’s been quite a decade for the independent label, which began on a shoestring budget with funds made via the now legendary Rhythm Section pool hall parties in Peckham.

From humble beginnings to an era defining output - few would have predicted the slow and steady rise of the imprint and the impact it has had on generations of Dj’s, musicians and listeners - at home and abroad.

Spanning 6 discs and 30 tracks, the compilation begins by taking us on a walk down memory lane and presenting one track from each year of the labels output - highlighting some forgotten classics from the archives over the first 2 discs. For discs 3 & 4, the label invited it’s stable of artists to pick a track from the back catalogue to re-imagine in their own style. This process resulted in some incredibly playful contributions from the likes of Ruf Dug, Session Victim and Private Joy - whose playful reinterpretations add new depth to old material.

Finally, the last 2 discs are entirely new material for 2024, carrying the torch of the previous Shouts compilations - whose sole aim is to shine light on new music from emerging artists

Glow in the dark vinyl. Plastic sleve. With OBI. Vinyl has a few paper scuffs. Only 1 record!!

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.

Liquid Swords is the second studio album by Genius / GZA, released on November 7, 1995, on Geffen Records. Widely regarded as a hip-hop masterpiece, the album is known for its lyrical complexity, dark production, and vivid storytelling. Produced entirely by RZA, Liquid Swords features guest appearances from Wu-Tang Clan members and incorporates themes of philosophy, street life, martial arts, and the internal conflicts faced by individuals in harsh environments.

Liquid Swords is often described as one of the most lyrically sophisticated albums in hip-hop, with GZA’s intricate wordplay and storytelling at the forefront. His lyrics are filled with metaphors, layered meanings, and intellectual references, drawing comparisons to chess, martial arts, and samurai culture.
RZA’s production on Liquid Swords is dark, gritty, and atmospheric, using minimalist beats combined with eerie samples, many of which come from the 1980s martial arts film "Shogun Assassin". The result is an album that feels cinematic and moody, with a dystopian, almost otherworldly atmosphere.

The album’s lyrics often reflect on mental discipline and strategic thinking, with tracks like "Liquid Swords" using metaphors related to chess and battle strategy. GZA frequently draws from his nickname as “The Genius,” delivering cerebral verses filled with metaphors about intellectual battles.
Street Life and Survival: While much of the album is rooted in intellectualism, GZA also explores themes of urban struggle, survival, and the harsh realities of inner-city life. Tracks like "Cold World" present a bleak picture of street violence, poverty, and crime.
Martial Arts and Samurai Imagery: Throughout the album, GZA incorporates imagery of samurai swords, warriors, and martial arts, using these motifs as metaphors for mental sharpness, discipline, and conflict. This is reflected in both the lyrics and the sound design, with many tracks featuring samples from martial arts films.

Key Tracks and Highlights:
"Liquid Swords" – The album’s opening track is both its title track and a standout moment. GZA’s sharp lyricism is paired with RZA’s haunting production, setting the tone for the album’s focus on philosophical reflection and street life. The intro features dialogue from "Shogun Assassin", solidifying the album’s martial arts theme.

"4th Chamber" – This track is a highlight for its raw energy and features strong verses from Ghostface Killah, Killah Priest, and RZA. The lyrics touch on social decay, political corruption, and personal resilience.

"Shadowboxin’" (featuring Method Man) – Known for its catchy hook and Method Man’s standout guest verse, this track is an excellent example of the synergy between GZA and his fellow Wu-Tang Clan members. The song explores themes of mental combat and shadowboxing as a metaphor for intellectual battles.

"Cold World" (featuring Inspectah Deck) – A dark, introspective track that paints a vivid picture of the struggles in urban life. The production is minimalist but powerful, allowing GZA’s detailed storytelling to take center stage.

"Duel of the Iron Mic" – Featuring verses from Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Masta Killa, and Inspectah Deck, this track is a lyrical sparring match, with each MC delivering sharp, battle-ready verses. The song is both a testament to GZA’s lyricism and a showcase for Wu-Tang’s collective talent.

RZA handles all production on the album, using a style that emphasizes minimalism, gritty samples, and cinematic soundscapes. Many of the tracks feature dialogue from martial arts films or atmospheric samples that enhance the album’s philosophical and introspective themes.
The beats are often slow and menacing, allowing GZA’s dense, introspective lyrics to take center stage. RZA’s use of disjointed loops, eerie melodies, and sparse instrumentation gives the album a unique, otherworldly feel.

Upon release, Liquid Swords received widespread critical acclaim for its lyrical complexity and innovative production. Critics praised GZA’s ability to blend philosophical themes with street narratives, and RZA’s production was hailed for its dark, cinematic quality.
The album has since been regarded as one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time and one of the best releases from the Wu-Tang Clan collective. It is often cited as one of the finest examples of 90s East Coast hip-hop and is revered for its storytelling, intellect, and atmospheric production.
Liquid Swords has influenced a generation of rappers, particularly in the lyrical, underground, and alternative hip-hop scenes, with its combination of intricate wordplay and thematic depth setting a standard for future artists.

Liquid Swords has been listed on numerous "greatest albums" lists and continues to be studied and admired for its lyrical depth and thematic consistency. GZA’s methodical, intellectual approach to hip-hop remains influential, and his ability to blend street narratives with philosophical musings has set him apart as one of the most respected lyricists in the genre.
In summary, Liquid Swords is a landmark album that showcases GZA’s lyrical genius and RZA’s unparalleled production. Its blend of martial arts imagery, philosophical themes, and dark, atmospheric beats has made it an enduring classic in the hip-hop world.

Why you'll love it...
“The concept of Few Good Things is the realization of self after a search for exterior fulfillment,” shared Saba on the inspiration behind the album’s title. “It is the satisfaction and completeness you gain by simply living a life that is yours. Few is a small number, but few is not lonely. In the face of all adversity, a few good things is recognizing and accepting blessings. Few is to count them, one by one – an empty glass is full of air, an empty bank is full of lessons, and an empty heart is full of memories. Few good things is to grow comfortable with the empty, and despite that, finding your fullness.”

Limited to 2000 copies, the VMP exclusive version of Saba's Few Good Things is pressed on Tan vinyl at Precision Record Pressing (PRP). The 2 LPs will arrive in a gatefold, direct-to-board, foil-stamped and numbered jacket.

Embrace the golden tranquility of summer with Childhood Memories! Let yourself be enchanted by a compilation where each note softly whispers warmth, inviting the essence of summer to dance freely. Envision yourself nestled in a cozy treehouse, surrounded by lush greenery, basking in the warm sunlight as guitar melodies fill the air. Whether you're lost in a captivating book or sharing laughter with cherished friends, allow these laid-back tunes to become the soundtrack to your summer bliss.

Clocking in at 37 minutes, Broken Arrow features 12 tracks of that real-real. BoFattBeatz cooks up knockin’ beats that could be as equally at home in 1996 as they are in 2022. Meanwhile, Thrust OG rocks the mic and rips rhymes with fellow emcees LocalBlac, RamBunxious, Tough Dumplin and Kenneth Masters. Add a flurry of samurai sword-sharp cuts by Dystrakted, and you’ve got a massive boom bap outing that can’t stop, won’t stop

Buffalo & Detroit are America’s broken dream. They are once thriving cities, now known for frigid temperatures and violent crime. The cities were birthed in a different era, forged in fire, built of cold steel. It follows that the rawest Hiphop in recent memory has bled from these two regions. No two artists exemplify this hard truth more than legendary Detroit producer Apollo Brown and Buffalo’s maverick emcee Che’ Noir. The two artists came together to create a sound as natural as calm after the storm.

The soulful, head-nodding production of Apollo Brown has been a staple called on by some of the greatest to ever do it. From Ghostface Killah to Danny Brown, and from Freddie Gibbs to Chance the Rapper, Apollo Brown’s signature style has become an iconic staple of the culture. Meanwhile, Che’ Noir has stepped onto the scene as smoothly as any double dutch veteran. Having already worked alongside Benny The Butcher, Kool G Rap, and Fred The Godson, she has emerged as one of the most extraordinary New York talents heard in years.

The pair’s new album, “As God Intended”, drifts up and down city streets and offers a glimpse behind closed doors, telling the stories of gunshots, missing fathers, & playing the system.

The album from Apollo Brown & Che’ Noir features Skyzoo, Blakk Soul, Planet Asia, Ty Farris, and Black Thought. Part of the Mello Music Group 24 for '24 Artist Series featuring limited edition vinyl art by oil painter KipDaFog.

In celebration of the five year anniversary of Ghostface Killah’s widely acclaimed 2018 LP, The Lost Tapes — produced entirely by Big Ghost LTD — Coalmine Records is pleased to announce their partnership with Holy Toledo Productions for a deluxe edition reissue that includes both the main and instrumental passes. Despite what the title may suggest, The Lost Tapes is not a collection of rare or unreleased tracks, but rather an album recorded with the intention of summoning an incarnation of an early Tony Starks, akin to Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, Ironman, and Supreme Clientele. And this is achieved largely by the production value that Big Ghost LTD brings to the table, whose rise to fame first came by way of Twitter with his spot-on Pretty Toney parody. Armed with a cache of raw beats, Big Ghost tastefully weaves soulful samples to create a satisfying cocktail of distinctively up-to-date boom bap. This especially holds true on tracks like “Majestic Accolades” and “Watch Em’ Holla.” The former of which is among the album’s highlights, as Starky Love raps one of the more memorable hooks, talking about his experiences with girls, hustling, and life in general. Narrated by Michael Rapaport, the ’90s hip-hop aficionado, actor and comedian helps keep the pace for Ghost Deini’s 10th solo LP by reminding us that we’re in the presence of greatness. But it’s the chemistry of emcee and producer that elevates The Lost Tapes to one of the more stand-out solo releases in Wu-Tang’s discography of recent memory. Entrenched in the classic Wu sound, the 12 track LP slaps like a ‘90s record without sounding like a strained attempt to recapture lightning in a bottle. To boot, The Lost Tapes are also abound with features from hip-hop luminaries such as Snoop Dogg, Raekwon, E-40, Killah Priest, Kxng Crooked, Cappadonna, Big Daddy Kane, Ras Kass and more. All in all, The Lost Tapes is a victory lap, and one who’s purpose is to not only to create nostalgia, but to formulate a group of songs that represent who Ghostface was as a person back then, and where he stands now as one of the most exemplary emcees of all time.

Pressed ON "dried Blood" RED Colored Vinyl W/obi Limited TO 1000 Copies In the late 90s in Hip Hop, all eyes were on the South - and the Down South sound reigned supreme. Few groups were as hot as Memphis’ Three 6 Mafia. CrazyNDaLazDayz was a regional scorcher when it dropped in 1999, released under the group name Tear Da Club Up Thugs, but essentially a Three 6 Mafia full-length as core Three 6 members DJ Paul, Juicy J and Lord Infamous all contribute to the project. The record went on to be certified Gold and Three 6 Mafia went on to win an Academy Award for their contribution to the film Hustle & Flow. CrazyNDaLazDayz continues to have an impact. A cut Juicy J first pulled together while still in high school, “Slob On My Knob”, was utilized in A$ap Ferg’s hit “Plain Jane.” In addition, the cut is interpolated into G-Eazy’s most successful cut to date, “No Limit.” Get On Down brings you this often overlooked and definitely in need of being revisited portion of Three 6 Mafia’s legacy.

Pete Rock is the man who J Dilla told, “I wanted to be like you.” Kanye once called himself the “new Pete Rock.” But the original Pete Rock remains permanently vital. The evidence bangs in his latest opus, Petestrumentals 2, the sequel to the 2001 classic that helped define the hip-hop instrumental record. It marks the legend’s first album on Mello Music Group, a fitting union between the author of the boom-bap blueprint and the label that’s expanded upon his legacy. Petestrumentals 2 conjures memories of BBQ cookouts and 70s Blaxploitation scores, rattling summer jeep cruises and blunted Jamaican vacations. There’s a gorgeous requiem to Dilla (“Dilla Bounce (R.I.P),” where the originator pays tribute to the prodigy. You see the full range of Rock’s gifts on display: the meticulously chopped horns, unquantized drums, and air raid sirens. It contains the emotion of a thousand eulogies. An even 20 slaps and rhythmic levitations. It’s Pete Rock at his best, accelerating and kicking cosmic slop, extending wishes, hope, love, gritty drums and eternal wonder. This special 24 for '24 Artist Series Edition is a one time pressing on metallic gold vinyl w/ original KipDaFog oil painted cover art.

Why you'll love it...
The success that Run-D.M.C. enjoyed through its first three albums is impossible to overstate — before the trio from Hollis, Queens, stomped its shell-toe Adidas through the music industry, hip-hop was completely unproven as a commercial force. Just about every ‘’first'' in the genre’s history was accomplished by Run-D.M.C.: It was the first hip-hop act to earn Gold, Platinum and multi-Platinum album certifications, the first to have a music video play on MTV, the first to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone, the first to nab a Grammy nomination, the first to sign a major endorsement deal.

In a previous edition of liner notes for Tougher Than Leather, Public Enemy frontman Chuck D gave the album its props and shared memories of going on the road with the group after it dropped. He geeks out over the funk and rock samples for the title track as well as the way they cut up their older songs into ‘’Soul To Rock And Roll,'' and claimed ‘’Run’s House'' was ‘’the written theme for all of hip-hop'' in 1988.

Clear vinyl seems unlayed. Hole in back cover. With stickers.

Homeboy Sandman drops a new album that is entirely produced by Quelle Chris.

Homeboy Sandman’s new album Don’t Feed The Monster, is a collaboration with producer/MC Quelle Chris. It’s also his most vulnerable & poignant work to date. Having grown up in Queens, New York, hip-hop was part of everything in life. This deep-rooted connection to the culture is evident when listening to his style of rhyming- bold, classic & deeply respectful. On Don’t Feed The Monster, he pulls back any pretense to show his most honest truth - a process that he needed both artistically and spiritually. “I was having a hard time and this record saved me thank Quelle and thank God and shout to Gabor Maté,” he said about the new album.

Album producer (and guest vocalist) Quelle Chris has been one of the most talked about and celebrated hip-hop artists on the planet these last few years. Both producing & rapping, Quelle has released critically acclaimed albums like Guns, Innocent Country 2, and Everything’s Fine with his collaborator & wife Jean Grae. “There's a certain mystic/magical power in words, sounds, rhythms, etc. It's rare to come across a brother/artist like Sandman,” he says when asked about his new album with Homeboy Sandman.

The new album Don’t Feed The Monster is a marvel of how an artist can dig deeper still, even years into his craft. The chemistry between the producer & MC has unlocked something within Sandman, surfacing memories, textures & details in a more vivid way than ever before. “(We) wanted to project growth and not regression. Being careful not to feed the monster,” Quelle says about the mission of the album. One would be right to assume that bringing two elite talents together would yield an incredible album. But, when imagining what this album brings in its entirety, Quelle says it best: “raw, pure, organic magic."

LP comes with 16 page lyric book and 7inch. Produced by Prince Paul, MF DOOM, Mark Ronson, ?uestlove and Memory Man!!
Featuring Open Mike Eagle and Masta Ace.
"If you work with words, like I do, there are a few achievements that we secretly fantasize about. Winning a Nobel Prize in literature. Having a #1 best-seller. College professors teaching our writing in their courses. But one achievement that most of us don’t even fantasize about is having an “original citation” in the Oxford English Dictionary.
The unabridged OED is the compendium of the history of English. Every time a word in common parlance was used for the first time, or in a new way, that usage and its author are recorded in the OED’s endless pages. Shakespeare’s got a bunch. Milton, too. These days, getting an original citation is like hearing the voice of God. It doesn’t happen much. But Paul Barman has one.
This is relevant to (((echo chamber))) only because it indicates the level that MC Paul Barman writes at. His rhymes are original in the sense of “no one has ever used that word like that before… but we will now.” Bring your brains. You’re gonna need them.
Not that (((echo chamber))) is hard work. It is perfectly pleasurable to bop your head along to great tracks laid down by ?uestlove and DOOM and Prince Paul, while MCPB says, “Meat keeps an enemy as a bone-deep identity. It’s the hardened shell that starts to smell. At one time, it might have guarded you well. But maladaptive strengths turn to captive feints and you become your own warden in hell.” And then in the next breath, “Would it blasphemy to ask you to shake that assphemy?”
If your ears are open, MCPB is gonna plug your brain in at voltages to which you are unaccustomed. He’s a social critic with a searing conscience that makes (“my”) comfortable bourgeois house of lies tremble with each jagged line on the PB Richter scale. Comfortable notions of being a “good” white person, blow up in the first two tracks, (((Echo Chamber))) and “YOUNGMAN Speaks on (((Race)))”. It takes MCPB just shy of three minutes to make this semi-observant Jew feel skeptical about the Ten Commandments. In ((((((Antennas)))))) he says, “we feel conflicting agendas rise and fall / what we call our identity tries to synthesize them all.” But he offers a solution, too. You’ll have to listen to the song to hear it. And at the end of the anthemic “Age War,” you’re ready to stand up, cheer, and then go join children in battle against the calcified bankrupt status quo. After all, it’s “already dead. Mentally a baby step from a deli spread.”
But, like any great poet (and MCPB is), he gets personal, too. I am certainly “a self in sheep’s clothing, a wealth of cheap loathing…” Aren’t you?
MC Paul Barman tells us, “Rest assured I’m the crested bird of nested words,” and that is no empty boast. In poetry, to rhyme both at the end of line and internally, in the middle of a line, is showing off. Which makes MCPB a crested bird indeed. There are songs, like (((Believe That))), where your eyes just go wide and you can’t believe the number of rhymes in a row that tell the truth. That much truth all placed in a row—you don’t see that anywhere. And it rhymes, on three levels at once.
MC Paul Barman is the most ambitious type of rapper. He is rhyming art. Why bother? It seems hard, and indeed the long hiatus between his albums tells us that it is. Well, MCPB has a reason: “art is the answer, the be end all... art, art and only art give solace to all this chaos and lonely hearts.”

So take some solace. (((Echo Chamber))) by MC Paul Barman is here. It’ll make your brain spin. And make you check your guts."
--- Adam Gidwitz, New York Times Bestselling & Newbery Award Winning Author

Limited Edition Reissue to the long-out-of-print 2005 album "Itstrumental"!

For the first time Prince Paul's cult-classic 2005 album “Itstrumental” is seeing a proper commercial reissue on the original imprint of release Female Fun Records. This also marks Female Fun's first release in over a decade.
The sample-driven collage-project distinctive to only how Prince Paul can do - was met with both critical acclaim and retail success upon original release. In the vein of of Prince Paul's solo debut “Psychoanalysis (What Is It ?)” the follow-up “Itstrumental” melded an array of guest vocalists/appearances over the devastating Prince Paul's undeniably great instrumentals/beats.
To refresh collector’s memories, what made “Itstrumental” so unique is that it's songs were culled specifically by Paul from an assortment of analog samplers used throughout the course of his career. Dating back to the 1980's through the early 2000's - which means otherwise unused compositions and tracks from the days of Stetsasonic, De La Soul, Gravediggaz, “Prince Upon Thieves”, and more. It's a virtual catalog of beat-making techniques sewn together in classic concept album style.

This reissue was revised and updated from the original designer/visual artist Ray Johnson. Including the unheard, exclusive song “Indiscretion” not included on the original release.

In honor of the 15-year anniversary of Glen Porter's debut album "Blessed by a Young Death," we are thrilled to present it as a limited edition 2xLP. This marks the first time the album has been available in its entirety on vinyl, with only 200 copies worldwide courtesy of Audio Recon, HHV, Inner Current Recordings, MISM, and Ooohh! That's Heavy.

“Blessed by a Young Death" holds a special place in our hearts and we’re sure many feel the same. The album's haunting melodies and compositions have captivated the listener since its original release in 2008. It's an album that evokes a wide range of emotions, from melancholy and introspection to moments of hope and tranquility.

In addition to celebrating the album's anniversary, this release serves as a tribute and 5 year memorial to the late Ryan Stephenson (Glen Porter). The album resonates with themes of loss, acceptance, and the bittersweet beauty of life, making it a perfect tribute to our friend and collaborator.

WYS has arrived in time to rescue winter with his album ‘South Pole’: a chilling, but warmly-welcomed sequel to the highly-acclaimed ‘North Pole’. Bundle up and grab your sled for this short, nostalgia-filled auditory trip. Comforting guitar riffs feel cosy as woollen gloves, and bittersweet melodies like icy serenades, together with soothing gusts of wind, will send you adrift into the endless expanse of white. A quiet, faraway place you can always return to - where the ice never melts, and your favourite memories are preserved beneath the sleeping glaciers. Close your eyes, and let your mind drift off in the snowstorm…

"Nothing Less" is the newest studio album from hip hop group Awon & Phoniks and their first full length release since starring in the 2020 Netflix documentary "Underdogs". The album is laced with Phoniks signature jazz-infused, boom bap production style and Awon's raw, honest lyricism. Produced on vintage samplers like the gritty Emu Sp-1200 and Akai MPC 2000xl the music evokes memories of classic east coast "golden era" hip hop. The songs were predominantly written under quarantine and center around political and social commentary of these tumultuous last few years.

Features include Masta Ace, Blu, Dephlow, Anti-Lilly, Tiff The Gift, Ill Conscious, Kid Abstrakt, DJ Ill Digitz, DJ Eveready, and Av Hamilton.

After a decade in the music business, Mello Music Group has witnessed the dealings and promises of the record industry. Running counter-clockwise to the mainstream ethic, Mello has settled on its own code of conduct and value system. Their catalogue is a Hagakare of hip-hop -- a practical and spiritual guide to the essence. While the sounds are varied, an MMG release ensures that the art comes first, the artists are religiously devoted to the upholding of standards and values. The musicians swing fast blades and fly the Mello banner with speed and strength.

This is Bushido, the latest Mello Music compilation gathering the current roster and the label’s closest brethren. As always, the core shoguns are present: Apollo Brown, Oddisee, Quelle Chris, L'Orange, Joell Ortiz, Skyzoo, and Homeboy Sandman. The rated rookies brandish sharpened swords: Solemn Brigham, Namir Blade, and The Lasso. The legacy teammates with championship trophies are all present: Open Mike Eagle, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Elaquent, Kool Keith, and Mr. Lif. So are label affiliates, Murs, The Alchemist, RJ Payne, and B-Real. The veteran general rounds out the roster, Stalley, the newest member of the Mello family. This isn’t merely an anthology, it’s a fully-formed vision of what hip-hop can be. A meticulously assembled arsenal of past, present and future.

The man of many practices; beatmaker, instrumentalist, one half of The DarkHouse family (first Word), and proud new father … Don Leisure is a familiar name in the world of beat driven, post hip hop, electronic based music that we now take for granted and is a championing force along with the likes of Samiyam, Eric Lau, Dibia$e and Flako of bringing it into the limelight.

Don is also a well-known procurer of weird and wonderful records from the far stretches of the globe and is no stranger to taking the listener on these journeys with him.

Evidence of this can be found on the highly notable Turkish psych influenced ‘halal cool J’ as well as ‘Shaboo’, a vibrant and textured beat tape inspired largely by Don’s Bollywood actor uncle, Nasser ‘Shaboo’ Bharwani. Both released via the mighty First Word Records.

Don made his Group BraCil debut this year with the lush sunkissed ‘Just Remember’ featured on the Label’s latest vinyl compilation ‘happiness we’re all in this together’.

There’s nothing better than a good friend - except a good friend who shares your taste in music! ‘Better Together’ by Sátyr and marsquake is a creative, jazz-infused project born from trips back and forth between studios in Munich and Berlin, from jamming sessions in early summer afternoons into the late night. Relaxing pianos, drums, cellos, ukuleles and a few familiar faces contribute to the sound of good vibes and lasting memories.

Now, imagine this: your hopes, dreams, greatest aspirations and favourite childhood memories... That is what the new album ‘Blue Note’ sounds like, by dream duo HoKø and Lucie Cravero. A refreshingly unique lofi project, with jazz and classical influences from piano, strings and woodwinds that breathe life into every track, like a gentle breeze on a hot summer day. Who are you sharing this special moment with?

TCF Music Group founder and Rochester's own 38 Spesh is back with his brand new offering, 'Gunsmoke', featuring 9 bangers with guest appearances by the late great Fred The Godson (rip), Ransom, Flee Lord, Che Noir and Klass Murda, as well as productions by Harry Fraud, Rain 910, Tricky Trippz and 38 Spesh himself, all topped up with outstanding artwork by Laz.

RXK Nephew is one of the most exciting and productive Hip Hop artists in recent memory. His infectious style, unique perspective, and rapid pace has built him a cult-like following, large press attention, and even a nod from Rihanna. DJ Rude One is an underground DJ and producer known for his raw and minimal production style as well as ability to forecast future voices. His 2016 LP included collaborations with Your Old Droog, Conway, Westside Gunn and Shirt. The ONEderful Nephew is a collaborative project the world didn't see coming, but oh so needed. The album is a marriage of two worlds, and allows both Rude and Nephew a chance to step out of their comfort zones and try something new to great results.

"Now let me take a trip down memory lane"....It's 1994 and the hype behind Queensbridge native Nasir "Nas" Jones had already reached a fever pitch. Coming off already classics such as "Live at the BBQ" and (his solo debut song) "Halftime" all eyes were on Nas. From the moment you popped in your cassette, CD, or dropped the needle on the vinyl, you knew you were listening to authentic Hip Hop. Right out the gate you were met with the sound of subway cars, a snippet from Nas on "Live at the BBQ" and finally the Wild Style Theme. These 3 elements seem subtle upon first listen, but once you digest the album you realize Nas was setting a tone. God's Son had arrived.

Backed by an all-star cast of producers including DJ Premier, Large Professor, Q Tip, Pete Rock and then unknown L.E.S, Illmatic never lets up. Nas was able to take you into his world, each beat seemed like it was hand crafted, tailored to precisely match each line of Nas' dense lyrics and unmatched flow.

During the week of its release, everyone now knew the hype was real. Nas, being barley 20 at the time, stood on the shoulders of his predecessors and let everyone know he'd arrived. Illmatic became the debut that from that moment on rappers from Jay Z to Kendrick Lamar got compared to, "is this (insert rappers name here)'s Illmatic?". It was a game changer, not just for Nas, but for New York.. for Hip Hop. The Source broke their unwritten rule of not giving 5 Mics (the highest honor at that time) to a debut - Illmatic got just that. So join us, as we pay homage to one of our favorite albums and revisit the album that became one of the most talked about debuts in Hip Hop’s recorded history.

‘Rebel Kings’ is the new album from legendary Queensbridge Emcee Tragedy Khadafi & producer Endemic Emerald. The Duo met back in 2013 at Goblin Studios in Queens and have generated a great chemistry on the multiple songs they have released over the years, leading to this collaborative record. On ‘Rebel Kings’ we get to hear the real Tragedy, flowing through a range of topics from the memory lanes in Queensbridge to revealing his huge influence on the game while always staying true to the craft. Sonically the record is filled with that grimy NYC sound; so characteristic of Endemic Emerald, lifted to another level via his stellar production. Guest appearances come from DJ Eclipse, DJ Akil, Kasim Allah & Foul Monday. ‘Rebel Kings’ is that classic NYC boom bap for the true heads.

Five like-minded individuals who formed a platform to escape the chaos of our current world. Clouds in a Headlock exist in a parallel dimension. In the regular world they are school teachers, ramen chefs, or goat farmers. In Phantasia, they can exist without labels or barriers as fractals of light or sword-swinging assassins. Phantasia has no boundaries. The soundscapes by production team Runway 45 are anchored in a rugged, yet ethereal aesthetic, weaving tapestries for the three emcees Èph, Doctor Outer, and Lovecraft to paint vivid imagery. Lyrically the Clouds are somewhere between early Souls of Mischief, Company Flow, and the poetry of Arthur Rimbaud. Breakfast in Phantasia takes the listener into a maze of gritty psychedelic loops and ninja-level wordplay. The 12 track LP is pressed on an eye catching black and clear color-in-color variant, in limited quantities.

Yeah, this is the 1st real album by Matthew Tavares (Keys), Chester Hansen (Bass) & Alex Sowinski (Drums).

NOW PRESSED ON 180 GRAM VINYL!

Cold Busted has navigated the smooth seas to unearth Sailing, the new album from Moroccan guitarist and beat-flinger saib. The Casablanca-based producer has steered his sound into warmer waters. Mixing tempered hip hop beats with jazzy vibes and a lounge sensibility, saib. touches on a style that's both chill and opulent. The album's opener, "Archipelago," sets the scene with gentle piano, swirling strings, and beachside sounds that would make Martin Denny proud. "Tropics" pushes the agenda further, featuring delightful vibraphone lines, stand-up bass, and boom bap beats, providing the perfect soundtrack for poolside cocktails. The sleepy crooning of "Blue Memories," the future-retro sing-a-long of "Mermaid Dreams," and the guitar/vibes interplay of "Pastel" provide other highlights. Sailing's twelve songs show saib. as an artist capable of bringing a sunny climate to any listening environment.

BEN plg's music is an accurate reflection of reality, with no smoke and mirrors: harsh but tinged with luminous notes of hope. Those little nothings that imprint themselves on our memories, those "diamonds in the retina". The man from Lille has delivered an intense, intimate, authentic and universal debut album. Faut pas oublier de dire je t'aime. With contributions from Niro, Georgio, B.B. Jacques and Loud

Verbz & Mr Slipz have been jumping on the train (52m, 0 changes) between Croydon and Brighton to reconnect on ‘Where It Started’; a 10-track EP that does everything (and more) you have come to expect from the duo.

Shimmering with nostalgia, but with one eye firmly on the next motive, ‘Where It Started’ offers a front row seat to the trials and tribulations of Verbz & co. doing what they did (and still do) to thrive and survive on the streets of Croydon, expertly scored by the meditative swing of Slipz’ 100% sample-free production.

Think classic hip hop aesthetics, beautifully reincarnated; chunky MPC drums, deeply personal multi-syllables, tales of loss, heartache, learning the hard way but coming back stronger. 5 x vocals and 5 x Instrumentals, Where It Started’ is a 50/50 deep dive into the hearts and minds of Verbz & Mr Slipz; perfectly poised as a duo, the EP is an unmissable trip down memory lane

Relocating home to Zambia during the pandemic, Sampa sought to reconnect with a different side of herself, a side that is freer and closer in resemblance to the younger artistry she cultivated growing up in Africa. This process of discovery would become the gateway to revealing her highest version of self. Choosing to collaborate with creatives Rochelle Nembhard and Imraan Christian from South Africa, As Above, So Below introduces us to a 360 Sampa, unveiling her many sides for the first time. From the funny to the serious to the sensual, As Above is Sampa outside’s self, and So Below, is the Sampa within, together uniting to reveal the most authentic version of Sampa, without a mask, or role to play. As Above, So Below is anchored by spoken word in Bemba. The record delves into Sampa’s memories of Africa, Africa’s relationship to the world and what womanhood in Africa means to the world. We are also introduced to the persona of Eve, the highest version of Sampa that speaks to all facets of her womanhood. The musical styles of As Above, So Below reflect the hybridity of Sampa’s upbringing. Raised in Botswana (a different country to her birthplace in Zambia), and then going on to attend school in different countries again, Sampa picked up varied musical influences along the way. Each style has attached itself to her own musical encyclopedia, and finds a new mode for expression throughout the record.

With a smooth-as-butter flow, an entrancingly deep vocal tone, and an exceptional ear for production, Big Cheeko is one of the most exciting emcees to emerge from Atlanta in recent memory.

After several outstanding mixtapes and a number of high-profile collaborations, the talented artist is now unveiling his commercial debut "Block Barry White". The album is a smoked-out masterpiece, capturing the full reach of Big Cheeko’s creative firepower, and is executive produced by hip-hop folk hero Mach-Hommy. Throughout the collection, Big Cheeko's powerfully authentic rhymes are accompanied by slow-burning, soul-influenced production and hard-hitting percussion, with all beats provided by Matic Lee, an acclaimed producer who has worked with the likes of Tech N9ne, Krizz Kaliko, Rittz, Jarren Benton, and more. Sure to blast out of trunks far and wide, "Block Barry White" features appearances by Mach-Hommy, Smoke DZA, Styles P, and Devin

Seafood Sam is a futuristic artifact. If that description might sound confusing at first, it matches the eclectic dualities found in true originals. With his effortless cool and timeless style, the North Long Beach native defies convention and exact comparison. He's a virtuosic rapper, a stop-you-in-your tracks singer, and a symphonic producer. Welcome to the lavish life of a laid-back transcontinental man of mystery, rolling in old school Cadillacs, eating caviar with a blade in his pocket, and making plays in vintage Pelle Pelle gear. A blaxploitation icon for the Instagram age, blessed with the bars of a `90s legend and 23rd century swagger. Seafood Sam is a true hero of modernity. On his full-length album debut for up-and-coming label drink sum wtr (Kari Faux, Deem Spencer, Aja Monet) debut, Standing on Giant Shoulders, Sam splits the difference between Snoop Dogg and D' Angelo, Curren$y and David Ruffin. The songs reveal a forward-thinking sensibility rooted in ancestral soul. He creates spiritual hymns for the streets that tap into universal ideals and irrepressible groove. In an era plagued by short-term thinking, his ambitions reveal a crate-digging depth of music history and a meticulous ear for detail. The giant shoulders in the album's title refer to James Brown, Bobby Brown, and Miles Davis - the holy trinity who inspired Sam's process. From the Godfather of Soul, Sam took a perfectionist's rigor and focus. The example of Bobby Brown lent an unshakeable confidence and self-belief. While the constant artistic left turns of the trumpeter that birthed Ccool offered an aspirational archetype. The story starts in the glory days of Long Beach hip-hop. As a young child, the G-Funk era soundtracked rides in Sam's father's car. Some of his earliest memories are trying to memorize Snoop's verse on "Nuthin' But a "G" Thang." Beyond gangsta rap, the LBC has historically doubled as a capital of lowrider soul and carwash oldies. At any intersection, you could hear Dogg Food or Brenton Wood, Warren G or Barbara Lynn. This too was absorbed via osmosis. It also just so happened that the art of performance was always in Sam's blood. So at family functions, he and his sister supplied entertainment by singing karaoke renditions of The Isley Brothers. While his Harlem Shake remains a thing of local lore. Long Beach is a culturally diverse mecca of skate parks and gang life, street fashion and tricky dance moves. This is the place that raised Sam on a diet of Wu-Tang and Nelly Furtado, Lil Bow Wow and Allen Iverson. He was the middle ground between his two older brothers: one who gangbanged, the other who graduated with a master's degree from UC-Santa Barbara. But it wasn't until the end of high school that Sam started to take rap seriously. Alongside long-time collaborators like Huey Briss and Reaper Mook, Sam's name began to make waves on the northside of the city, but he was partially distracted by a modeling career that paid the bills and took him all to way to walk in Paris' fashion week. The first turning point arrived with 2018's "Ramsey," a self-produced, slick-talk anthem with over 10,000,000 streams across all platforms. With each subsequent release, Sam showcased his peerless consistency, building buzz both online and in the city streets. Spin hailed his "smooth and unhurried cadences and understated lyricism_ that sounds like nothing else in Long Beach." Clash raved about Sam's "evolution as an artist, cruising through nostalgic production with slick, witty rhymes." The culmination arrives with Standing on Giant Shoulders. It's the evidence of a master, a young sensei in the model of Quincy Jones. All rhymes, singing, production, and arrangements were handled by Sam - with an assist from his close Long Beach kinsman Tom Kendall from the group Soular System. It's hard-edged and lyrical enough for disciples of Larry June and Roc Marciano, but orchestral and melodic enough for fans of Anderson .Paak and H.E.R.

IN Loving Memory OF Malik B (november 14th, 1972 – July 29th, 2020)



Maylay Sparks x Clever 1 x K Sluggah - Frozen Mugs LP

Frozen Mugs started out back in 2020 as a soon to be classic hip hop collaboration between "Maylay Sparks", Swedish producer “K Sluggah” and “Clever 1” (one half of “Da Buze Bruvaz”). You will experience an uncanny chemistry between these 2 high caliber emcees who are providing you with the traditional sharp, tenacious, aggressive & grimey wordplay over K Sluggah's cinematic, soulful and psychedelic beats giving the listeners a vivid picture of what goes on in these dangerous times. The hard delivery and complex word patterns are descriptive gestures of loose women, action in the streets, cocktails & cold beer guzzling. Sonically this album is honed to be a masterpiece, with owner of the newly formed label “Blacbird Recs”, and revered studio engineer Joe “The Butcher” Nicolo (Ruffhouse Recs. Ceo) behind the mixing board. This is hip hop with an attitude, authentic and with no compromises!



In the midst of recording this project we experienced a severe tragedy as we lost the incomparable Malik B formerly from the Roots. The last days before his passing he recorded the verses for the album and he was supposed to record a few more as there were talks of him becoming a full fledged "Frozen Mugs" member. Sadly the talks of doing an album with Malik B on HHE never came to fruition. This project is dedicated to one of the most legendary emcees Philly ever bread and he will always be remembered as a lyrical giant. R.I.P.



All versions come with hype stickers and an insert that will include a bio on Frozen Mugs and a dedication to Malik B on the reverse side.



Available variants:



• 100 Yellow Vinyl • 150 Black Vinyl

The genesis of "Nosthaigia" is as fascinating as the music itself. Onra spent several years living in Thailand, immersing himself in the vibrant culture and scouring local record shops for rare gems. The result is a collection of Thai songs from various genres, all sourced on 7 inches. These short instrumentals serve as time capsules, transporting listeners to a bygone era filled with nostalgia and longing.

Produced entirely on the Mpc1000 in 2017 and revisited in 2020, "Nosthaigia" is a testament to the power of serendipity and artistic evolution. What began as a casual exploration of unfamiliar musical territory blossomed into a deeply personal and meaningful project for Onra. Amidst a series of unfortunate life events, he found solace and inspiration in the beats he had crafted years prior.

Each track on "Nosthaigia" is a reflection of his journey, a sonic expression of longing and introspection. Onra describes the process of creating the album as a cathartic release, a way of letting go of old memories and embracing the present.

Despite the somber undertones, there is a quiet beauty to "Nosthaigia" that is impossible to ignore. Onra's vintage production skills breathe life into each track, infusing them with warmth and depth. From the haunting melodies of "Until The End" to the hypnotic rhythms of "Close Your Eyes And Remember" every moment feels poignant.

Onra's decision to "remove all the bangers" from the album speaks volumes about his artistic integrity and dedication to authenticity. "Nosthaigia" is not about flashy beats or catchy hooks; it's about raw emotion and genuine expression. It's a reminder that music has the power to heal, to uplift, and to connect us to something greater than ourselves.

In the end, "Nosthaigia" is more than just an album; it's a testament to the human experience. It's a reminder that even in our darkest moments, there is beauty to be found, if only we're willing to listen.

For RarelyAlways a sense of purpose is rarely far from the surface. That’s been true in everything he’s done, as a musician across a huge range of scenes & sounds, as a writer, as an entrepreneur & youth worker – but now, with his debut solo album Work on the horizon, it’s really coming into focus. With his already broad musical & life experience, he’s in a unique position to offer something entirely new to UK music. Previous support from Billboard, Fader, Wonderland, Pitchfork, Clash & more.

Edo. G & Insight Innovates deliver that raw, jazzy, and true-to-life hip-hop on their self-titled debut album. It’s the culmination of decades of friendship and collaboration, birthed from childhood memories and the early days of the Boston rap scene. And with this 10-track project, both artists sound as hungry and passionate as ever while they deliver one of the year’s best releases to date. For Edo and Insight, that meant more than just “boom-bap” sounds or tight lyricism—it meant bringing everything to the table, including next-level lyricism. As Insight explains, “This project is focused on punchy drums, bass, attractive melodies, and a realistic life message and story from black men in a slowly changing world.” You can hear that mission statement on instant highlights “Choose Your Path” and “It Takes Progress,” with the latter serving as the album’s first leak. With good reason, of course, because Insight and Edo admit that it’s one of their favorites from the record. In addition to featuring some of their best rhymes, it provided a way for them to not just sound off on societal issues but also offer some solutions. But Edo G. & Insight Innovates also succeeds because of the way that simultaneously pays homage to and modernizes hip-hop’s past. There are cultural Easter eggs and outright tributes all over the album, like the absolutely banging “Set It Off (Long Live Kane),” which rightly gives flowers to hip-hop legend Big Daddy Kane. The two also show love to Edo’s own history by reimagining his classic Da Bulldogs joint, “I Got To Have It,” on the standout track “Unite & Let’s All Get Down.” As Insight says, it was part of their shared goal to “make a dope hip-hop album that reflects who we are and what we’re about.” He and Edo met that goal and then some with this release.

The man of many practices; beatmaker, instrumentalist, one half of The DarkHouse family (first Word), and proud new father … Don Leisure is a familiar name in the world of beat driven, post hip hop, electronic based music that we now take for granted and is a championing force along with the likes of Samiyam, Eric Lau, Dibia$e and Flako of bringing it into the limelight.

Don is also a well-known procurer of weird and wonderful records from the far stretches of the globe and is no stranger to taking the listener on these journeys with him.

Evidence of this can be found on the highly notable Turkish psych influenced ‘halal cool J’ as well as ‘Shaboo’, a vibrant and textured beat tape inspired largely by Don’s Bollywood actor uncle, Nasser ‘Shaboo’ Bharwani. Both released via the mighty First Word Records.

Don made his Group BraCil debut this year with the lush sunkissed ‘Just Remember’ featured on the Label’s latest vinyl compilation ‘happiness we’re all in this together’.

IN Loving Memory OF Malik B (november 14th, 1972 – July 29th, 2020)



Maylay Sparks x Clever 1 x K Sluggah - Frozen Mugs LP

Frozen Mugs started out back in 2020 as a soon to be classic hip hop collaboration between "Maylay Sparks", Swedish producer “K Sluggah” and “Clever 1” (one half of “Da Buze Bruvaz”). You will experience an uncanny chemistry between these 2 high caliber emcees who are providing you with the traditional sharp, tenacious, aggressive & grimey wordplay over K Sluggah's cinematic, soulful and psychedelic beats giving the listeners a vivid picture of what goes on in these dangerous times. The hard delivery and complex word patterns are descriptive gestures of loose women, action in the streets, cocktails & cold beer guzzling. Sonically this album is honed to be a masterpiece, with owner of the newly formed label “Blacbird Recs”, and revered studio engineer Joe “The Butcher” Nicolo (Ruffhouse Recs. Ceo) behind the mixing board. This is hip hop with an attitude, authentic and with no compromises!



In the midst of recording this project we experienced a severe tragedy as we lost the incomparable Malik B formerly from the Roots. The last days before his passing he recorded the verses for the album and he was supposed to record a few more as there were talks of him becoming a full fledged "Frozen Mugs" member. Sadly the talks of doing an album with Malik B on HHE never came to fruition. This project is dedicated to one of the most legendary emcees Philly ever bread and he will always be remembered as a lyrical giant. R.I.P.



All versions come with hype stickers and an insert that will include a bio on Frozen Mugs and a dedication to Malik B on the reverse side.



Available variants:



• 100 Yellow Vinyl • 150 Black Vinyl

Limited edition of 500 copies.

Nearly four years following the release of his critically acclaimed 2018 album CARE FOR ME, the independent Chicago rapper-producer and Pivot Gang Co-Founder Saba has released his long-awaited third studio album, Few Good Things.

“The concept of ‘Few Good Things’ is the realization of self after a search for exterior fulfillment,” shared Saba on the inspiration behind the album’s title. “It is the satisfaction and completeness you gain by simply living a life that is yours. Few is a small number, but few is not lonely. In the face of all adversity, a few good things is recognizing and accepting blessings. Few is to count them, one by one – an empty glass is full of air, an empty bank is full of lessons., and an empty heart is full of memories. Few good things is to grow comfortable with the empty, and despite that, finding your fullness.” - Saba

Elzhi, the “Syllable Sensei,” is back again with a highly anticipated release titled “Seven Times Down Eight Times Up,” This 12-track LP is a collage of memories and metaphors layered atop beats crafted by up-and-coming producer JR Swiftz. With collabs from Detroit artists, Monica Blaire and Fes Rock on two of the album's stand-out tracks, Elzhi’s new masterpiece showcases his ability to create meaningful concepts while Detroit’s own comedian and “Real Hip Hop Advocate” Foolish provides commentary throughout the album.



As one of Elzhi’s most cohesive releases to date, his wordsmithing abilities paint images of royalty, excellence, and zombies wearing Gucci, all with an underlying message of resilience. “Seven times Down Eight Times Up” is the mantra for a year that has seen lots of “downs,” and reminds us that no matter what we're faced with, we will remain undefeated, and get back up after being knocked down by this machete-wielding maniac we call “life.”

Widespine Jacket, Black Vinyl. Indecent Proposal is the second studio album from Norfolk, VA duo Timbaland & Magoo. Originally released in 2001, the album features Magoo's Q-Tip-like flow and Timbaland's distinct production style drawing from reggae, retro and soul. Features include early appearances from Jay-Z, Twista, Petey Pablo and Ludacris, as well as looks from Aaliyah, & Static Major. Released nearly two months after Aaliyah's untimely passing, the album was dedicated to the memory of "Babygirl."

The Sharecropper's Daughter Bonus Vinyl contains six new tracks serving as a companion piece to Sa-Roc's already acclaimed Rhymesayers debut, The Sharecropper's Daughter, released in October of 2020. These new songs further showcase Sa-Roc's sharp skills as a lyricist, and her gift for captivating melodies and engaging content, featuring production from Sol Messiah and Evidence, as well as a guest verse from MF Doom. The lead single for the bonus vinyl, "Wild Seeds" is a lyrical testament to the beauty, mysticism, and wisdom of the elders and ancestors who've guided and bolstered generations of Black women through history's assault and neglect of them. With a title inspired by the sci-fi novel Wild Seed by visionary author Octavia Butler, the song serves as a celebration of women such as Queen Nanny, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth and many others, whose legacies inform future generations of their propensity to bloom under the harshest of conditions. "Just like wild seeds, we remain unfettered and unbroken, adding beauty and immeasurable value to a world that chooses not to acknowledge us," Sa-Roc states, "but our very existence is the only acknowledgement we require." Throughout the songs of The Sharecropper's Daughter Bonus Vinyl, Sa-Roc maintains a concise blend of thought provoking commentary and razor sharp lyricism. On the opening track, "Options", she delivers a raw and searing testimony of the dedicated yet, all too often, underappreciated artist, reminding us to give our flowers to the living while we're still able. "The Great Escape" examines humankind's tendency to try to mask the unsavory elements of our past we're either unwilling or unable to confront head on. Echoing both sentimentality and sorrow, "Reconstruction of the Heart" recalls some of Roc's childhood memories and muses on the many ways in which our earliest experiences can scar, strengthen, and shape the very core of who we'll become. The Sharecropper's Daughter Bonus Vinyl chapter fittingly comes to a close with "The Rebirth", which remarks on the plight of the vulnerable artist and the quest for balance between creative transparency and overexposure. Here, Sa-Roc labors through her discomfort and commits to being brutally honest about the experiences that have informed her expression and made her a better artist. Featured guest, the late MF Doom continues this line of thinking, offering his own unique observations, "Quick as a quitter will fold, some of what glitters is gold. Same story is old, getting left in the blistering cold. Broken souls get remold with little arbitration. Fortune favors the bold as does incarceration." This bonus vinyl pulls no punches in showcasing Sa-Roc's continual growth as an artist who, as NPR recently put it, "is a modern day griot whose aura radiates calm in a world of chaos."

Limited to 157 copies on white vinyl. Only at HHV.

Homeboy Sandman drops a new album that is entirely produced by Quelle Chris.

Homeboy Sandman’s new album Don’t Feed The Monster, is a collaboration with producer/MC Quelle Chris. It’s also his most vulnerable & poignant work to date. Having grown up in Queens, New York, hip-hop was part of everything in life. This deep-rooted connection to the culture is evident when listening to his style of rhyming- bold, classic & deeply respectful. On Don’t Feed The Monster, he pulls back any pretense to show his most honest truth - a process that he needed both artistically and spiritually. “I was having a hard time and this record saved me thank Quelle and thank God and shout to Gabor Maté,” he said about the new album.

Album producer (and guest vocalist) Quelle Chris has been one of the most talked about and celebrated hip-hop artists on the planet these last few years. Both producing & rapping, Quelle has released critically acclaimed albums like Guns, Innocent Country 2, and Everything’s Fine with his collaborator & wife Jean Grae. “There's a certain mystic/magical power in words, sounds, rhythms, etc. It's rare to come across a brother/artist like Sandman,” he says when asked about his new album with Homeboy Sandman.

The new album Don’t Feed The Monster is a marvel of how an artist can dig deeper still, even years into his craft. The chemistry between the producer & MC has unlocked something within Sandman, surfacing memories, textures & details in a more vivid way than ever before. “(We) wanted to project growth and not regression. Being careful not to feed the monster,” Quelle says about the mission of the album. One would be right to assume that bringing two elite talents together would yield an incredible album. But, when imagining what this album brings in its entirety, Quelle says it best: “raw, pure, organic magic."

LUCAS HIGH pays homage to DOUG LUCAS, a forgotten jazz-funk pioneer from the 1960s and 70s (Mombasa, JJ Band, Plus, SuperFunkyDiscotheque) whose songs have been sampled by hip hop luminaries including Busta Rhymes and Nas. Dan Ubick, aka Connie Price (Breakestra, The Lions) and co-producer and Executive Producer Matt Fife bring together sampled elements from Doug's catalogue with new production, arrangements, lyrics and sounds.

The record also celebrates hip hop's "Golden Age" with an all-star roster of musical titans spanning from the East Coast to the West Coast to Jamaica, including Big Daddy Kane, MOP, Grammy Winner Macy Gray, Talib Kweli, Brand Nubian, Rapsody, Lady of Rage, Brother J of X-Clan, Imani and Brown of The Pharcyde, Soup and Marc 7 of Jurassic 5, Wildchild of Lootpack, Guilty Simpson, Percee P, Jovi Rockwell of Major Lazer, and featuring scratches by the DJ Rhettmatic of the legendary Beat Junkies.

Zach Lucas, who was only a teenager when his father, Doug Lucas, passed away from Leukemia over two decades ago, joins Connie Price & The Keystones on these historic LUCAS HIGH sessions, creating a lost musical conversation between a late father and his son.

The LP comes with beautiful gatefold packaging, liner note insert and a digital download card included in the sleeve.

Creating a studio record of live studio instruments with this pedigree level of 90s hip hop artists is a rare and special thing. The records creates transcendent party sound for people young and classic, combining old school and new school rap with psych, Afrobeat, rocksteady, soul, and funk, all "building high and laying low" from the dance floor to the head funk.

"Nothing Less" is the newest studio album from hip hop group Awon & Phoniks and their first full length release since starring in the 2020 Netflix documentary "Underdogs". The album is laced with Phoniks signature jazz-infused, boom bap production style and Awon's raw, honest lyricism. Produced on vintage samplers like the gritty Emu Sp-1200 and Akai MPC 2000xl the music evokes memories of classic east coast "golden era" hip hop. The songs were predominantly written under quarantine and center around political and social commentary of these tumultuous last few years.

Features include Masta Ace, Blu, Dephlow, Anti-Lilly, Tiff The Gift, Ill Conscious, Kid Abstrakt, DJ Ill Digitz, DJ Eveready, and Av Hamilton.

Paxico Records is pleased to present Forgot About Her, the latest release by LA-based beat maker and producer Sleepyeyes. “The record retains Sleepy’s trademark smoked out atmosphere but re-contextualizes it for the dance floor in a way that is wholly unique, but also brings to mind burgeoning lo-fi house contemporaries such as DJ Seinfeld, Ross From Friends, and Baltra.” –Earmilk The results are something staunchly authentic. The recordings on Forgot About Her are honest and intimate as if sent from an old friend. Soft vignettes capture the emotional aftermath of separation. Eagerly alone, Sleepyeyes embraces his sound to hold the hazy memories one may feel from heartbreak’s closure. Its magnetic charm pulls us into a space where flaws become strengths and suffering becomes beauty. The site-specific titles and intimate home-recordings form its compelling and transformative qualities. With Forgot About Her, Sleepyeyes shares the weight of letting go. It’s a slow-burning process pushed and pulled by tension and release, a movement for moving on.

El Barrio Spanish Harlem native Bodega Bamz’s breakthrough mixtape 'Strictly For My P.A.P.I.Z’ dropped in 2012 during the ‘New, New York’ movement, when the next generation of East Coast talent - A$ap Rocky & the rest of the Mob, Joey Badass & the Pro Era crew, Action Bronson - were moving from the underground to the mainstream. What sets Bodega apart from his peers is how uncompromisingly Latino he is, part Puerto Rican and Dominican, the tape is littered with Spanish slang, lyrics and samples. In 2015 Bamz went in a new direction on his sophomore album, ‘Sidewalk Exec.’ Produced entirely by V Don and released under the venerated Duck Down Music label, Bamz served up an LP that sonically and lyrically were reminiscent of the boom-bap era of New York hip-hop, incorporating the gritty, New York underground sound, and V Don did a good job mixing high-pitched flutes with an arrangement of woodwind instruments. Keeping his guest features to a minimum on the 40-minute-plus LP, Bamz recruited the help of some familiar faces with A$ton Matthews, Flatbush Zombies, Joell Ortiz and the late A$ap Yams all appearing on the project. Following the release of Sidewalk Exec, Bamz continued to release music (Papi) and expanded his fanbase and the Tan Boys brand, a collective of Hispanic MCs that aim to unite the Latin community of Hip-Hop, by going on several nationwide tours with the likes of Flatbush Zombies, Danny Brown, and Joey Bada$$. ‘yams Heard This’ is the 4th album by Bodega Bamz. Dedicated to the memory of his late friend A$ap Yams, the ten-track record includes features from Kevin Gates and Tan Boy Luka, with production that incorporates both the Latino flavor from Strictly 4 My Papiz and New york boom bap from Sidewalk Exec. Bamz delivers his fans what they have been waiting for and honors his mentor: “Originally, I had the idea to drop a project called Wwyd (What Would Yams Do). There was a time when I was lost. My homie Yams, who I would run all of my music by, was my sounding board, who always knew what was hot, and knew when I had a track ready for the streets, was no longer there. So the reason why I named this album Yams Heard This, is because if he was still alive today, I know he would have loved the vibe and energy of this album and would have given me his stamp of approval. These are the types of songs he would have wanted to executive produce.”

Just in time for the remake of arguably the most iconic and influential turn based role playing video game of all time, Ahwlee drops VII; a seventeen track album sure to stir up the nostalgic memories of boxy and pixelated 32 bit goodness that inspired many of us in the 90's all the way up to now. Ahwlee tastefully presents us this tribute album as a testament of the weeks of his life spent beating this game countless amounts of times. With a large portfolio of work and ties with artists such as Pink Siifu (as B. Cool Aid), Earl Sweatshirt, MNDSGN, Maxo, Navy Blue, and many more emerging names/future gatekeepers in the art-form, this particular vinyl will be an absolute essential to any collectors out there. Multiple pieces of artwork for the record and tape were created by the ever so talented Kikkujo, really piecing this album into a masterpiece of its own. The cassette tape also contains bonus material not found on the record or digitally. You really gotta buy both, don't sleep.

JETS is the collaboration project of powerhouse producers Travis Stewart (Machinedrum) and Jimmy Edgar. On the first single, "PLAY," from their forthcoming full-length album, the duo teams up with boldly pioneering rapper Mykki Blanco. The sparse, yet aggressive beat slaps back and forth between Blanco's playfully sinister vocals.

Third Man Records has been searching for a hip-hop artist whose multidisciplinary vision,
immovable work ethic and natural sense of aesthetic are compatible our label's mission.
The label is proud to release Pure Beauty by mysterious Queens, New York visual artist,
designer and rapper SHIRT.
SHIRT has been heavily invested in the legendary NY rap underground and praised by
various online tastemakers and critics for his vital perspective, refreshing production
choices and thoughtful lyricism. Everything about his creative output is ''classic New York
shit…melding high art with lowbrow aspiration; it's champagne and loosies, bottle service
and Metrocards'' (Pitchfork). Pure Beauty will be SHIRT's fi rst full-length album since the
release of Rap Money EP on Closed Sessions/Nike Adidas Records in 2015.
Pure Beauty is an ode to the work of artist John Baldessari and features his 1968 conceptual art
piece of the same name as the album artwork, courtesy of Baldessari and his team. The album's
central theme focuses on beauty in its simplest and rawest form-selected beats are recorded
and re-recorded, stripped down and left blaring. Verses exist as fi rst and only takes. iPhone
voice memos are dispersed throughout studio recordings; live conversations left unedited.
Pure Beauty was meant to drop as a self-released digital album in November 2017,
until Third Man Records entered the picture. In the 25th hour via Instagram DMs, SHIRT
responded to our DM slide and allowed us to listen to the record early.
With no physical version planned, Third Man offered to sign SHIRT, release Pure Beauty
digitally, and press this tour de force on vinyl at our pressing plant in Detroit.

38 Spesh has quietly become tastemakers’ top pick for “next to blow.” Just ask LeBron James, Kevin Durrant, DJ Premier, Sway, Method Man, or Lloyd Banks, all of which have co-signed this Upstate New York emcee. His 7 Shots EP, the third and final instalment in his fan-favorite “Shots Series,” marked the moment that many caught on to the Trust movement. The 8 track offering gives underground Hip-Hop fans exactly what they want, hard bars over soulful beats. The project features guest verses from Freeway, Ransom, Eto, and Che Noir, as well as production from Streetrunner, The Heatmakerz, LT Beats, Thanos Beats, and more. Mixed and mastered by Chris Pinset Cover by Laz Art Direction by Jordan Commandeur A&R by Ransom

Da Best Riddim Eternal Action Krew ! Here is the mission that DA BREAK has given itself for this 3rd album : To drop a new
opus of great quality, which will remain eternally engraved in the memories of Soul Music... BOOM! As simple as that! ;)
Jennifer "Hawa" Zonou & Rémy Kaprielan, founding members of the group, have decided to tighten the ranks and clarify
the content of their music: an aesthetic still anchored in their dear 90's Soul Hip Hop culture, but also with a sharpened ear,
attentive to today's world and sounds, always searching for federating grooves and warm vibes.
DA BREAK has entrusted the production of the LP to Pierre Vadon (also the band's Live keyboard player) who has already
proved the quality of his compositions and arrangements on the second album LET IT SHINE. The mission remains
unchanged: to gather, in the line of the social values defended in the 90s urban music, crib of their inspiration. Grounded,
conscious, questioning, celebrating, comforting, staying open to the world and to each other. Each song is a painting, a
story, a reflection...
Composed during an intense period on the emotional level, this album is a subtile mixture of musical influences: from the
most old school Hip Hop beat to the most contemporary flow, going from West Coast vibes to Caribbean colors. DA BREAK
IS BACK and its key word remains the same: GROOVE.

Relocating home to Zambia during the pandemic, Sampa sought to reconnect with a different side of herself, a side that is freer and closer in resemblance to the younger artistry she cultivated growing up in Africa. This process of discovery would become the gateway to revealing her highest version of self. Choosing to collaborate with creatives Rochelle Nembhard and Imraan Christian from South Africa, As Above, So Below introduces us to a 360 Sampa, unveiling her many sides for the first time. From the funny to the serious to the sensual, As Above is Sampa outside’s self, and So Below, is the Sampa within, together uniting to reveal the most authentic version of Sampa, without a mask, or role to play. As Above, So Below is anchored by spoken word in Bemba. The record delves into Sampa’s memories of Africa, Africa’s relationship to the world and what womanhood in Africa means to the world. We are also introduced to the persona of Eve, the highest version of Sampa that speaks to all facets of her womanhood. The musical styles of As Above, So Below reflect the hybridity of Sampa’s upbringing. Raised in Botswana (a different country to her birthplace in Zambia), and then going on to attend school in different countries again, Sampa picked up varied musical influences along the way. Each style has attached itself to her own musical encyclopedia, and finds a new mode for expression throughout the record.

The vinyl album is limited to 300 copies. “Dreamwalks” as well as the other songs on “A Dive Into the Subconscious” musically reflect the emotional level of memories and experiences of the producer. Drips Zacheer deals with central issues of his life, such as family, friends, travel and also fears and tries to reach the subconscious of his listeners through this sound game. The appropriately playful cover designs come from the Berlin artist and illustrator Rahel Süßkind. Drips Zacheer is a real beatgeek on the midi controller. The 25-year-old musician has been producing hip-hop instrumentals for almost ten years, which are based on LoFi, Chill-Hop, BoomBap, jazz and also progressive rock and Bossanova. Until he was 19 he grew up in Chalkida, the capital of the Greek island of Evia, until he moved to Rhethymno on Crete to study audio engineering. He started out in 2011 as a producer for a befriended hip-hop crew, and in 2016 he began producing beats for himself. Since then he has established himself as one of the most relevant producers in the Greek beat scene and with his choice of sounds shows that he has a knack for vinyl samples and harmonic arrangements. His upcoming album “A Dive Into the Subconscious” makes it clear that instrumentals are not only used as a background for rappers, but have earned their own standing in the scene. Drips Zacheer produces beats to listen and linger - a little journey into your own subconscious.

Not new, but new to us. Released in early '22 this 12 track album from DJ Mitsu and Flowz4daze (formerly L.A.Z. from Detroit hip hop crew Clear Soul Forces). Laidback raps on top of beats from Jazzy SPORT's DJ Mitsu, "a dream come true. Welcome to the Dream Crews." From Australia's Inner Tribe.

Nameless - Raised in Flint, Michigan, he’s a producer & also a human time machine for the 90’s Boom Bap sound. On this album, “Chips”, Nameless is releasing a project that has become the most personal of his career thus far. “Chips” became a 2 year creation due to a life of serious events happening: lot of forks in the road, lot of depression, lot of moving from resting place to resting place, and so on. But when a person is passionate about a creation he’s been working on for 2 years, they’ll go through whatever it takes to see that it comes to life, even if they feel like the process is being dragged. Almost every track on the project involves a story, such as tracks like “Aisle 5”....a non-sampled, Flying Lotus-channeled joint, arguably his most soothing beat, created right after he was laid off from his job, truck driving. The beat was officially completed while sitting in his car, on break from driving for Lyft. It includes a posse cut titled “4 For $1” which features 4 talented rappers: Nametag Alexander, lojii, Vic Spencer & Brain Orchestra....the track also includes 4 beats in one. [hence the title “4 For $1” which is a nostalgic memory of chips that used to be 4 for $1 back in the days] It also has a featured metaphorical spoken word on chips from his good homie Donnie McMillan Jr. on the end of the track “Pringle’s” and you won’t be able to forget the melodic harmonies from his sis, Lyric Jones towards the end of the track “Harvest Cheddar Sun Chips”. The “Chips” project has been molded into a perfect masterpiece to the point that Nameless reached out to his mentor & good friend House Shoes and told him that this project was his own version of “Donuts”.....and that’s a huge statement. Hope you enjoy! For fans of: J Dilla, Devonwho, House Shoes, Kutmah, Flying Lotus

Quazarz vs. The Jealous Machines is the group’s fourth album and extra-spatial twin to Quazarz: Born on a Gangster Star.
The album, featuring highlights “30 Clip Extension,” “Julian’s Dream (odeto a bad)” and “Effeminence” includes guest appearances from Fly Guy Dai of Chimurenga Renaissance, Amir Yaghamai, John Carroll Kirby, Thaddillac, Morgan Henderson, The Shogun Shot, Laz, and Purple Tape Nate.

Twentytwo artists, lots of wine and pizza, no agenda. This compilation is a collection of vibes and memories from our Plygrnd Beat Retreat in Tuscany, Italy, wrapped in songs. With tracks by Nokiaa, Mia Garcia, Tom Doolie, Molly McPhaul, Goldkimono, Relyae, Søren Søstrom, Glimlip, Ray Goren, Bluestaeb, Dhanya, Webmoms, DAO, G Mills, Deluyz, Lazlow, K, Le Maestro and Saltyyyy V.

Driving up a hill lined with pine trees and grapevines, arriving at a beautiful arrangement of terracotta colored houses embedded in an unreal scenery made of grapevines and verdurous greens. Roaming this area, worrying about nothing but the day that lies ahead. Bumping into fellow creatives who share the same passion for music and art. Collaborative energy coming out of this; exploring new sounds with new souls. You capture yourself getting lucky, and think to yourself: Don’t take it too seriously, it’s not that deep. But also, make some beautiful stuff, if you can.

The Plygrnd Beat Retreat Compilation Vinyl comes with a photobook consisting of beautiful shots by Robert Winter and Tom Doolie. Limited to 150 copies!

Includes 60 x 60 cm poster of the album artwork! The poster is only available at HHV!

When Leon Michels and El Michels Affair released their rst record, Sounding Out The City, in 2005, it was hard to guess what was next for Michels and his then-introduced, now-patented "cinematic soul" sound. Now, four EMA studio albums and scores of tribute and remix projects later - all while producing for some of the biggest names in the industry - Michels has trademarked his sound, with each project taking audiences somewhere new and pushing the boundaries of what he is known for. The man is a river, not a lake and this time he takes his golden touch into the realm of hip-hop laying down a musical bed for one of the greatest to ever rhyme into a microphone: Black Thought of The Roots crew. Releasing on Big Crown Records, the LP is called Glorious Game and it is a remarkable debut partnership in more ways than one. Michels provides his bottom-heavy, soul-tinged production for Black Thought who gives us some of the more personal and transparent verses we've ever heard from him. Michels and Black Thought have been in each other's orbit for a while now. The two first met in the 2000s when Thought was first getting familiar with the contemporary soul scene. "Out of that whole world, Menahan Street Band was probably my favorite," recalling the funk and soul group Michels was a founding member of back in 2007. Fast forward a few years and musicians from that collective - Dave Guy on trumpet and Ian Hendrickson-Smith on sax - are now full time players with The Roots. This connection eventually led Leon and Thought to doing a few fundraising events around NYC and Philly together. "Before long, Black Thought was coming around the studio and would jam with us from time to time," Michels explains. "Then, fast forward to 2020 and Covid lockdowns, he just hit me up out of the blue, wanting me to send him stuff to write to. We both were looking to stay busy." Being that Black Thought is the co-founder and emcee for, hands down, the best live-band group in hip-hop. Michels took a decidedly different approach to this project and instead of sending recorded tracks of live compositions, he pulled out the sampler and sampled himself and some records from his collection. "I'm a big fan of soul music," as if Michels has to remind us. "And part of hip-hop's appeal to me has always been the sample-based production" For Glorious Game, Michels would make wholly composed and recorded soul songs in his studio, sample himself, then chop and/or loop up his sounds and create instrumentals for Black Thought. On some tracks he took a more traditional hip-hop approach, starting from samples of other people's music but then adding live instrumentation on top. But for the most part, it's him reinterpreting his own compositions into something new. The result is an organic feel of loop-based tracks that breathe and uctuate enough for Black Thought to ex on. "What I write about is determined by the equation of the producer's energy and my energy," Black Thought says. "It's about where we meet." So armed with Michels sampled and re-sampled soul cinematics, Black Thought rhymes through personal memories.

anuary 26, 2004, dDamage releases their third album: Radio Ape. It's the striking arrival of a monkey that imposes itself by its strength and power. Behind the name dDamage are two Frenchmen: Frederic and Jean-Baptiste Hanak, two brothers who will have the particularity of forming one of the most atypical and singular groups of the French musical landscape at the beginning of this century.At first sight, it seems quite delicate to classify the duo's creation in a particular genre, as their influences are so multifaceted. If Frederic hails from Hip-Hop background, Jean-Baptiste is more influenced by Rock: two different sensitivities that come together to create a work full of originality. Thus, we come across twisted hip-hop samples, tortuous electro layers, modified voices and hi-gain guitars. An album that could be an explosive mix between Autechre and Sonic Youth. It was therefore not surprising to see this record released in 2004 on " Planet-Mu ", home of Mike Paradinas (u-ziq), a glorious English school of "Intelligence Dance Music" and "breakbeat" who produced the likes of Venetian Snares, Luke Vibert or Richard D. James.Fiercely noisy, but nevertheless well rooted in the hip-hop movement, dDamage's music begins by puzzling, then ends by carrying the listener away. Thick and compact, the apparent brutality of Radio Ape often gives way to melodies that are just as absorbing and noticeable. This can be felt on some very moving tracks like "Liquid words", "Aeroplanes" or "Maeban". Radio Ape by dDamage is a complex universe, just like this very particular syntax that can be found in their name but also in the titles of the tracks: "I feel so BadD, Tsunamiii" and up to the visuals developed by Raoul Sinier and this monkey with an enigmatic smile that is well locked in our memories.Radio Ape is glitch by essence, an album that glorifies chaos and confusion. We are constantly torn between destruction and creation. Far from seeking perfection, dDamage strives in its experimentation to enhance...

Get yo ass in the house, robot-- you cyber-spectre, you outhouse prime minister, you hard-headed mirror ninja, snapping selfies, living in the pixelated seams between bursts the of flashing images, birthed in a pool of TV static and Tik Tok dust. Black Encyclopedia OF THE AIR is here, not to save but to drown you. Heads better learn how to swim cause listen, this record is beat soup, hearty yet still minimal, a sonic mirage of prophetic soul that drop kicks your "chill beats to study to" Youtube playlist and hyper-intellectual rap podcasts into a hadron collider; it's only black matter on the other side-- 13 mesmerizing tracks about memory and imprinting and the future, all of them wafting through untouched space like the ghostly cinders of a world on fire, unbound and uncharted, vast and stretching across the universe. Moor Mother is a holographic figment of an Afrotopian dream, all at once goddess and warrior, mystic and cyborg, griot and future time traveller, etching noisy pieces of reverie into our consciousness for decades now. But check it: on Black Encyclopedia she's joined by a wide-range of friends, collaborators and co-conspirators on a trip through the murky cosmos, navigating the black universe with stardust as currency. In these times, they'll say, as they click and mash their way through the same inter-webs that seek to strangle them, Black Encyclopedia OF THE AIR is just what we need: a post-everything, 12:01 on the doomsday clock, anti-trip hop type of situation. "We ain't gotta fight no more," they'll say; the rest of us, we'll put this record on and imagine again that it's real.

«The almighty golden vhs tape has been stolen !!!" An enigmatic lady contacts our heroes, claiming she saw the tape At an illegal auction in istanbul. The adventure begins, and will lead them through Egypt, India, UK, to run against the evil ancestral cult before it uses the golden tape to summon dark forces... » 3 years ago, Videoclub concept album was released, using 70s movie soundtracks memories as an inspiration to create original compositions. It met warm reception all around the world. Beatsqueeze records is proud to announce Videoclub II this year, an ambitious sequel full of rich dusty theatrical arrangements. Take some pop-corn and enjoy the musical narration. Yann Kornowicz, composer. Starting from classical music by learning violin in his childhood, he began his film music obsession during the 90s, and used the piano as a tool to decompose the scores airing on tv. Many years later he continues his mono-maniac exploration through his albums and through works for tv, platforms, documentaries or advertising. Dan Amozig, multi-instrumentalist. After learning guitar in his teenage years , he graduated the cim jazz school in paris in the 2010s. He is touring with several projects since then, and focuses on live music. He recently added horns to his scope To enrich his beloved musical territories : jazz and hip hop.

Seven years after the release of his first solo album Kabul Fire Vol. 1, Hamburg-based producer Farhot is now taking listeners on a journey to his biographical roots with the follow up Kabul Fire Vol. 2. While the previous album already included references to his Afghan homeland, this 13-track album completely centers around the country from which his family had to flee when he was still a kid – musically, but also thematically through the selection of samples and quotes. For the sound of this project, the beat nerd went on memory lane to his family roots in the Middle East, digging up the sounds of his childhood. He also embraced the classic Golden Era sound of hip hop in the 90s, the music of his adolescence. The result: organic hip hop beats with elaborate and dreamy melodies, infused with elements from traditional Afghan music that take you to the dusty streets of Kabul. Artfully hand-crafted and intricately arranged with loads of love for details – just like the carpets on the cover of the album. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa This project, for which Farhot teamed up with some long-term friends and collaborators like Nneka, Juju Rogers or Maverick Sabre, will be released on his own label Kabul Fire Records. a

Includes 60 x 60 cm poster of the album artwork! The poster is only available at HHV!

When Leon Michels and El Michels Affair released their rst record, Sounding Out The City, in 2005, it was hard to guess what was next for Michels and his then-introduced, now-patented "cinematic soul" sound. Now, four EMA studio albums and scores of tribute and remix projects later - all while producing for some of the biggest names in the industry - Michels has trademarked his sound, with each project taking audiences somewhere new and pushing the boundaries of what he is known for. The man is a river, not a lake and this time he takes his golden touch into the realm of hip-hop laying down a musical bed for one of the greatest to ever rhyme into a microphone: Black Thought of The Roots crew. Releasing on Big Crown Records, the LP is called Glorious Game and it is a remarkable debut partnership in more ways than one. Michels provides his bottom-heavy, soul-tinged production for Black Thought who gives us some of the more personal and transparent verses we've ever heard from him. Michels and Black Thought have been in each other's orbit for a while now. The two first met in the 2000s when Thought was first getting familiar with the contemporary soul scene. "Out of that whole world, Menahan Street Band was probably my favorite," recalling the funk and soul group Michels was a founding member of back in 2007. Fast forward a few years and musicians from that collective - Dave Guy on trumpet and Ian Hendrickson-Smith on sax - are now full time players with The Roots. This connection eventually led Leon and Thought to doing a few fundraising events around NYC and Philly together. "Before long, Black Thought was coming around the studio and would jam with us from time to time," Michels explains. "Then, fast forward to 2020 and Covid lockdowns, he just hit me up out of the blue, wanting me to send him stuff to write to. We both were looking to stay busy." Being that Black Thought is the co-founder and emcee for, hands down, the best live-band group in hip-hop. Michels took a decidedly different approach to this project and instead of sending recorded tracks of live compositions, he pulled out the sampler and sampled himself and some records from his collection. "I'm a big fan of soul music," as if Michels has to remind us. "And part of hip-hop's appeal to me has always been the sample-based production" For Glorious Game, Michels would make wholly composed and recorded soul songs in his studio, sample himself, then chop and/or loop up his sounds and create instrumentals for Black Thought. On some tracks he took a more traditional hip-hop approach, starting from samples of other people's music but then adding live instrumentation on top. But for the most part, it's him reinterpreting his own compositions into something new. The result is an organic feel of loop-based tracks that breathe and uctuate enough for Black Thought to ex on. "What I write about is determined by the equation of the producer's energy and my energy," Black Thought says. "It's about where we meet." So armed with Michels sampled and re-sampled soul cinematics, Black Thought rhymes through personal memories.

We live in divisive times. Multiculturalism rises hand-in-hand with racial tensions, and politicians seem powerless to even bring people within earshot of their convoluted message. It's time for a different perspective. On his second studio album, More Arriving, Sarathy Korwar blasts out his own vibrant, pluralistic missive for the world to hear. This is not necessarily a record of unity; it's an honest reflection of Korwar's experience of being an Indian in a divided Britain. Recorded over two and a half years in India and the UK, More Arriving draws on the nascent rap scenes of Mumbai and New Delhi, incorporating spoken word and Korwar's own Indian classical and jazz instrumentation. This is a record born of confrontation; one for our onfrontational times.

‘Inner Sea’ comes out worldwide on limited double blue vinyl (300 copies) including download code & digital release.

“Inner Sea” is a journey inwards, delving into the hidden ocean of unconscious dreams and memories. Melodies tell stories of key moments, anchoring certain points in one’s life and the experiences and sensations they reflect. Giving them sounds to breathe and mirroring the soul in unseen depths, these memories are stored eternally in a shelter floating within this inner world.

“All these memories lay in the depths of my inner sea. It‘s surface reflects pictures of all the worlds that I want to dive back into, over and over again.” – Takeleave | Nicolas De Araújo Peixoto

Styles of Beyond MC and Demigodz frontman, Ryu, unleashes his long-awaited debut solo album "Tanks For The Memories". From his early years ruling the Los Angeles radio and cypher scenes, to breaking necks and banging heads with Styles of Beyond via their critically acclaimed seminal debut album "2000 Fold" and their sophomore follow-up "Megadef", through to his work with Mike Shinoda in Fort Minor on their Jay-Z overseen “Rising Tied’ album. Experiencing both mainstream and independent, underground successes, Ryan ‘Ryu’ Maginn states “'Tanks For The Memories' is a metaphor for the battles I've fought throughout my career in the music business. That would include the bad and the good. You win some, but in my case I've lost a lot as well. In the end, I believe I'll win the war.” The album is entirely produced by Divine Styler, except for the last track which is produced by Apathy. Reuniting with Divine Styler on production was a no-brainer for the 'San Fernando Valley Rambo' as he explains “Divine Styler was instrumental in the development of the Styles of Beyond sound. So it was a very natural process when working together on this album." The album features Everlast, Divine Styler, Celph Titled, Bishop Lamont, Tak, Gravity Christ and Jams.