US Hip Hop 321 Items

RAW II Survive (feat Artillery)- West Syde G'z

For our third collaboration with Untouchable Records we have decided to reissue this classic which was originally released in 1994 on tape in a very limited quantity. Remastered by Jee Van Cleef Mastering, the album is now available on CD!

Artwork revised by Première Graphix

Officially reissued and distributed by MWR!

Officially reissued and distributed by MWR!

Officially reissued and distributed by MWR!

Promo.

All songs produced by Large Professor, except 2. Pump Your Fist! (Produced by Van) and 5. Everything's Real (Produced by Yusef Lateef Jr.)
20 years ago Large Professor and Neek The Exotic came strong with this classic album “Backs N' Necks”. Originally only released on Vinyl in 1999 it is now for the very first time available on CD with the Bonus Track "Exotic's Raw", which was Neek's first 12" single. Instrumentals are also included! This album has nothing but bangers all the way from the boastful track "Muthaf*ckin Man" to the hard gritty "Hardcore" featuring Large Professor along with the neck snapping title track "Backs N' Necks" and more including "Everything's Real" Produced by Yusef Lateef Jr., seed of the legendary Jazz reedman. This 20th anniversary edition is for all of Neek The Exotic and Large Pro's hard core dedicated fans across the globe!
Neek, who has continued to stay relevant in Hip Hop since day one when he was featured on MAIN SOURCE's 1992 "Fakin' The Funk" from the White Men Can't Jump Motion Picture Soundtrack. He has had a slew of releases since then such as his groundbreaking first 12" single "Exotic's Raw" in 1997 and this 1999 "Backs N Necks" release featuring & produced by his long time childhood friend and collaborator Large Professor. The Queens Hip Hop duo also released 2010's "Exotic Species" & the 2011's "Still On The Hustle" Neek returned in 2018 with the poignant "Hell Up In Queens" Limited LP Vinyl & Cassette that featured Large Pro, Fredro Starr (ONYX), Bumpy Knuckles and more!

Ill Camille, LA hip hop's female perspective.

Ill Camille has been a vital member of the LA music scene for some years. Kendrick Lamar used her vocals prominently for the “good kid, m.A.A.d city” track “Sing about me”, she has been working with other TDE artists occasionally and spend a lot of time writing for different projects Terrance Martin was involved with.

At the same time Camille was developing her own material with her fellow peers such as MNDSGN, Iman Omari, DJ Battlecat, Like (Pac Div) Georgia Anne Muldrow & SIR who are all featured on her album “Heirloom” just like TDE co-president Punch. “Heirloom” productions range from smooth, g-funk esque west coast beats to live & organic soulful beats, working as the perfect backdrop for Camille's powerful, intelligent and thought thru lyrics

The album is deeply personal revolving around the issues that mater in her life from friends and family, her role as a woman and the heirloom of her and her surrounding: “I feel like everyone are heirlooms of our mothers and fathers. An heirloom is just something that’s passed down through a family. We get heirlooms in the form of game, encouragement or wise words. I know everyone has an aunt or uncle that’s given them some bars about life in general. I have a village around me that have given me heirlooms in the form of conversations”.

NEHRUVIANDOOM is Bishop Nehru’s debut album. Produced by Metal Fingers and featuring MF DOOM vocals on several tracks, it’s a compact nine track, 30 minute long player. Okay!

Releasing 14 albums over the past 3 years, there is no slowing down for prolific emcee LMNO of the Visionaries. Reconnecting with Evidence of Dilated Peoples, LMNO's latest masterpiece "After the Fact" brings together his signature original delivery and masterful
wordplay, over the classic Evidence beats that has had heads nodding worldwide since the late '90s. The entire album was produced by Evidence, with guest lyrical features by Oh No, MED, and Rakaa (Dilated Peoples), along with scratches by J Rocc (Beat Junkies), DJ Babu (Beat Junkies Dilated Peoples), LD, and DJ Romes (Lootpack).

Some records are steeped in mythology. Frank N Dank’s 48 Hours is just such a recording. Why so few samples from Dilla? Was that MCA’s decision as they didn’t believe they could get clearances? Why did MCA shelve the recording for so long? Where’s the “original version”? There are nearly more questions about this album than cuts on the album. But according to Frank, “contrary to popular belief there was never an 'original version’ of 48 Hours. We started recording songs to sample driven beats of Dilla‘s and we got 80% of the album done and Dilla decided to change the beats to all the songs.”
That’s right, it wasn’t MCA’s legal department, it was Dilla’s creative vision that stripped out the samples. But what about the sample laden “Take Your Clothes Off” and “Off Your Chest” you may ask? Frank interjects, “those were done after the fact.” And why did MCA shelve the project, was this a label afraid to release what the Detroit trio had concocted? Well that doesn’t appear to be the case. According to Nitt turnover in the A&R department at the time was rapid to the point that no one seemed to know who at MCA was responsible for the project. This led to a call to then MCA president Jay Boberg who agreed to release Frank N Dank from their deal. So there you have it. As Freud once said, “sometimes a cigar is just a cigar”. In the case of 48 Hours, it’s one hell of a tasty cigar. 48 Hours is now at last ready for the respect and proper release it has deserved all along, with the complete album as well as a second vinyl of Dilla’s instrumentals. As Frank reminds us, “This is the exact version of 48 Hours that we (Frank N Dank & Dilla) turned in to MCA and the way Dilla intended it to be!”

incl. bonus disc with 7 new songs feat. Dr. Dre, Drake, Lil Wayne and Kanye West

"the SP Chronicles" pays homage to the legendary SP 1200 sampler. All 6 cuts showcase the versatility & creativity of Broke/, JON Deliz, & Golfhead93 as they use the SP 1200 to create sonic landscapes that blend old school and new school elements. Full pic sleeve.

Officially reissued and distributed by MWR! Artwork re-designed by Premiere Graphix

"Paula rapped for the first time over the phone. I was impressed that she just rapped at the drop of a dime, no hesitation. She didn't explain what the rhyme was going to be about , she just rhymed!" Masta Ace recalls. "The female rappers who were out in rap at the time weren't really flowing as well -- on record or at shows -- as she did over the phone.”

Ace liked Paula's style and put her down with The INC., where she was featured on “Who u Jackin'" (from the LP Slaughtahouse) as well as doing background vocals for “What's Going On”, and "Eastbound." Paula also later appeared on the 1995 Sittin' on Chrome album tracks “This Ain't No Game" and "The 8-Side." While being a member of The INC. Paula toured the world with Ace, sharing the stage with the likes of Notorious B.I.G., Wu-Tang Clan, Warren G., Blackstreet, and Queen Latifah.

In getting a deal for Paula, Ace decided to create the music and get it out to the underground, instead of taking the customary route of shopping a demo tape to various record labels. They concocted "Paula's Jam (I Keep It Real Like That)" and after the song was completed, he pressed up some vinyl and shipped it to the top DJ’s all over the country. Once the record was serviced, it immediately became a mixtape staple and requests for the record came from all over including record stores, radio stations, clubs and college radio. Early supporters include New York DJ's Red Alert and Funkmaster Flex, mixtape kings Mister Cee and D.J. Clue, along with Wu-Tang's Method Man and rapper Redman. Record labels were bidding for Paula, but Loose Cannon won out.

"Paula Perry is one of the most talented rappers I've ever heard. She epitomizes what the label is looking for -- raw talent and in your face style. Paula's a true loose cannon and we look forward to blowing up the spot with her," says Lisa Cortes President of Loose Cannon Records.



All the info above are parts taken from an original press release issued by Loose Cannon Records after “Paula’s Jam” was released and in anticipation of the full album that would later become known as “Tales From Fort Knox”. Soon after in 1996 Polygram made the decision to discontinue “Loose Cannon Records” and from the entire label roster only Buju Banton was retained. Paula then shortly fell under the Mercury umbrella but after a lot of in-house changes she ended up at Motown, who planned to release the album on their “Mad Sounds Recordings” sublabel which was primarily focused on hip-hop. When it was time for “Extra, Extra!!” to be released, the label had shifted big chunks of Paula’s promotional budget to Queen Latifah and eventually the album ended up getting shelved.



The album contains production by Domingo, DJ Premier, Easy Mo Bee, Masta Ace (Ase One), Clark Kent, Fanatic, DR Period, Jesse West and features by Masta Ace, Jesse West, Lost Boyz, Kelly Price, Bahamadia, Heather B, Nikki D, Precious Paris & Rah Digga.



Limited to only 350 copies, including a 4 page booklet and all tracks have been remastered by Tradd. The CD version will also have an extra bonus track, the "Paula's Jam (Remix)" produced by Knobody.

Skyzoos 2012 mixtape - now on vinyl. Limited stock.

Twenty-eight years ago, pissed-off twelve-year-olds around the universe discovered a new planet, a Black Planet. Public Enemy’s aggressive, Benihana beats and incendiary lyrics instilled fear among parents and teachers everywhere, even in the border town of Laredo, Texas, home of the future founders of the Latin-Funk-Soul-Breaks super group, Brownout. The band’s sixth full-length album (out May 25th) Fear of a Brown Planet is a musical manifesto inspired by Public Enemy’s music and revolutionary spirit.

Chuck D., the Bomb Squad, Flava Flav and the rest of the P.E. posse couldn’t possibly have expected that their golden-era hip hop albums would sow the seeds for countless Public Enemy sleeper cells, one that would emerge nearly three decades later in Austin, Texas. Greg Gonzalez (bass) remembers a kid back in junior high hipped him to the fact that Public Enemy’s “Bring the Noise” is built on James Brown samples, while a teenaged Beto Martinez (guitar) alternated between metal and hip-hop in his walk-man, and Adrian Quesada (guitar/keys) remembers falling in love with Public Enemy’s sound at an early age. “When I got into Hip hop, I was looking for this aggressive outlet . . . and I didn’t even understand what they were pissed off about, because I was twelve and lived in Laredo . . . but I loved it and I felt angry along with them.”

Joseph Abajian (Fat Beats’ owner) must have sensed the deep hip-hop well lying beneath the versatile band’s Latin-Funk veneer. “I thought their sound would work covering Public Enemy songs,” Abajian says, and, “it was good to know they were P.E. fans . . . We came up with a track listing and they went to work.” Despite the band’s eagerness to work on new original material (an album of original songs is slated for next year), they couldn’t pass up the opportunity to pay homage to this iconic and influential posse.

Translating sample-based music to a live band turned out to be more of a challenge than they anticipated. Adrian tried to get inside the Bomb Squad’s [Public Enemy’s producers/beat-making team] head in order to find the inspiration to reinterpret P.E.’s songs: “imagine the Bomb Squad going back in time and getting the J.B.s [James Brown’s funky backing band] in the studio and setting up a couple analog synths and then playing those songs.” While some songs closely follow the original musical blueprint, others use the source breakbeats as jumping-off points later sweetened by Trombonist Mark “Speedy” Gonzales’ horn arrangements, synth wizardry courtesy of friend-of-the-band Peter Stopschinski, and DJ Trackstar’s turntable scratches. But don’t listen expecting to hear paint-by-numbers recreations of classic Public Enemy jams. “Our approach is never in the tribute sense,” Adrian explains. “We’ve always taken it and made it our own, whether it’s the Brown Sabbath thing or this Public Enemy thing.”

Coming off numerous tours as Brown Sabbath and even a stint backing the late legend Prince, Brownout is arguably the tightest and funkiest band on the road today and they’re psyched to bring this revolutionary music to the people. For a band without an overt political agenda, they collectively couldn’t resist the opportunity to play this music live, especially now. “If there’s any way that we can use the already political and protest nature [of P.E.’s music], we would like to try,” Beto says. “The album’s title, Fear of Brown Planet is definitely a relevant idea today and we’re not afraid to put it out there, because we want to speak out.” By reinterpreting these hip hop classics in their unique style and channeling the spirit of Public Enemy that first echoed around the world and captured their imaginations all those years ago, Brownout is doing exactly that.

Undagawds – consisting of rapper Peter Manns & beatmaker Thelonious Coltrane – an American/Russian MC and Producer team with their chosen home Frankfurt am Main (Germany).
Peter Manns came from Cambridge (Massachusetts) to the German banking capital . There he met Thelonious Coltrane, who was about to flood the market across the city limits with a myriad of beat tapes long ago. It clicked between those two directly and, as a result, they created an absolute new school boombap-masterpiece.

The beats from Coltrane vary from soulful grooves und jazz samples (“Looking for Words“ and “Cognac“) to classic headnod-bangers („jump up“). Peter Manns adds his thoughtful lyrics being permanently performed with an unlimited amount of coolness to a perfect mix.

"Devil on my back, but i stay on track"

Friends left behind and newly won in the old and new home, phases of childhood and youth or simply the life itself – Peter Manns drags the listener into the hustle coming along with being a young immigrant from America trying to find his way in a foreign country and city. Of course, there are the girls, the funk, the partys and the weed as well... but foremost, each song those two present delivers the message: despite all difficulties and irregularities, it is the music, which makes it all void and, ultimately, puts together all the scattered pieces!

"We made a classic!" – and would they say otherwise, it would not be Hip Hop! Selftitled.

Undagawds.
Sichtexot Records.
You better pray.

Written with a libidinal urgency that has come to characterize Kool Keith’s legendary lyricism, “Keith’s Salon” explores our current obsessions with luxury, beauty, and notoriety. But rather than fetishize the beautiful dum-dums who walk red carpets in black Prada gowns,

Kool Keith's most recent studio album shifts our attention to the work and workers that underpin our fantasies of American excess and the good life.

As such, the album is also a timely meditation, during quarantine, on the economic precarity many of us now find ourselves in. Having doubled-up with Triple Parked, the production team of avant-techno maven Bruno Pronsato and Benjamin Jay, “Keith’s Salon” moves between halcyon sonics and atonal warlord dystopia, while keeping beats minimal for Kool Keith to spread extra ketchup on the hamburger. An album at once topical and futuristic, lush and bizarre, "Keith's Salon" is about the business of making people beautiful. It's time to work.