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Check it out bro - this dude Andre Legacy is 1/2 Armenian and 1/2 Russian and he's mad tall and has an afro AND he's from Hollywood. And he raps! See that shit is funny and you haven't even heard the music...
expand review yet. He's also got a group called Dyslexic Speedreaders with his boys Dirt Nasty and Mickey Avalon who are both all over this album. Sometimes dude likes to keep it chill ("He Said She Said(1)"), sometimes he likes to go on a "Bender(2)," sometimes he just needs to remind you who he is and what he's about ("It's The Legacy(3)"). I'm saying, dude has mad varied styles - if you don't believe me just check the first and last tracks, "Blow Off My Dick(4)" and "My Dick(5)." (Actually woah, maybe this is a concept album?? ) He also namechecks Flex, Clue and Kid Capri in "DJ Dying(6)" so dude is obv. up on his rap history. If you don't like this shit... you probably aren't cool enough anyway!! Go listen to some French rave bro. Production by Cisco Adler, Beardo and more. 13 tracks. -suicide bangs
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From the same label that brought you the Biz Markie "Goin' Off" Deluxe edition brings you the BDP deluxe edition. This is really for the fan's fan that just won't be happy with the original catalogue. Besides heaters like "South Bronx(1),"...
expand review "Bridge Is Over(2)," "Poetry(3)," "The P Is Free(4) and the title track(5), you get never before released interviews, The Scott La Rock Mega Mix(6), "Say No Brother(Crack Attack Don't Do It)(7)," The Mos Def borrowed "Stop The Violence(8)," and even a Bladerunner's edit of the "Bridge Is Over(9)." Really drives home the fact that you don't need Protools, Logic, and Ableton to make some timeless music. Scott La Rock and KRS-One was truly the ahead of their time. -C'mish
I was this close to dropping beloved Clipse to the waiver wire a la Theo Ratliff, but street nugs like this get me back on the bandwagon. Put out an album already! Let's admit it, with the Wire on hiatus til next...
expand review season, Clipse are the next best thing for the kinfolk to experience the realness (or getting jacked for their ipods, the new thing in NYC). I mean these guys are straight pre-injury Larry Hughes over stuff like "Drop It Like It's Hot," "You Know My Style," and "Who Shot Ya." This mix also introduces us to their new crew The Re-Up Gang, which includes middleweights Liva and Sandman. Yet even with the extra-baggage, Clipse shine hard here. 25 tracks with the usual street tape chatter. -the mgmnt
Everyone loves the Clipse. Much like the McRib sandwich or Michael Jordan un-retiring, when the Clipse come out of their hidey-holes, it's a muhfuckin' celebration. In preparation for their new album, and in celebration of their dope new single "Mr....
expand review Me Too," we've re-upped (sorry) on their last two mixtapes - and at a nice price, too. Volume Two in the We Got It 4 Cheap saga finds Malice and Pusha freestyling (ahem) over some of last year's biggest beats, in addition to some new production from Pharrell. Their take on N*E*R*D's "Maybe" is flat awesome, snatching the beat out from under it and replacing it with Outkast's "Elevators." (Even more awesome is the Pusha intro, where he says he doesn't ghostwrite anything for Pharrell.) You don't need me to tell you about this one. If you don't know, get familiar. 18 tracks of crack; 60+ minutes total. -Chris Lemon-Red
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Simon Rex is back... and he's rapping! Hell yeah bros - if you have been missing this man's styles since his departure from MTV, it's your lucky day!! This is the shit right now in Hollywood, and it goes without saying that...
expand review what's cool in Hollywood sets the standard for the rest of the US or maybe even the world. The album has guest spots from Mickey Avalon, Andre Legacy and Tony Potato and was produced by Cisco Adler, DJ Lethal, Beardo, Leggo & Tycoon and... DJ RECTANGLE!!! No idea if it's the real DJ Rectangle, but who else would take that name? The music speaks for itself so just listen to "Droppin Names(1)," "Can't Get Down(2)," "Too Sexy(3)," "Baby Dick(4)," "Too Short Homage(5)" and "Wanna Get High(6)." Real funny shit broskis. 13 tracks. -suicide bangs
If you live and die by the scratch, please stand up. This release is actually the old school DJ Rectangle, the lanky scratch DJ that pioneered the whole competitive battle scene in the late 80's / early 90's with his "crazy" style....
expand review The man would rip doubles while stacking his turntables double decker style using Pepsi cans! Who does that? His famous break albums, the Ultimate Battle Weapon series, were the predecessors to Qbert's Dirt Style records and were the staple for DJs everywhere. I remember when I started DJing back in '98, Rectangle's record, Bionic Booger Breaks and Guerilla Breaks were the only break albums around. This CD compiles new samples and old samples from volumes 1-5 into a master compilation of every old school break and battle sample imaginable. Since it comes as MP3s, it's designed for Serato and Traktor battle DJs, which is the generation keeping it alive. All together, it's over 125 MP3s of pure old school battle fodder for daaaaaays. I doubt you'll go through all of them in a year. If he could rip sets with this back in the day, just think what you can do with the tech advantage. 320 kbps MP3s. -C'mish
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LAB SEMI-EXCLUSIVO! This is a super-limited (2,000 copies worldwide) CD-only EP featuring the finest Bay Area rappers over Shadow beats. The majority of these tracks - the Droop-E remix of "3 Freaks(1)," "Turf Dancing(2)," "Dats My Part(3)" with E-40 and "Keep 'Em...
expand review Close(4)" with Nump - were featured on Shadow's The Outsider album, but of course you're copping this for the pair that weren't. "Purple Grapes(5)" is a drum programming masterpiece with the Team, sounding way more like a wild hyphy beat from Traxamillion than something you'd expect Mr. Davis to make. And speaking of Traxamillion, he provides the other bonus track here with his remix of "Turf Dancing(6)." Surprisingly, the remix sounds like something straight out the ATL, but it's infinitely more playable than the heavy-as-shit original. Why am I talking about playing this shit out? You're just gonna keep it in the plastic and sell it on eBay during the hyphy revival of 2035. 7 tracks; 25 minutes. Extremely limited stock. -Chris Lemon-Red
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The instrumental version of the landmark Dr Octagon album, featuring all the Automator beats, some of which are slightly remixed and / or extended. -the mgmnt
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"Be cool. The fuzz is your cuzz." Once said the Watts police officer to the grizzled scrapyard dealer who wore a mottled maroon cardigan. Edan has become a fuzz farmer. It's all over his beats, his head and his toadstools. Humble Magnificent...
expand review has become Humboldt Magus, using psyche rock fuzz and distortion as sequence passages. An interlude that's a minute and a half feels like a small piece of a 40 minute epic. Tomorrow never blows. On "Making Planets(1)," Mr. Lif gets all Yog Sothoth on that ass, talking about worms leaking out of your orifices. And he makes orifices rhyme with "sort-of-vicious." Lif's favorite color is the colour out of space. Edan's favorite color(2) is math. Mine is jabberwocky. There's also a great part about a piece of dog shit growing wings and taking offÑas things with wings tend to do. Percee P makes a nice cameo on "Torture Chamber(3)," as do the Dells and the Bob Seger System. "Promised Land(4)" is mad cosmic with strings, but not in a corny indie rap way. This also has the previous single "Fumbling Over Words That Rhyme(5)," "The Science Of Two(6)" with Insight, and 6 others. It's one hell of a hairy elf of an album. -Dave Tompkins
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If you have been checking our blog, you know we've been riding Egyptian Lover hard recently (no-homo); but it's totally justified. Dude has some of the best record covers ever, put out a big pocketful of electro classics, and is humble enough...
expand review to come DJ at our small east village shop. This is his greatest hits collection from 1989 (peep the benzo-coupe steez) and comfortably falls into the category of "fucking electro essential." Not only that, when Egyptian Lover put this together, he picked his favorite mixes from the singles, so you're getting full 12" mixes or 12" dub versions. Of course, you gotta have the 12" version of "Egypt Egypt(1)." The 12" dub mix(2) of "Freak-A-Holic" is a huge score, and by all accounts, this was track that brought the house down at his show at Studio B. The Dub Mix(3) of "Girls" is begging for a revival, I totally forgot about how dope this song was until EL played it at our store. You even get "Alezby Inn" (Remodeled Vocal Version)(4), one of EL's more pop-like moments. I could probably name-check ever song on here, but I'll just leave you with "My House On The Nile(5)" and you'll know why he's called The Egyptian Lover. 8 tracks total. -the mgmnt
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LA's Flying Lotus is being setup as the next Madlib-Diplo-DJ Shadow-type producer cash cow. The hype is well-warranted in my opinion, as Flying Lotus well represents the new movement of LA producers, birthed from Dilla drum patterns, weird jazz records, accidental keystrokes,...
expand review and imperfect facets. His music sounds like the result of humans finally mastering drum machines and sequencing programs to create organic music. Check the drums on "Breathe(1)," the kicks and hand claps are liberated from standard beat measures. "Camel(2)" creates movement we're not used to in a beat track; you can tell there's something else going on here. "Comet Course(3)" shows the complete package in an uptempo flurry stew. "GNG BNG(4)" is so fresh sounding, I can just picture Gaslamp playing this and doing his patented possessed behind-the-decks dance. In a play of depth, Flylo enlists several vocalist for the last third of the album including songstress Dolly on "RobertaFlack(5)" and Gaslamp's partner Gonja Sufi on "Testament(6)." 17 tracks overall, it lives up to the hype. Recommended. -the mgmnt
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Official mixtape album from Starks Enterprises, featuring 15 new tracks from Ghost & his boy Trife. The music continues his trajectory of the last couple years with soul samples and complex rhyme schemes- check the Foster Sylvers sampling "Out Da Way(1)," ...
expand review "Struggle(2)," "War(3)" and "Milk Em(4)." And while Trife takes up a good portion of the air time here, he's way better than a mob of Theodore Units and actually holds his own next to Ghost. At the very worst you don't really notice him. They also include 3 bonus tracks of unreleased / hard to get Ghost collaborations, including the sought after track "The Sun(5)" with Slick Rick & Raekwon. This CD version also comes with an incredible bonus DVD. Live at BB Kings in NY October 2005, Ghostface put one of his legendary shows and this high quality (great sound & picture) DVD features 21 tracks from the set. A couple guest mcs (Masta Killa, GZA), but this is all about Ghost- and almost worth it on its own.
The 6 year wait since their last album makes it really difficult to forgive the Beasties for the massive disappointment that was To The Five Boroughs. Fortunately, this shit-hot collab with Green Lantern goes a long way towards absolution. Green's combination of...
expand review Beastie acapellas with modern beats instantly washes away all the Tibetan Freedom sanctimony and groan-inducing lyrics of recent years, letting us rediscover Mike, Adam, and Adam as the fun-loving rap hipsters they always were. I wasn't expecting to be blown away by this disc, but it's really that good. Checkout stuff like "Triple Trouble" over "White Lines" "Hey Ladies" over "Hypnotized" and "Pass The Mic" over "What Up Gangsta". Along with all the blends, there's a sick Clipse freestyle, MOP's rock band cover of "No Sleep Till Brooklyn", Redman's Def Squad version of "Posse's Getting Big"from Docs The Name, and Busta's take on "Paul Revere" hell, even Billy Joel gets in on the act! I have no idea whether this was Capitol's attempt to keep the Beasties relevant, Green Lantern's fan tribute, or a response to Mixmaster Mike's use of new instrumentals on tour (I watched him put on "Coolie Dance" during "Brass Monkey" a month or two ago, and Adrock was all "woah, whoa, slow it down there Mikey"; regardless of the motivation, this CD is genuinely dope. 20 tracks total. -Nick Catchdubs
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SPECIAL OFFER: Get a Stones Throw Fan Club 45 (featuring Madlib's "Footwork Size 12 Version" and instrumental) when you purchase this item.
So the Stones Throw squad is armed and ready for combat in '08, and Guilty's leading their street platoon. The dirty...
expand review Detroit native has been frontmanning their entire ghetto rap faction for some time with a fair share of singles and featured guest tracks, but the time has come for his full length debut album to drop. Will he be able to stand on his own two? Only time will tell. At least he has the help of some of the Throw's finest producers to back him up on beats - Dilla, Madlib, Oh No, Mr. Porter, Black Milk, J-Rocc and Babu (damn, that's quite a roster!). You might already know the singles, "Get Bitches(1)" and "Ode To The Ghetto(2)," but you gotta check the street game come through on "Footwork(3)," the ghetto love vibe on "Kinda Live(4)," the b-team emcee haterade on "Run(5)" and the ill Madlib beat backing him up on "The Future(6)." For now, he's the only alternative filling the space between average thug rap and intelligeble indie rhymes. It's a dirty job, but somebody's gotta do it. 16 tracks total. -Chris Lemon-Red
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Official acapellas for Jigga's American Gangster album. Includes all the tracks from the full length. Start remixing, fellas! 15 tracks total. -Larri Byrd
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More buried treasure from the vaults of Dilla! This was one of his last projects he worked on before his passing. Thanks to the mastering by Ricci Rucker, it's now available to the public. Like his last album "Donuts," these tracks flip...
expand review soulful samples and snippets to true work of art. Ta'Raach lends a mic on "Say It(1)," and Baatin jumps in on the funky slump of "First Time(2)." Also peep the addictive soul on "Yesterday(3)" and "Oh Oh(4)," "Believe In God(5)" and "Can't You See(6)." As a bonus, the "Say It" instrumental is also included(yes!). A treat as always for the listener and true gold for the collector. Recommended. -C'mish
I know what you're thinking, "Oh cool, they collected up those three volumes of Yosumi Video Game Breaks and put them on a data CD in high quality MP3 format." And you're right, that alone would be cool, but this is actually...
expand review a whole lot more. In addition to that trio of classic break records, Yosumi has compiled over 40 HOURS of additional material from just about every classic game and console your nostalgiac mind could conjure up. The data disc (a DVD actually) is divided into five sections -- Video Game Breaks #1-3, GTA World and Diggin In The Carts -- with all the new material sorted by gaming system (NES, Playstation, Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo). I could list off a bunch of names, but instead I'll just say this: if you're sitting there right now wondering if there are any samples from [video game x] on here... yes, there probably are. Ridiculously thorough, great sound quality on almost all the tracks. Recommended. -Chris Lemon-Red
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The album that has the Lab divided! Some are hating hard, some can't get enough. I can see both sides, but I gotta say... I'm in the second camp. Kon had me right from the Steely Dan sample in "Champion(1)," and even...
expand review if there are a couple missteps here (I'll blame "Drunk and Hot Girls" on Jon Brion), there's also a lot on par with the monster "Stronger(2)" and "Can't Tell Me Nothing(3)" duo. "Everything I Am(4)" calls back to his earlier days, and even if Jay got "Beach Chair" out first, Kanye's Chris Martin collab ("Homecoming(5)") is better, with lyrics straight from a pre-Dropout mixtape. Speaking of Jigga... well, just check out "Big Brother(6)." 13 tracks total. Vinyl coming soon... Recommended. -Larri Byrd
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Didn't think it could get any more infectious than the original "Pro Nails(1)," but this new CD single release (Kid Sis' first on Downtown- big things) features a straight whomper of a remix from the Bag Raiders(2)! It takes a minute to...
expand review build up at syrupy half speed, but once those big toms, bubbling electronics and super high gloss Braxe/Falke synths take over, it's lights out. (Then they REALLY kick it into high gear for the end...) The other remix keeps it closer to home, with Chi-Town's own Gant-Man(3) going for less juking, more jacking. He also provides the beat for the B-side, "Switch Board(4)." Unfortunately only the clean version of the Kanye-guesting "Pro Nails" is provided, but hey... you can still get it on the 12"... 5 tracks; 20 minutes. -Chris Lemon-Red
Folks goof on Weezy all the time, but the simple fact is he's retarded popular and not really that bad of a rapper. Actually, listening to this mixtape (as I have been a few times per week for the last month or...
expand review so) I'm starting to think he's "actually" "pretty" good. There, I said it. Listen to his freestyle over Jay-Z's "Show Me What You Got" and tell me he doesn't murder it harder than Hov did. Like this Mortal Kombat passage: "Gotta talk about the flow, cuz you is concerned / only down south rapper coulda been in The Firm / or The Commission, or Wu-Tang n*gga / tryna tell you, I can kick it like Liu Kang n*gga / got that Sub-Zero flow, how you want me ma? / make her 'get over here' like Scorpion." And that's not even the hot part! Along with a gang of original beats, Weezy makes tracks over The Pack's "Vans," Lupe Fiasco's Gunter Kallmann-sampling "Daydreamin'" and Lil Scrappy's "Money In The Bank." I haven't heard a solo artist make a mixtape this good in a long, long time. 24 tracks; 79 minutes. Recommended. -Chris Lemon-Red
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Madlib's never been one for long songs (at least not under his own name), but the latest release from the Prolific One reads like three dozen pages torn right out of his sketchbook. Forgoing a more traditional album approach and going the...
expand review Donuts route, the Beat Konducta CD collects all 16 tracks from 2005's vinyl-only Volume 1, and adds all 19 joints from the just-released Volume 2. There's a tendency for some people to shy away from new Madlib releases, since the dude's catalog is just so overpopulated, but this is a genuinely interesting release, one that junkies and newcomers alike will find something do like about. It's interesting to see some of these "rough drafts" that have evolved (or maybe devolved?) to/from other projects: check the way he drops beats and vocals from the Madvillain project into "The Payback(1)" and "Sir Bang(2)". Dude is definitely still digging for obscure/quirky samples, too, as evidenced by "Filthy(3)" and "Black Mozart(4)". The majority of the 35 tracks are under 2-minutes long, lending to the feeling that you're just channel-surfing through Madlib's brain, or sitting around in his studio while he fucks around, like "Check out what I did last night". -the mgmnt
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