Hip Hop 414 Items

Slaine's upcoming studio album "The King Of Everything Else", is scheduled for an August 19th release date through Suburban Noize. The album is set to feature collaborations with heavyweights Tech N9ne, Madchild, Bishop Lamont, Vinnie Paz, Reks and Termanology, and La Coka Nostra brethren ILL BILL. The album artwork for "The King Of Everything Else", was designed by legendary hip-hop artist Skam2, who has worked with everyone from Eminem, A Tribe Called Quest, D-12, Dizzy Wright, and ILL BILL, to rock group's like Linkin Park.

"The songs on this new album are extremely visual and I felt like the album cover needed to be an accompanying piece. I met Skam2 through Ill Bill a while back and had always dug his work," said Slaine. "I had an idea of what I wanted to do with the cover conceptually and thought he would be the perfect artist to execute it. He took the idea and ran with it. I love the results."

Throughout his musical career as a solo artist, or as a member of hip-hop supergroup La Coka Nostra, Slaine has always made his songs with a gritty, lyrical honesty. His latest autobiographical gorilla, "The King of Everything Else", is a cutting and revealing tell-all. If Behind The Music or E! True Hollywood Story dug this deep into an artist's psyche, they'd have to resurrect Kubrick to subdue all the madness. Slaine, meanwhile, navigates the chaos with impressive nihilistic gusto.

Long-time collaborators Yungmorpheus & Theravada join forces on Up Against The Wall; A Degree Of Lunacy. Hazed storytelling from Yungmorpheus, the record talks of personal endeavours, where wisdom meets braggadocious and irreverent lyricism. The album was produced entirely by Theravada and has guest features from Awhlee and Starker. Yungmorpheus is an American rapper and record producer that has released music with Lex Records and collaborated with Pink Siifu, Fly Anakin, Koncept Jack$on and Ohbliv. Theravada is a rapper and producer hailing from Queens, New York that has worked with Earl Sweatshirt, Navy Blue, Ahwlee, YL & Lord Jah-monte Ogbon

One of the best albums ever.

“Insomnia” is the third solo album from Italian jazz beat maestro Koralle for Melting Pot Music. Without exaggeration, it can be described as the most mature and advanced piece of work by the beatmaker and producer from Bologna. On “Insomnia” Koralle invites some of his favourite artists and musical peers to collaborate and exchange sounds, ideas, beats, melodies and lyrics. The guest list includes fellow producers & musicians FloFilz, Pachakuti, Figub Brazlevic, Kuranes, Phoniks and Brous One as well as rappers and singers Kid Abstrakt, KeepVibeNear, Ryshon Jones.

Limited to 1000 copies, only available at HHV! 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 first 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.

Various instrumentals by Emapea. First time on wax, previously released in digital format. Refreshed mixes and remastered. Enjoy.

Kooley High's Lazy Sunday EP is the groups first offering since their 9th Wonder executive-produced album 'Never Come Down". Released to critical acclaim, 'Never Come Down' featured an appearance from Grammy-nominated Emcee Rapsody. A lot has happened in the world since then...

Amidst the trials and tribulations of life in 2021, this EP's luscious soundscapes will transport you to your own personal Lazy Sunday. Take a moment to relax and reflect, then get back to the good fight. Features production by Grammy-nominated producer Eric G, Sinopsis, and a Remix from Statik Selektah. Instrumentals included.

Village Live Records are proud to present ‘Deep Into Space’ (tvi032), the third and final part of Funkonami’s ‘Deep Into’ trilogy.

Made entirely on the E-Mu Sp1200, Akai S950, SCI Prophet 2002, Ensoniq Asr-10, ‘Deep Into Space’ is a 12 track instrumental album paying homage to his previous LP’s whilst developing his signature sound.

Kooley High has seen many acts come and go since their inception in 2008. This perseverance has led to several acclaimed releases, and the opportunity to craft their newest album with the assistance of Grammy award winning producer 9th Wonder.

'Never Come Down’ is a testament to Kooley’s growth sonically and serves as their most complete work to date. MC's Charlie Smarts and Tab-One have elevated their wordplay along with DJ Ill Digitz' scratch work. In house producers, Sinopsis and Foolery also show inspired progression on 'Never Come Down', which showcases production from 9th Wonder's production team, the Soul Council as well. Features on the album include Jamla Record’s own Rapsody, along with long time collaborators Median and Carlitta Durand.

Ten years after starting their journey in music, Kooley High comes full circle. This new album serves as a reminder to the world that even despite the current climate you should evolve, stay true to yourself, and Never Come Down.

OKI & Seeda are Japanese Hip Hop rappers. Seeda is a member of Scars.

New album by Los Angeles MC Kid Abstrakt produced by Leo Low Pass from Amsterdam inspired by the golden era greats like A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul or The Pharcyde!

So Joe City aka Third Eye Ent hits me up and says B, hook up with my man Strez, he might have some ish you are looking for. So outta Norfolk, Virginia, this is the Foundation Entertainment EP. Most of these tracks appeared on an extremely rare couple of cds from 97 & 99 as well as one off a demo tape and one unreleased from the House of Reps unreleased stash!!! Peep this short interview with DJ Strez for some background info:



Where did you grow up? “I grew up in the Park Place/Villa Heights section of Norfolk Virginia born & raised.”

What are your earliest memories of the culture? “My earliest moments of the culture are begging my mom to go to the record store to buy The Fatboys first album, LL Cool J “Radio”, Run-D.M.C. “Raising Hell” & Beastie Boys “Licensed To Ill” albums. When I got home that day I played these albums non stop. That’s when I knew I was in love with Hip Hop.”

Who were your fav beatmakers coming up? “My Favorite Beat Makers/Producers coming up was Marley Marl, Pete Rock, The Bomb Squad, DJ Premier, Large Professor, Diamond D & Joe City (VA Native)”

What was the VA scene like? “The VA Scene Between 1991-2001 was a great time to be involved with music.A lot of local artists that were coming out started making tapes and selling them at shows or in the clubs.We had so many outlets back then and the major artists were also coming down checking the scene out as well. We definitely had hidden gems as far as talent.”

When did you start making beats? “I started making beats when I was around 16 years old. I was always fascinated with making music and always wanted to learn. The music that was made between “87-99″ was always mind blowing to me. Once i realized that they were taking loops from old records,sampling and making beats out of them i knew that that is what i wanted to do”

What were your first bits of gear? “My first bits of gear was a Casio Sk-1, a Gemini Sampler Ds-1224, a Korg M1, a Boss Dr-5 & a Pair of technics belt drive turntables.”

When did you set up Foundation Ent? “Foundation Ent was formed around 93-95 through my partner Carlton Barnard and he was also my manager. We met at a mall out here in VA called Military Circle in 1996 and we chopped it up and immediately clicked. It all started and developed when he said he had equipment that wasn’t really being used and i asked him if i could use it and eventually it led to us getting a building for a studio and signing artists.”

How did you hook up with all the mcs? “Before Foundation Ent, I was in a group with a friend of mine named Stratagee Real which later became an artist on Foundation Ent so we were already connected. Carlton did beats and had the group Coalition & a female artist named Bad News already so we started teaming up and recording music together in the studio. The other artists that were on the roster were mostly people that we came across that rap and sing.”

This was the first release from Anderson .Paak & Knxwledge as Nxworries: "Suede" and "Link Up" were their first two tracks. "Droogs" is a Knx remake of an Anderson .Paak single. Instrumentals and bonus beats around out the EP.