Release-Highlights in April 2024 7 Items

This is Apollo Brown's very first beat collection put together in 2007 a few years before winning the Red Bull Big Tune Championship in Detroit and then signing to Mello Music Group. The collection has been such a popular record around the Mello Music Group office for the past few years that we decided to make it available to everyone for a one time pressing on vinyl. Over 30 tracks from Apollo Brown.

Los Angeles artist Open Mike Eagle's "A Special Episode Of" takes on social pressures and emotional expectations in creative, entertaining, and relatable way. Described as Art Rap, this follow up to "Dark Comedy" features production from Gold Panda, Exile and more has been streamed over 20 Million times. This special Artist Series Edition of vinyl features an original oil painting rendition of the cover art by KipDaFog and is a limited one time pressing.

serpentwithfeet, the Baltimore-born singer and songwriter, is a versatile talent who moves naturally from chapter to chapter in his career. His third album, Grip, is based on the dance floor of black gay clubs and is about the intimate moments that happen there and after, no matter the venue. It explores the small moments of physical touch and how they come about. Whether it's a grip around the waist or the face, serpentwithfeet manages to explore all angles. Grip and the black gay club have an interesting relationship: the club is public; the dance floor is obviously a place where people look at and observe each other. At the same time, the black gay club is a safe communal space, it's "for us" and in that sense very private, very intimate. These clubs offered him a different atmosphere, a different comfort and a different sense of welcome that encouraged him in a new way. From start to finish, Grip sonically relives the highs and lows of not only a club night, but also a romance. "Damn Gloves (ft. Ty Dolla $ign and Yanga YaYa)" captures the adrenaline rush of a nighttime climax with a thumping bass embedded in a dance production that mimics the speed of a heartbeat as intimacy boils up between two lovers. "Spades" uses a sweet, guitar-driven melody to create a tender moment, as a slow dance would. "Lucky Me" is sweet and honest, without anything to distract from the actual moment. His voice, a glistening guitar melody and enchanting synths serve as the driving force to foster a new romance. It's a work that emphasises the moments closest to the heart. Over the course of his seven-year career, he has proven his versatility through R&B music that is both sombre, spiritual and joyful. serpentwithfeet continues to push the boundaries of his art.

Shabazz Palaces is fronted by Ishmael Butler (Digable Planets), whose relentless drive to reinvent hip-hop continues unabated in his fifth decade on the planet. When Robed in Rareness hit digital platforms in 2023, NPR Music called it "enchanting and subversive," while Pitchfork noted that "Shabazz Palaces' futurism has always been interwoven with the past and the present, their songs sparkling tapestries of old-school shit-talk, proggy psychedelia and melodic flossing." Robed in Rareness is wrapped in this diversity as Butler and a team of close collaborators swagger through the eras of rap." "Exotic Birds of Prey" continues the modus operandi of "Robed in Rareness": a respectful look at the past, an embrace of the ever-evolving present, with feet firmly planted in the future. Where "Robed in Rareness" distorted sounds like shoegaze and ambient into the Shabazz Palaces multiverse, "Exotic Birds of Prey" mixes these elements with twisted electro and funk vibes.

Shabazz Palaces is fronted by Ishmael Butler (Digable Planets), whose relentless drive to reinvent hip-hop continues unabated in his fifth decade on the planet. When Robed in Rareness hit digital platforms in 2023, NPR Music called it "enchanting and subversive," while Pitchfork noted that "Shabazz Palaces' futurism has always been interwoven with the past and the present, their songs sparkling tapestries of old-school shit-talk, proggy psychedelia and melodic flossing." Robed in Rareness is wrapped in this diversity as Butler and a team of close collaborators swagger through the eras of rap." "Exotic Birds of Prey" continues the modus operandi of "Robed in Rareness": a respectful look at the past, an embrace of the ever-evolving present, with feet firmly planted in the future. Where "Robed in Rareness" distorted sounds like shoegaze and ambient into the Shabazz Palaces multiverse, "Exotic Birds of Prey" mixes these elements with twisted electro and funk vibes.