US Hip Hop 356 Items

The Madlib Invazion Music Library Series Entry #3: Drummer and Producer J-Zone offers his take on The Ultimate Beats, Breaks and Funk. This is the next up in a series of music library releases, with future volumes produced by DJ Muggs, Karriem Riggins and more. The Madlib Invazion Music Library Series was created by Madlib and Egon to give their creative friends a chance to stretch out and indulge in whatever type of music they wanted. This music was created for easy, one-stop clearance in film and television synchronization usage and for sampling. You can also enjoy these albums in the way that many do with the best of the best vintage library catalogs – listen, ponder, repeat.

Repress! This ten-track instant-classic features guest appearances from Curren$y, Dom Kennedy, Jay Worthy, Herm Lewis and International Jones Critics and fans alike agree that “Keep Going” represents some of June and Fraud’s best work to date. Laced with silky smooth production from Harry Fraud, the musical chemistry between the Bay Area rapper and the Brooklyn-raised producer is front and center from the first verse on “Keep Going (Intro)" to the last bar on “Let Me Sing to You”. Numbers!
"The production on this album is easily in the top tier of this year's music so far but don't get it twisted: Larry June definitely comes correct. His syrupy flow and blink-and-you-miss it wordplay are perfectly in sync with Fraud's yacht cruising beats. The music sounds luxurious without being over-produced." -- hotnewhiphop.com

777 is a captivating collaboration between rapper Raz Fresco and producer Figub Brazlevic that takes listeners on a remarkable musical journey. Released to critical acclaim, the album seamlessly blends Raz Fresco's introspective lyricism with Figub Brazlevic's masterful production skills,
resulting in a project that pushes the boundaries of contemporary hip-hop. 5 different color pressings sold randomly (Purple, Lime, Orange, Red, Green).

This time the cover artwork needs to be randomly chosen. We have no influence on which one we are provided with.

With a name as bold as Junglepussy and an artistry to match, Shayna McHayle is New York's premier rap rule-breaker. Honest, funny, and freaky, her rhymes span from the explicitly audacious to the tenderly relatable. Her unfailingly confident flow accentuates her roots in Brooklyn (her parents are from Trinidad and Jamaica), and her bars land with cool impact. In the universe that is Junglepussy, relationships are complicated, vegetables are magic, and an excellently delivered flex on an ex is one punchline away. Jp4 is Junglepussy's stellar next phase. With contributions from vocalist Ian Isiah, rapper Gangsta Boo, and producers Dave Sitek and Nick Hook, Jp4 is Junglepussy ascended. After almost a decade of experimenting, Junglepussy feels she's finally living up to her name. The numerology of four, in its foundational symbolism, is an apt frame for Jp4. Over an eight year career, Junglepussy's music has led her to lecture at Yale and Columbia, create her own Junglepussy Juice, star in 2018 feature film Support The Girls, and embark on sold-out domestic and international tours. For Junglepussy, Jp4 is a culminating moment_one that holds the essence of closure while hinting at an exciting and expansive future.

Crazy hard to find material from VA label Third Eye Entertainment featuring Doomzday, Gypcees & Suspects.

2021 pressing Fresh off 2018's collaborative LP with the enigmatic MF DOOM, "CZARFACE meets METAL FACE,"
the adventure continues as CZARFACE now faces off with Wu-Tang Clan's GHOSTFACE KILLAH.
"Czarface meets Ghostface" brings strictly mind melting beats and bars as 3 emcees clash like villains & heroes in the Savage Land. Czarface, a hip-hop & comics force comprised of WU-TANG CLAN general Inspectah Deck, Esoteric (who recently penned an X-Men comic for
Marvel) and super
producer 7L team up with Ghostface aka Iron-Man aka Tony Starks for murderous meyhem!
Czar commando's Rebel INS & Esoteric trade lines such as "follow in my footsteps might tear your Achilles," & "flow customized got that Dapper Dan touch" with Ghost on the assist "chain is off the cooler, charm look like a shrunken head". With Track titles like "The King Heard Voices", "Mongolian Beef", "Czarrcade '87", "Masked Superstars" & "Powers and Stuff" expect nothing short of a super charged collaboration!
12 brand new tracks Produced entirely by The Czar-Keys (7L & Jeremy Page)

20 years of Illmatic! Remastered original album!

180g vinyl with download card.
Download includes 10 rare remixes, demos and freestyles.

MAX Tannone, the man behind Jaydiohead, drops "mos Dub" mashing up 10 fresh MOS DEF raps like "MS. FAT Booty", "travellin Man", and "hurricane" feat. Common & Black Thought with classic dub & reggae cuts from Desmond Dekker, LEE Perry, King Tubby & Errol Thompson.

Pressed in Canada.
The name of the 8-track project is Simple, which refers to a neighborhood called “Simple City” in southeast Washington, D.C.. According to the rapper, the area got its namesake as a result of the senseless violence that occurs there.



“There’s a neighborhood in my city called ‘Simple City,’” IDK said in a statement. “It gets its name because you can get killed for any simple reason. Simple City is also the birthplace of Marvin Gaye. I wanted to tell the story of Simple City in a way that it’s never been told before. From drug abuse to crime and murder, I wanted to cover what it feels like to be from Simple City and teach the world that the fix to helping disadvantaged black communities isn’t as simple as you think.”

The long awaited official release of "Thy Kingdom Come"! "Thy Kingdom Come", originally scheduled for release on June 30, 1998 on Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment, is the fifth studio album from King Tee. Recorded at the same time as the multi-platinum albums Dr. Dre - "2001" and Eminem - "The Slim Shady LP", "Thy Kingdom Come" features guest appearances from Dr. Dre, MC Ren (N.W.A.), DJ Quik, Too $hort, NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal, Ice-T, Kool G Rap, Dawn Robinson (En Vogue, Lucy Pearl) - to name a few. Production on the album was handled by Dr. Dre (Eminem, 50 Cent, Snoop Dogg, Xzibit), Mike Dean (Kanye West, Beyoncé, The Weeknd, Jay-Z), DJ Quik (2Pac, Snoop Dogg), Bud'da (Aaliyah, Ice Cube) and Dr. Dre's Aftermath producers DJ Battlecat, Stu B Doo, Chris "The Glove" Taylor and Fredwreck, as well as Ant Banks, Step One and SLJ. The album was mixed and supervised by Dr. Dre. Remastered in high-resolution 24-bit 44.1 kHz audio in 2022.

A beloved gem from the early days of the hip-hop blogosphere, "Her Favorite Colo(u)r" drew widespread acclaim after a lo-fi MP3 version hit the digital airwaves. The classic collection from L.A. rap savant Blu was eventually mixed, mastered, and released to the masses, but physical copies have often remained scarce.

Now, "Her Favorite Colo(u)r" is back in stock on vinyl. With love-themed movie quotes drifting in and out, heartbreak raps meld perfectly with mellow production, resulting in one of the most distinct and cohesive Blu albums to date. Entirely self-produced, this seminal project showcases Blu's undeniable talent and boundless creativity.

J Dilla is widely regarded as one of the greatest hip-hop producers of all time, having supplied timeless soundbeds for the likes of A Tribe Called Quest, Slum Village, The Pharcyde, Busta Rhymes, Common, De La Soul, The Roots, D'Angelo, Erykah Babu, Madlib, and many more. In 2005, rumors began circulating about an album called "Jay Love Japan", a J Dilla solo project inspired by one of Jay Dee's favorite locations to visit on tour. After Dilla's untimely death in early 2006, the album became a lost classic shrouded in mystery, with only unofficial bootlegs and promo versions available. An official CD version was eventually released in 2008, but quickly went out of print.

Now, the album is finally receiving the official release it always deserved. J Dilla's mother Ma Dukes and her label Vintage Vibez Music Group are proud to present official Vinyl and CD versions of "Jay Love Japan". With six soulful Dilla instrumentals and vocal appearances from Blu, Miguel, J*Davey, Ta'Raach, Exile, Baatin, and more, this 11-track collection is a perfect snapshot of late-period J Dilla brilliance.

Superb project from 2016 that never saw the light of day now gets a vinyl release on Herring. This one would’ve dropped a year after the Essence joint and 2 years before The Prerequisite album. Production comes courtesy of the excellent Loop.Holes crew producer Marshtini outta Norway. This is the second Loop.Holes produced project this year following on from the highly rated Trevor J – Almost Home LP and this is the fifth Herring x Ill Conscious collabo and we ain’t finished just yet. Another bomb project fellaz!!!

Wow, another banging new album!! This time our good friend Trevor J aka Veks from Last Jazz Club & Apes of Graf teams up with Norwegian production crew Loop.Holes, to give us some beautiful jazz-flavoured hip hop on a seriously positive tip. Every track is a buttery biscuit. Loop.Holes absolutely smashed the production. Been chillin with this project since the summer, and now that it’s freezing cold outside, these summery jawns will warm your souls right up. Peep the snippets – if you dig the Last Jazz Clun material, you’re in for a treat!!

Extremely dope sophomore album from Arizona’s own MC Shinobi. The first album was self-released a couple years ago and this follow up features killer production from the likes of DJ Obsolete, MPadrums, B.B.Z. Darney and DJ Daredevil [R.I.P.] as well as guest features from Herring regulars MC Gels & Hahyeem. Underground hip hop at its finest!!!

Another great comp on the Late Night Tales imprint feat. Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Koushik, Gravediggaz, Madvillain, Fairport Convention!

Often recognized as one of the most consistent and prolificduos in independent hip-hop, Atmosphere hit a stride ofextraordinary output from July 2007 to April 2008, even by theirown standards. Within those 9 months, they released afull-length album, four EP's, and a 42-minute mixtape ofexclusive material, altogether totaling 48 new songs released, allwhile they were consistently touring as well. This rapid-fire stringof releases introduced some of their most popular songs to dateand showcased their dynamic range, from moody and reflective,to upbeat and optimistic, to a boom-bap throwback style of rap,the latter of which was most prominently displayed on themixtape. Introduced on Christmas Day 2007, the mixtape was a"gift" to fans in the form of a free download, aptly titled StrictlyLeakage - a nod to both eschewing standardized industrypractices in favor of giving the music away, and to anotherprominent album title from the era that inspired them andperhaps more specifically, these recordings.Strictly Leakage surprised fans and critics alike, not justbecause the download invite appeared in their inbox withoutwarning, but also because the project sounded so uniquelydifferent from Atmosphere's typical recordings. Ant was diggingdeep into the funk & soul crates, favoring samples over liveinstrumentation, and producing tracks that sounded as if theywere birthed alongside late '80s and early '90s hip-hop classics.Slug was rapping with a renewed passion, yet somehowsounding more casual and carefree delivering endless wordplaywith more technical rhyme patterns than other Atmosphereprojects. Together, they created 13 exclusive songs that soundedas if they were just having fun making them, without thepressure of any album expectations - undoubtedly as rewardingan exercise for themselves as it was for the listeners.Early on, Strictly Leakage had been pressed on a limited run ofvinyl and CD, but it wasn't long before they sold out, and fanswere left chasin...

Upstate NY heavyweights 38 Spesh and Conway The Machine have joined forces for a collaboration album fans did not see coming. Having recorded with each other for well over a decade, these two lyrical powerhouses' styles mesh effortlessly on this 10-track offering. The soundbeds for the illustrious affair are provided by Spesh himself with the help of a producer he has championed for years, Jimmy Dukes. Instead of continuing to mine the '90s like their contemporaries, the duo bring a sound that calls back to early '00s Hip-Hop. On top of verses that will etch themselves in your mind courtesy of Spesh and Conway, the project includes standout bars and hooks by the likes Lloyd Banks, Pharoahe Monch, Benny The Butcher, Che Noir, ElCamino, and Emanny.

Pressed on green vinyl! Originally released on July, 20th 1987 on Dangerous Music, Born To Mack is Too $hort's 4th studio album and re-released as his first major label release in 1988 on Jive Records. Long out of print on vinyl, this West Coast classic contains the 9+ minute track "Freaky Tales" which Snoop Dogg would state was highly influential, to such an extent that Snoop covered the song in ‘97 for the hip-hop covers compilation In Tha Beginning. Too $hort is one of the pioneers of West Coast Hip-Hop, commemorated with a street named in his honor - Oakland’s Too $hort Way dedicated in December of 2022. Too $hort continues to make music and plays West Coast classics and upcoming artists on his Rock The Bells radio show Don't Stop Rappin and is a member of West Coast Pioneers super group Mount Westmore.

For the first time on vinyl. This compilation has been released on CD in 2011 and features tracks from Ghostface, Raekwon, Method Man, U-God and others.

In listing the greatest albums in hip-hop history, one title never seems to stray from the upper echelons, no matter how many years pass: Boogie Down Productions’ undisputed classic from 1986, Criminal Minded. Released amidst a battle between BDP and MC Shan that would redefine the New York rap landscape as it was then known, the album, which features the songs “South Bronx,” “Criminal Minded” and “The Bridge is Over,” captures the excitement, urgency and raw power that embodies hip-hop culture as we know it, with KRS-One’s aggressive yet intelligent lyricism backed by Scott La Rock’s hard-hitting, stripped-down beats. A true classic, Criminal Minded has been recognized by Vibe Magazine, The Source and Rolling Stone as one of the most important albums of all time. Traffic Entertainment Group and B-Boy Records are proud to present Criminal Minded, presented in a double-LP pressing.

Along with Wu-Tang Clan's Inspectah Deck and 7L, MC Esoteric is probably best known as 1/3rd of the acclaimed trio Czarface. Before creating the comic friendly hip-hop supervillain, Eso developed and unleashed another fictional anti-hero that bolstered his music, and that character was dubbed Egoclapper. You could view Egoclapper as Czarface's predecessor. Esoteric's legacy as a leading vanguard of Boston's underground rap scene extends far beyond Czarface, Aotp, and recent collaborations with MF Doom, it leaps across multiple decades of records both solo and in collaboration with 7L. So now, Eso's imprint Fly Casual Records is proud to present this sterling reissue of his 2007 solo debut; the twitchy, punchy, eccentric Egoclapper. Not only has this record never previously been released on vinyl, but it is now presented on exclusive transparent blue wax.

Future archaeologists will discuss two periods in 1980s: before Run-DMC and after Run-DMC. It’s no exaggeration to say that the group changed the course of music in the ‘80s, bringing the old-school of rap into the new with one simple piece of flat, black plastic. Coming up in the rap world of the early 1980s under the wing of Kurtis Blow (group manager Russell Simmons managed Blow, and Run was, at one time, a DJ known as “Son of Kurtis Blow”) and Blow’s bassist and burgeoning super-producer Larry Smith, the trio – Joseph “Run” Simmons, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels and Jason “Jam Master Jay” Mizell – learned from the best, but created their own path. 1983 was the year that they first broke out. With only an Oberheim DMX drum program and some cuts by Jay, “Sucker M.C.s (Krush-Groove 1)” was a shot across the bow to the slick, post-disco pocket rap had settled into. It was raw, pure swagger and it took both New Yorkers and music aficionados around the world by storm. The song’s lyrics are a mandatory memorization assignment to this day by MCs learning their craft. “Two years ago, a friend of mine…”
The group’s sound, which was laid out muscularly on Run-DMC, had a harder approach than their peers, thanks to producer Larry Smith’s use of live musicians who laid down grooves but didn’t soften the edges. Lyrically the group wasn’t just about brags either, with songs like “Hard Times,” “It’s Like That” and “Wake Up” (the first two were singles). Run’s and DMC’s overlapping tag-team approach to lyricism was powerful and immensely influential.
“Rock Box,” another single and arguably the centerpiece of the album, was a nod to their hard edge, and a foreshadowing of their first worldwide smash, 1985’s “King Of Rock.” Jam Master Jay’s DJ work was stellar, knowing exactly when to jump in and put listeners’ ears in a headlock.
The album was the first rap full-length to achieve Gold status, and as fans know, the group was just getting started – their next two LPs would take them to even higher status in the music world, critically and sales-wise. But this is where it all started, and it’s a classic that still sounds
fresh today as it did more than 30 years ago.

it's sabotage again, no more pauls boutique ... brand new instrumental album by the original white boys with able assistance from Keyboard Money Mark and percussionist Alfredo Ortiz

Oh shiiiiii - we're back again with the most recent album by our man in Baltimore, Ill Conscious. Probably his dopest record to date, Acres of Diamonds dropped in 2022 and is entirely produced by Camden, NJ's Mute Won. Beats are ridiculous...



Sorry it took so long for you cats to get a vinyl release - crazy post-Covid lead times made it extremely hard to coincide with the digital release but the good news is that turnaround times have shrunk in the last few months and we are finally getting past the craziness of the last 2 years.



If you haven't heard this project yet, peep the snippets - the ish is Stunning!!!



450 copies in full colour jacket



Clear Vinyl Only