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Devistating Dave the Turntable Slave – Zip Zap Rap 12” (Superstar International Records) 1986
^There’s something about these old school anti crack joints that really trips my trigger. These things are never going to come back around in Hip Hop and they are really interesting milestone markers when you find them.
OST – House Party 2 LP (MCA Records) 1991
^I remember watching this as a kid, thinking that Kid and Play was so cool LOL. Bought this for 2 reasons, 3 actually, for reminiscent reasons, for Eric B and Rakim’s – What’s On Your Mind, and for the price tag, sealed it was 5 bucks shipped. I already have “What’s on your Mind” on 12” but it’s a shoddy reissue sounds like ass, and the original 12” is expensive and hard to find, but it’s easy to get that track sounding really nice on record on this cheap soundtrack. I actually like quite a few of the other tracks on here but for sure that song was the dominating reason. I consider that song one of my all-time favorite tracks by the GOD.
OST – Class Act LP (Giant Records) 1992
^Shipped in the same package I got House Party II for basically the same reasons, sealed, cheap, and throw back vibes. Although this isn’t nearly as good, there is a couple decent tracks, maybe 2 or 3. I think Kid had the curse of Samson, when he cut his hair, he lost all his powers and fizzled out of movie stardom and rap. I know, technically he did a few more flicks and songs after this but it just wasn’t the same without the giant eraser.
Various - Rhyme Syndicate Comin' Through LP (Warner Bros) 1988
^ File under essential crew oriented Hip Hop comp. Lots of great tracks from great MCs and cheap and easy to find on wax.
Skinny Boys – Skinny (They Can’t Get Enough) LP (Jive) 1988
^My all-time favorite Skinny Boys LP. Great production on that throughout. Side thought: Is hip hop ever gonna go back to the matching one piece outfits cuz I think it should. Even this candy cane shit works for these guys.
Brand Nubian – One For All LP (Elektra) 1990
^Finally got this classic on vinyl. Bout damn time.
Stezo – Crazy Noise LP (Fresh Records) 1989
^For some reason I got a shoddy repress of this a while ago and found the OG sealed recently so I bought that to replace the weak pressing. Another album from the Golden Era that is a power house of an album, very little filler (if any) and even Paul C gets engineering credits on this.
King Sun – XL LP (Profile Records) 1989
^Another fine album from 89. Besides the slow jam and the slightly corny Hip house, this one is really solid. Some great James Brown samples on this. Like, THIS is how you sample James Brown, drop needle, nod head, type ish.
Beatnuts – A Musical Massacre LP (Loud) 1999
^Not their best album ever but far from weak. Some real great beats and guests are on this Beatnuts album. A solid listen all the way through both discs.
Mobb Deep – Hell on Earth LP (Loud) 1996
^I never get sick of this album. That’s all I can say about this right now, but I play this record all the time for real.
Nine – Cloud 9 LP (Profile Records) 1996
^Some great beats from Ken Duro on this and of course the gritty lyrical stylings of Nine. There’s even a Portishead sample on this (or an Isaac Hayes loop of Ike’s Rap II) if I’m not mistaken.
Lord Finesse – Party Over Here 12” (Giant) 1992
^Classic 12”. Great remixes on this make the 12” worth seeking.
Pete Rock – Soul Survivor II (Rapster Records) 2004
^Not bad, I had this a long time and kind of forgot about it. Not as good as the original but still a good sequel.
Prince Paul – A Prince Among Thieves LP (Tommy Boy) 1999
^The Hip Hop record is really a one of a kind record. A Hip Hop opera in a way, a complete story with a twist at the end. Kool Keith is funny as hell on this.
Various - Wake Up Show Freestyles Vol 3 (Not on Label) 1996
^Slowly but surely trying to get all these Wake Up Shows, there’s real snapshot-in-time gold in some of these Freestyles.
Edan – Primitive Plus LP (Lewis) 2002
^Such a kick ass album. He really showcased his talent well on this release. Edan needs to drop another album it’s been way too long.
Little Brother – The Chittlin Circuit 1.5 LP (Fastlife) 2005
^I got this and I got the 1.0 on CD, both pretty different. This one and their next album was alright then I kinda fell off them once they started getting a little too sidetracked in their later Foreign Exchange side projects.
Mix Master Mike – Anti Theft Device LP (Asphodel) 1998
^Best thing MMM ever dropped. The beats on this from 1998 could not be fucked with at all. I wore out the CD long ago, so I was glad to see this on vinyl priced right.
Gangrene – Vodka & Ayahuasca LP (Decon) 2012
^When I bought this it had just came out and frankly I wasn’t feeling it. It’s basically psychedelic sampled Hip Hop, very heavy on the left field psych. I wasn’t ready for it I guess because I gave it another shot recently and it really is pretty cool. Definitely pretty different from the stuff I’m used to from Oh No and Alchemist but I get it now.
Doppelgangaz – The Ghastly Duo EP (Groggy Pack Entertainment) 2008
^Laid back and dope.
K-Def – The Exhibit LP (Redefinition Records) 2013
^Finally got around to getting this now older K-Def album. Honestly, I am not feeling the first 3 tracks with rappers on it, but once the rap stops by the 4th track it’s all just his instrumentals at that point and it’s a very good thing. His beats on this are just way too thick with all kinds of instrumentation for rappers to try to compete with, and that’s what the first 3 tracks sound like. It’s mellow and laid back but it’s so thick for rap, he shoulda just played those without the rap and it would have been less cluster fuckish feeling. It takes a special kind of mix to be able to put horns and an MC together without clashing and that isn’t it. This is worth having though if you are a fan of K-Def’s laid back instrumentals regardless.
Damu the Fudgemunk – Spare Overtime Re-Inspired LP (Redefinition) 2014
^Speaking of laid back vibes, this is all laid back Damu blunted beats. Apparently they are remixed versions of the original songs so it’s brand new old shit type shit. Good shit though.
“Lesser artists borrow... great artists steal.” - Igor Stravinsky
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