Hip-Hop Vinyl New Releases - News

Charlie Ahearn's 1983 film Wild Style holds a place in both music and cinematic history as one of the first examples of a hip-hop film. Since its original release it has been widely praised for its hybrid approach as both a narrative musical and a documentary, and as a time capsule of sorts into the culture of hip-hop during its infancy in the 1980s. Besides its classic depictions of MCing, turntablism, graffiti, and breakdancing, the film also featured now legendary figures of the genres in acting roles, such as Grandmaster Flash, Fab Five Freddy, Busy Bee Starski, and many more. Wild Style went on to garner an immense cult following, portions of the film itself would be sampled in records by artists like Nas, Beastie Boys, MF Doom, and more, and would even be exhibited by museums in Chicago and Boston as part of programs on the art of the 1980s. Beyond the film itself however, Wild Style's soundtrack has gone down in music history as a crucial piece of hip-hop handicraft. During a time where the sampling of records by Queen or Kool & The Gang was commonplace in the hip-hop scene, Ahearn took a different route in soundtracking his film, calling upon seasoned musicians like Chris Stein of Blondie and R&B session drummer Lenny Ferraro to produce an entirely original set of lyricless groove, which would be sampled into true hip-hop instrumental tracks by turntablist Grand Wizzard Theodore. The mystery and intrigue surrounding the breaks became the stuff of hip-hop legend, and a treasure trove for crate-diggers and vinyl enthusiasts. World-renowned DJ Kenny Dope, a longtime fan of the breaks that made up Wild Style's soundtrack, re-edited the tracks into full-length cuts in 2014. KayDee now presents the singles individually for the first time ever. Each 7" is a piece of hip-hop history, as some of the most highly regarded and sought-after instrumental beats of all time, from one of the most important music films of all time.

Charlie Ahearn's 1983 film Wild Style holds a place in both music and cinematic history as one of the first examples of a hip-hop film. Since its original release it has been widely praised for its hybrid approach as both a narrative musical and a documentary, and as a time capsule of sorts into the culture of hip-hop during its infancy in the 1980s. Besides its classic depictions of MCing, turntablism, graffiti, and breakdancing, the film also featured now legendary figures of the genres in acting roles, such as Grandmaster Flash, Fab Five Freddy, Busy Bee Starski, and many more. Wild Style went on to garner an immense cult following, portions of the film itself would be sampled in records by artists like Nas, Beastie Boys, MF Doom, and more, and would even be exhibited by museums in Chicago and Boston as part of programs on the art of the 1980s. Beyond the film itself however, Wild Style's soundtrack has gone down in music history as a crucial piece of hip-hop handicraft. During a time where the sampling of records by Queen or Kool & The Gang was commonplace in the hip-hop scene, Ahearn took a different route in soundtracking his film, calling upon seasoned musicians like Chris Stein of Blondie and R&B session drummer Lenny Ferraro to produce an entirely original set of lyricless groove, which would be sampled into true hip-hop instrumental tracks by turntablist Grand Wizzard Theodore. The mystery and intrigue surrounding the breaks became the stuff of hip-hop legend, and a treasure trove for crate-diggers and vinyl enthusiasts. World-renowned DJ Kenny Dope, a longtime fan of the breaks that made up Wild Style's soundtrack, re-edited the tracks into full-length cuts in 2014. KayDee now presents the singles individually for the first time ever. Each 7" is a piece of hip-hop history, as some of the most highly regarded and sought-after instrumental beats of all time, from one of the most important music films of all time.

Kristoff Krane is a Minneapolis based rapper known for his stream-of-consciousness approach to writing, freestyling and performing.

In addition to his solo releases, Krane was also frontman alongside Micheal Eyedea Larsen in Rhymesayers freestyle group, Face Candy. Kairos is his new two-part album with music by Graham O'Brien. Part one will be released on July 11, 2017, preceded by the lead single "Shine On (f. Lady Midnight). Part one also features: deM atlaS (Rhymesayers Entertainment), Jeremy Ylvisaker, Andrew Broder (Fog) and others.

Kicking stepping and dancefloor dub flavour !!

You, like I, like everyone, exist at the juncture between a single solid knowable past, and an infinity of possible futures. Which future becomes the present depends upon a combination of chance and millions of decisions, the vast majority of them so tiny they seem completely insignificant. Mostly we don't ever think about this process, but sometimes, the present you find yourself in is so hideously removed from the future which you previously imagined, you are forced to wonder how things went so horribly awry. All of those little choices don't seem so insignificant anymore. But wonder as you might, you can't change the basic fact, important things got fucked, and it's impossible to unfuck them. And there you are left, mourning for yesterday's futures, nostalgic for a reality which was only ever really imaginary.' - Personal correspondence - Mr Key to Greenwood Sharps - 15/02/2013
In May 2013, Mr Key and Greenwood Sharps met in a remote cottage in the North of Scotland to begin work on a collaborative project. The end result 'Yesterday's Futures' maps a journey through a very human process, coming to terms with the past, and searching for meaning in the present.
Yesterday's Futures is definitely a rap record, and yet, somehow it resonates beyond the often narrow confines of that genre. In the place of the usual self aggrandising braggadocio is a personal exploration of universal themes, loss, addiction, depression, childhood, and eventually, love and hope.
The combination of Key's honest and deeply personal lyrics with Greenwood's thickly textured and continuously evolving organic instrumentals paints an evocative picture of a world saturated in feeling, positive and negative. Key & Greenwood invite their audience to join them on a journey through a landscape of visceral emotion and beautiful noise, coloured with the bittersweet nostalgic palate of futures lost.
Always on point, Key is a natural teacher offering up his insights for our benefit. Yesterday's Futures is fresh learning.' Nick Mulvey
Mr Key is 1/5 of legendary hip hop crew Contact Play, alongside Jam Baxter, Dirty Dike, Ed Scissortongue and Ronnie Bosh. Elusive and enigmatic, rumours about his location and occupation abound. Libertarian mountain schools and off grid communes are often mentioned, but Key himself is unwilling to shed light on where he is or what he is doing.
Greenwood Sharps emerged as new and unique voice on the beat scene in 2011 with the release of his critically acclaimed debut ep 'Things Familiar'. After hearing the ep, Jamie XX contacted him personally, and name checked him as a producer he was loving in an interview with Clash. Since then however, Greenwood has been conspicuously absent. For the love of his beautiful music, we hope that we don't have to wait another 4 years for his next release.


[B] a2 | Exact Costs pt1 / All Rise (feat. Edward Scissortongue)

Since 2013, this duo has trademarked their discoveries with the appellation Beach Diggin', a label that certifies the quality and rarity of its products and guarantees a maximum dose of sunshine for every groove. Braving the hordes of sugar-hungry bees swarming around boxes of Caribbean records, the humidity in the holds of boats, or jostling to save 45's lying on the ground from being trampled underfoot, Guts and Mambo, at the risk of their own lives, have explored the most far-flung corners of the earth, all for a single purpose: To discover and to share.

The story of the great roots reggae harmony trio Black Uhuru is one defined by many unexpected twists and turns. In its best known form, led by Michael Rose and with founding member Duckie Simpson and the black American female vocalist,
Puma Jones, the group would enjoy the greatest popularity of any act in the wake of Bob Marley's untimely death in 1981, but the origins of the group lay in the turbulent Waterhouse district during the mid-1970s. Duckie first formed the group as Uhuru, the Swahili word for unity, with Garth Dennis as lead singer and Don Carlos to join him in harmony, after cutting an adaptation of the Impressions' Romancing To The Folk Song' at Dynamics, Time Is On Our Side' at Randy's for Clive Chin, and Slow Coach' for Raymond Benno' Anderson, Dennis drifted into the Wailing Souls and Don Carlos went solo, leading Duckie to recruit rising Waterhouse vocalist Michael Tony' Rose as lead singer, and Errol Nelson from the Jays for harmony. Their debut album, Love Crisis, was produced, voiced and mixed at King Tubby's studio by Prince Jammy and remains and outstanding example of Jammy's roots reggae production phase. The song Hard Ground' vamps on a similar theme to Marley's Talking Blues': Rose sings of a life of everyday hardship, with destitution and homelessness the pervading factors. On the extended dub portion and dub the instrumental cuts that follow the alternate vocal take of this enthralling 12-inch EP, you can hear the non-standard instrumentation that helps make the work so innovative, with Winston Wright's harpsichord melody emphasising the hopelessness of Rose's emotive lyrics, the commanding rhythm and understated bass and guitar from Robbie Shakespeare and Chinna Smith completing the picture.

ZamZam 52 is a fully outernational collaboration between Bukkha (Spain/US), Madplate Sound (Italy) and Junior Dread (Brazil). We love these kinds of link-ups, as the simple act of creating tunes across borders and continents for an international community of listeners and dancers is an act of resistance in a time of increasing nationalism and restrictions on peoples' movement."Nada A Perder' ("Nothing To Lose") leads off with hard skanks and a deceptively wistful melody. Enter the honeyed-yet-gritty voice of rootsman Junior Dread over mashing steppers drums and a monstrous bassline designed with nothing but sound system pressure in mind. Junior Dread's powerful vocal, sung beautifully in his native Portuguese, delivers a message centered on unifying across difference: 'When Bukkha came with the instrumental,' he says, "it made me think about overcoming our generation's biggest obstacles if we unite.' His inspiration in music comes from 'life itself and Jah the Creator,' and as a believer in 'Word Sound Power,' Junior Dread focuses exclusively on positive, empowering lyrics.The dub version travels deep through swirling vapor trails, carving out space by stripping back the vocal, echoing the skanks hard, opening up the reverbs, firing off the lasers, and valving-up the bassline for an even more militant side. Bukkha's profile continues to rise with recent releases on labels including Dub Stuy, and Moonshine, with more dropping soon. Sparring partner Madplate Sound has also released on Moonshine and Dub Stuy, and Junior Dread is well-known for tunes on the above labels, and the seminal 'Rise' on Gorgon Sound's Peng Sound debut.

Frans Zwartjes is famous for his art-house films (look him up on YouTube). A Dutch underground auteur, his prolific output dates from 1968. A unique talent, Zwartjes produced, directed and edited his own films (his last work was in 1991), but more importantly he created and improvised the soundtracks too. Zwartjes is still alive today and his large body of work is only now being recognised by a wider, more international crowd, with screenings at the NFT and other important art-house cinemas across the world. The recordings on Tapes 1 were mixed directly from the Zwartjes soundtrack tape archive. They were assembled directly and in real time by Zwartjes archivist Stanley Schtinter and were originally issued three years ago on cassette, in an edition of 50. Don't bother trying to find one of them.

The music, sound and speech have been put together as two long, seamless sequences; they are dreamlike, peculiar, plugged-in, prescient and unlike any other soundtrack we have heard.

All cues mastered and sequenced by Jon Brooks, AKA The Advisory Circle

Danny Offia's Funk With Me is a prime slab of Nigerian Boogie. Sinewy and urbane, it's the soundtrack of Lagos in the early eighties. The city was awash with oil money, clubs were booming and every night was a party night - the perfect place for a man with a great voice, a white suit and seductively-clutched packet of B&H Golds. Funk With Me was recorded in London with a crack team of session musicians. Drummer Blair Cunningham was from Memphis and had played with Robert Johnson. Sax player Ray Carless was regarded as the London jazz scene's best-kept secret. Engineer Duncan Bridgeman would go on to work with Duran Duran. Danny Offia brought the songs and the Lagos attitude. 'Funk With Me' is a certified party starter. '10 Years In Love' and 'Weak For You' are sophisticated groovers. 'Sat Nite (Is A Party Nite)' is guaranteed to get any girl on the dancefloor, while 'Don't Make Me Cry' is smooth enough take her home. Funk With Me is Lagos in an album - cosmopolitan, sexy and witty with an energy and spirit, all of its own. - Peter Moore

After years of gigging around the east Nigerian music scene, Foundars 15 finally hit the jackpot when they recruited legendary bass player, Marshall Udo. Charismatic and confident, Udo immediately energised the band, bringing a new funky and psychedelic vibe as well as a bunch of songs he'd workshopped with the Funkees. The tone of the album is set early. Nek Adirika's searing guitar lick announces 'We Are On The Move', a track that is both funky and determined. 'Co-operation' is a horn-driven slab of ghetto funk. 'Cool and Good (For Love)' is a psychedelic wig-out. 'Work To Success' could well be the new-look Foundars 15 manifesto set to music. While Marshall Udo was undoubtedly the catalyst, Co-operation is very much a group effort. Udo, Sony Enang, Nek Adirika and Ike Peters each provide songs and the musicianship of each player is impeccable. Every track is super-tight and sophisticated. This is the sound of a band that means business. It's also why Co-operation is widely regarded as one of the great Afro-Funk rock albums of all time. - Peter Moore

William Onyeabor wasn't the only Nigerian experimenting with synthesizers in the 70s and 80s. Goldfinger Doe was twiddling knobs too, no more so than on Let's Dance Together - a prime slab of cosmic Afro boogie funk, recorded with legendary percussionist, Mike Umoh (a.k.a B.M.S.) Goldfinger met Umoh playing with Bongos Ikwue & The Groovies. Bass player Bashiru Musa, was a fellow Groovie too, and when the three hit the studio to record Let's Dance Together, the groove was already tight and hot. The title track, 'Let's Dance Together', is an urgent boogie monster, peppered with cosmic synths. 'Funky Africa' is an irresistible floor-filler, driven by the 'funk in the black soil and the soul in the air.' 'Jah Help Us' is a reggae-tinged reworking of the Lord's Prayer, with added squelchy synth. 'B.M.S. Bowl' It's just an excuse for Umoh to show off his preposterous percussive skills. Goldfinger's extraordinary synth skills are always front and centre. They transform 'Jane', providing a humorous commentary in an otherwise straightforward romantic lament, and propel the funkier tracks to become the heartbeat of the album. Let's Dance Together is an Afro Funk space ship, fuelled up and ready to take off. - Peter Moore

All original organic groove trip hop coming out of Cincinnati Ohio. Analog recorded, hard hitting vintage funk drums, thick grooving bass lines, meticulous guitar riffs, soulful electric piano's & Hammond organs create an original soundscape of emotion & groove. This music (we feel) is in a class of it's own. We are not trying to duplicate a sound of yesteryear but explore a distinct natural sound of our own. In 2016 Grimez brought some of Cincinnati's best musicians in the studio to record raw analog recordings using vintage gear. Guitarist Brad Myers currently has a phenomenal jazz cd out Prime Numbers.' Organ/Keyboard prodigy, J-SKillZ, is a frequent session musician for Hi-Tek. Tim Hensley is the drummer for The Cliftones, a reggae band that is touring and receiving well deserved national notoriety. The remaining musicians all have degrees in Jazz and perform in many shows throughout Cincinnati.

Limited vinyl release of EP produced by the Alchemist for Jay Worthy of Lndn Drgs.

"Coral Cadavers" is an international hip-hop heist of epic proportions. The album re-teams long-time allied forces, German production duo JR & PH7 with New Jersey emcee trio St. Joe Louis.

Filled with off-kilter synths, jazzy samples, stuttered drums and occasional scratched choruses, JR & PH7 set an atmospheric and head-nodding soundscape throughout. St. Joe Louis emcees, Elete Wright, Michael Cardigan and Tommie Chase bound lyrically through each track, serving as narrators and Greek Chorus on this concept album.

According to Michael Cardigan, "Coral Cadavers" is a "neo-noir psychological thriller about a woman's descent into moral ambiguities against the backdrop of Los Angeles."

Guest emcees serve to add notable character exposition to the album including Roc Marciano (on "Driven"), Stalley (on "30,000") Rah Digga (on "Duck Duck Goose"), Phonte & Tamisha Waden (on "Invitation") respectively.

This album is the culmination of a musical partnership that began in 2010 with the release of the New High 7'. St. Joe Louis was also featured heavily on the JR & PH7 My Favourite Demons EP in 2012 (along with other NJ crew, Brokn English).

JR & PH7 have been working on music together for a decade. Among their work is numerous full-length producer albums (The Standard, The Update, The Good Life and Noir) which features appearances from notable emcees including Willie The Kid, Phonte, Sean Price and Roc Marciano. In 2015, JR & PH7 released "The South Sac Mack", their full-length album with Sacramento emcee Chuuwee.

Leon Ware's self-titled 1982 album has long been a holy grail for rare groove record collectors. Indeed, mint copies are rarely found for less than £100. A truly unsung legend, Leon Ware has written a stunning variety of classic soul music over the course of six decades.

He joined Motown in the late 60s and became one of the label's key writers. His most indelible contribution at Motown was Marvin Gaye's masterpiece I Want You. Ware's production and songwriting memorably took Gaye to another creative level.

Despite recording a handful of critically acclaimed solo albums for Motown and Elektra, including this one here, he has remained a secret to many outside the music industry.

Be With Records hope this timely reissue goes some way to rectifying that.

LP + BONUS 7"
9th Wonder, Phonte & Big Pooh ARE Little Brother. In Little Brother's music, the North Carolina group makes a specific point to highlight the more refined aspects of mid-'90s hip-hop. Basing its 2002 sound upon the foundation previously established by the likes of Pete Rock, A Tribe Called Quest, Jay Dee, and Black Star, Little Brother makes somewhat of a political statement by applying such standards to this modern age. The Listening does an exceptional job of proving that soulful meditations have indeed retained their traditional relevancy within the contemporary realms of rap. 9th Wonder's production leads the charge with distinct drum kicks pacing larger-than-life melodic samples, which are often enhanced with sultry female voice-overs. Meanwhile, Phonte and Big Pooh dig even deeper within the hip-hop vaults as they draw upon classic routines by the likes of Rakim, Slick Rick, and Audio 2 for their lyrical inspiration. Whether engaged in storytelling, braggadocio, or simple reassurance, the rhyming duo complements 9th Wonder's varying shades of mood music with a consistent degree of skill and sincerity. The album both starts and finishes strongly, with For You,' Speed,' Nighttime Maneuvers,' and the title track serving as its most stellar moments. Despite its unavoidably derivative orientation, The Listening is a finely crafted musical document, composed by artists who want nothing more than to provide even just a glimpse of hiphop purity within an ever-expanding maze of cultural deterioration.' - Robert Gabriel, Allmusic.com

Limited edition. It feels like Migos have been around for ages, but it was only October 2013 when the Atlanta trio broke out with Versace'. 2016 brought their most definitive statement yet in Culture, an album that you certainly heard (and will continue hearing) even if you haven't sought it out. Combining a larger-than-life sound with their signature triplet flow, tracks like Bad and Boujee', T-Shirt' and Kelly Price' have been ubiquitous of late and the trio has taken their rightful place at the pinnacle of the rap world. It's hard to say whether the masses expected greatness from the energizing trio but they've taken full advantage of the opportunity at hand.

The Drum Library series, which began back in 2001, has prided itself on compiling the hardest, crunchiest and most rarefied drums from every source imaginable. We've held to this standard for over 15 years, providing professional producers & bedroom beat makers alike with the largest collection of quality drums available today. In short, the Drum Library series has become an industry standard. The ever-expanding, go-to kit for beat makers around the world. Now, with the conclusion of the series at Volume 15, you hold in your hands, what will be the last vinyl incarnation of the Drum Library series. These drums actually constitute what would have originally been Volume 4 and 5 before the masters were initially thought to have been lost in a flood that gutted the studio where, up until then, the Drum Library series were made. Fortuitously perhaps, these last two orphaned' volumes were discovered safe & sound in a storage unit just as Vol.15 was wrapping up. We've compiled them both here in one special edition volume. We hope you've had as much fun using the Drum Library series as we've had making them. Thank you for your support over the years!

Starchild Jr. named GARRETT SHIDER, is a seriously talented guitarist, much lauded and in demand in the music industry. This might be unsurprising since Garrett was brought up on guitars being the son of legendary PARLIAMENT / FUNKADELIC guitarist, musical director GARRY SHIDER. This Funky album is a tribute from son to father, and an extension of PFunk Allstars (the next generation so to speak). 'Hand me down diapers' is a punchy versatile album with gorgeous guitars and harmony. Featured on it is the Funk maestro himself, GEORGE CLINTON, as well as other bandmembers of today's FUNKADELIC crew. - Rachel Kinoti

While preparing for my radio show about a year ago, I put a kite out to the kids that I was looking for some heat to play. This kid sent me a 20 second clip of a work in progress. It was sublime. He kept sending beats per my request. It was exciting how consistently good the shit was. Blissful, downtempo escapism. His production took me somewhere else, in a time where a retreat from the increasingly stressful day to day is more than welcomed. That first track he sent, Huey', starts off Balloons, Wowflower's debut LP on Street Corner Music, just as it started the dialogue between the two of us. The Street Corner faithfuls will not be disappointed. This shit is fantastic.' -House Shoes