Back catalogue: All genres

Review: 2Pac's final album released in his lifetime gets a lavish reissue treatment spread across four discs. All Eyez On Me was a landmark when it dropped - the first hip-hop double album released for mass consumption, and featuring a heavyweight cast of collaborators from Dr Dre and George Clinton to Snoop Dogg, Redman, Method Man, Nate Dogg and more. From the massive singles 'California Love' and 'I Ain't Mad Atcha' to the deeper album cuts, it's a milestone in hip-hop history from start to finish. Consider this the definitive version of one of the greatest, from one of the greatest.

Review: Armand Hammer is the New York-based duo of ELUCID and Billy Woods and now they are back with their first new album in two years. We Buy Diabetic Test Strips is a debut long player for Fat Possum and it is their biggest work yet with plenty of high-profile guest spots from the likes of JPEGMAFIA, EL-P, Kenny Segal, Black Noi$e, Preservation, DJ Haram, Child Actor, Sebb Bash, August Fanon, and more. Since they were last recording together, ELUCID and billy woods have both released critically acclaimed solo albums but show that they save some special magic for when they join up in the studio.

Review: To commemorate the 30 year Anniversary of Cypress Hill's debut album, Get On Down presents the complete album on 7 inch vinyl singles for the first time ever housed in a deluxe casebook. Cheeky, goblin-like rhymes come courtesy of lead vocalist B-Real and hypeman Sen Dog, doing justice to the two-tone rapper-hypeman formula of the day, trailblazed by Public Enemy. An important slice of history homing in on one of the few hip hop acts to straddle the rivalry between East and West Coast rap at the time.

Review: It was big news this year when hip-hop legends De La Soul finally made all of their music available to stream on digital platforms. That move was backed up by them also dropping a load of reissues of their finest albums and now we have, for Record Store Day/Back Friday, this special coloured vinyl boxset featuring their most iconic LP, 3 Feet High and Rising, on seven individual 7"s, making them perfect for DJ deployment. The box set also includes a funky slipmat making this a perfect Christmas gift for the hip-hop head in your life.

Review: The third full-length from experimentalist punk/hip-hop trio Death Grips originally arrived in 2013, just a mere year on from their exceptionally warped debut LP The Money Store and its equally depraved sophomore follow up No Love Deep Web. Made up of math-rock drummer extraordinaire Zach Hill, programmer and synth mangler Andy Morin, and of course the confrontational MC Ride; Government Plates proved the collective were seemingly unable to artistically sit still, while refusing to exude a modicum of stagnation in their prolific early days. Celebrating its ten year anniversary, while just finishing up a chaotic headline set at this year's Outbreak Fest held in Manchester, the mystique and allure of Death Grips has only continued to swell with time, and this overlooked gem (as it falls between two of their most quintessential projects) couldn't be more in need of vital appreciation and reappraisal.

Review: Hip-hop super group Dinner Party is made up of Kamasi Washington, Robert Glasper, Terrace Martin and 9th Wonder. They have a wide array of sounds and skills between them and put them to good use on their second album Enigmatic Society, which is presented here as a Japanese Edition on milk-clear white vinyl with the requisite obi-strip. This is super smooth material that mixes up hip hop, new soul, jazz and plenty of great samples to make for a laidback and romantic record full of lovely vocals from the likes of Phoenix, Orin Ray and Ant Clemens.

Review: There are an awful lot of great records in the J Dilla's catalogue, but few can match the consistent quality and coherent construction of Welcome 2 Detroit, his 2001 breakthrough album. Designed as a love letter to his home city with a sample palette and blend of styles to match, it saw the late producer and a string of then largely unknown local MCs showcase their vocal talents over some of his best ever beats. This lusciously expansive 20th anniversary box set does a brilliant job in expanding on the original album, with the 12 included "45s" pairing vocal mixes with instrumentals, unreleased cuts and occasional remixes. The included hardback book is brilliant, too, and packed with first-hand accounts of the creation of a now iconic LP.

Review: Alternative hip-hop wunderkind JPEGMAFIA unveiled Ghost Pop Tape in 2023 under his current moniker, and made it widely available to streaming platforms, yet the 23-track mixtape was originally released a full decade prior in 2013 under the prolific MC/producer's birth name of Devon Hendryx. Featuring a less focused, lo-fi, alt-r&b vibe compared to the more animated, frenetic and dynamic modern persona of Peggy, the tape finally comes home to wax for all of those uber-fan completionists utterly bothered by the project's absence from their shelves...until now!

Review: The fourth album from Colombian-Spanish singer Kali Uchis translates as Without Fear (of Love and Other Demons)). It is her first record sung primarily in Spanish which does nothing at all to detract from the beauty of her delivery. Guests such as PartyNextDoor, Nasty and Cortez add their own flavours but the overriding vibe of this one is bright, melodic bedroom pop, r&b and reggaeton with funky breaks and trippy jazz stylings. Love is often in the air throughout the record which often soars to blue skies and brings the rays direct to your face.

Review: Swimming by the late Mac Miller, released in 2018, stands as a poignant testament to the rapper's artistic evolution and introspective depth. The album is a sonic exploration of self-discovery and resilience, addressing themes of mental health and personal growth. Miller's introspective lyricism, coupled with lush production and jazzy instrumentation, creates a soulful and immersive soundscape with tracks like 'Self Care' and 'Ladders' showing his lyrical vulnerability and musical versatility. Swimming not only received critical acclaim but also serves as a bittersweet reflection on Miller's artistic prowess and leaving an indelible mark on fans in the process.

Review: The arrival of the Acapellas Anonymous series in the mid/late '80s was a massive gamechanger, giving immediate access to DJs and producers to hundreds of vocal samples that would have taken a fortune (and a lifetime) to collect. Edit king Mr K has rebuilt, remastered, and carefully portioned them onto a five disc set of 7-inch singles, "including all the classic vocal bits that became iconic samples," and more than a few new additions to bring things up to date. You'll know more than a few of these on first listen, others you may have never even realised were samples, but no-one will underestimate the power of a great vocal sample dropping in the right way in the right mix. An absolute essential.

Review: Post Malone, or Postie to his hardcore fans, titled this most recent album in reference to his real name, Austin Post, which gives you an idea about the extra vulnerability and honesty of the music. He plays guitar on every single track and says it made the record the most challenging yet rewarding of his career to work on. Early singles 'Mourning' and 'Chemical' have been big with fans and newcomers alike and his fifth album overall, which is also one of 2023's most anticipated, builds on and intensifies the sound of his last outing, Twelve Carat Toothache, from 2022. This is a special milky clear vinyl version of one of the most anticipated records of the year.

Review: The American hip-hop group Run DMC are some of the earliest pioneers of rap and hip-hop music. The pair emerged from a strange melting pot of a time in which rap was still stooped in the late vestiges of funk, but rappers themselves were becoming more interested in fusing their now harder-beat-driven style with elements of other extant and popular styles such as rock. Such is why this Run DMC album is called 'King Of Rock', capturing the duo's striking out into appealing to the already established rock music market, with guitar riffs and drum machines fusing neatly together on cuts like 'King Of Rock', 'You Talk Too Much', and 'Can You Rock It Like This'.

Review: Raising Hell was legendary US hip-hop group Run-D.M.C's third studio album and it dropped in May 1986. The one and only Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons produced the album which peaked at three in the Billboard chart and also produced some of the band's biggest ever singles. They are of course 'My Adidas', 'Walk This Way' with Aerosmith', 'You Be Illin'' and 'It's Tricky' and are the sound of this collective at their most potent. Raising Hell is also the name of one of the band's legendary tours back in 1986 and The Apollo 86, a live recording of one of the nights in that run, is one of their best, so why not cop both.

Review: Canadian singer The Weeknd has just been announced as the half time act for this year's Super Bowl, which is another crowning glory for an artist who has made a remarkable rise to the top. One of his early standout achievements was his Beauty Behind The Madness album, which is re-released here on its fifth anniversary. It was his sophomore long player and feature big guest like Ed Sheeran and Lana Del Ray which helped it debut at number one in several countries around the world. Filled with some harder truths than previous music yet with plenty of catchy hooks and singalong choruses, it prove The Weeknd was more versatile than people thought.

Review: Cast your mind back to 2011 if you can, when Canadian legend The Weeknd was just making his debut appearance with the House Of Balloons mixtape. He set out his stall quickly as a vital new voice in the field of RnB, producing everything alongside Illangelo, Cirkut and Doc McKinney and laying his life down in the most ear-snagging bars. There are some audacious samples which have only been cleared since his star rose and he had the clout to make it happen, and so now this highly-anticipated 10th Anniversary Edition lands and you can hear The Weeknd's opening salvo how it should be heard.

Review: This has been a year of celebration for hip-hop with artists, labels and festivals all marking the still standout genre's 50th anniversary. As part of that, Def Jam has put together this Hip Hop's 50th Anniversary Edition of Young Jeezy's Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101 album on limited and gatefold triple fruit punch vinyl. It was originally released in 2005 by indie label Corporate Thugz and marked a fine commercial debut for the artists who'd already put out two mixtapes at that point. IA raw and hard hitting mix of gangsta and southern rap and trap, it's a high watermark for those styles, with singles like 'Soul Survivor' and 'My Hood' performing well.