Juno Recommends Hip Hop / R&B Best of 2018

Review: One of the baddest to ever do it, American Big Daddy Kane has an arsenal of gems in his back cat. This one came in 1987 and is one of his many classic tracks, now available on Prism Records. It's a perfect old school sound complete with mad DJ scratches, squealing horn sounds and dusty breaks for the b-boys. The rap work is impassioned, with articulate delivery hitting hard. Flip it over and you will be treated to a never before released instrumental that is also well worth adding to the collection.

Review: Jorun Bombay has form for breathing new life into Jackson family favourites, having previously released a fine 7" featuring a stellar revision of "It's Great To Be Here". This time he tackles a solo MJ cut, lacing the vocal and horns from "Soul Makossa"-inspired single "Got To Be Startin' Something" over a bustling, bass-heavy groove previously featured on one of the most famous hip-hop cuts of all time. Arguably even better is flipside "Give Me The Remix", a brilliant, 1980s 12" dub style revision of another Q Jones production. It's pleasingly stripped-down, making use of the original's killer synth bassline, jazz guitars and sing-along vocals, whilst jettisoning much of the musical filler. Top stuff, all told.

Review: Party-starting twosome Computa Games - AKA producers Quickie Mart (arf) and Kung Fu Chris - can usually be relied upon to bring the goods. They've certainly hit the spot with their second seven-inch for Superjock Records. A-side "Rock Creek (Revenge)" is particularly good: a whole-hearted, thoroughly authentic tribute to Jonzun Crew style electro full of rubbery slap bass, crispy drum machine hits, colourful synth stabs and robotic vocoder vocals. They flip the script on flipside banger "Apache 3000", a Double Dee and Steinski style tribute to early NYC hip-hop culture built around an impressive array of cuts, sratches, breaks, beats and vocal snippets seemingly lifted from all manner of early rap and electro records. Naturally, the Incredible Bongo Band's "Apache" break provides the necessary sonic glue.