Leave The Bells (feat Halfcut & Ghettosocks) (3:16)
All Or Nothing (feat Adam Bomb, Merkules, Fortified Mind & Halfcut) (3:33)
Review: Calgary's DJ Cosm, scar-faced veteran of hip-hop, has been immersed in the culture since toddlerhood. Longtime host of The Main Ingredient mix show on CJSW 90.9, he's furthermore half of the celebrated rap duo Dragon Fli Empire. On his latest 7", Cosm merges golden era influences with modern boom bap production, drawing from his digital album Natural Within; kicking off with the hard-hitting 'Rome', which corrals fellow rappers Daniel Son and Saipher Soze, then moving on to the funky boom-bapper 'Leave The Bells' with Halfcut and Ghettosocks, we're in good company with Cosm's signature scratches. On the B, 'All Or Nothing' brings a fierce break, with Adam Bomb, Mercules, Fortified Mind, and Halfcut laying down sharpened verses.
Review: Japanese talent DJ Koco aka Shimokita is a hardcore 45rpm devotee. They are his chosen tools as a beat-juggling DJ who can do logic-defying things with his grooves. He is a regal on Bloom and already dropped serious heat in January with 'World Famous'. This time he is back with a fresh take on 'Made In New York' which is a 1985 classic by renowned Brazilian funk and jazz pianist Tania Maria. He brings his signature hip-hop flair and creativity with his trusted crew, 45trio, and enlists the dynamic saxophonist King TJ (DA-Dee-MiX) to elevate things further.
Review: DJ Mitsu The Beats summons up a mellow, jazz-tinged spin on Norah Jones' early classic 'Sunrise', following a plucky piano-studio sesh shared with Takumi Kaneko of Cro-Magnon. After a cannonballing digital release, the "instrumental chill" track now takes shape as a 7" single, suturing Mitsu's laidback bop to Kaneko's smooth, sunspot piano lines. With cover photography by surf documentarian Atsushi Kumano, the single was in turn singled out for the surf music compilation Salt Meets Island Cafe: Sea of Love 2, curated by new lifestyle magazine Salt. Balancing beachside ease and unsurpassable musicianship, this track hankers at the title for next best surf-chill anthem.
Review: An eagerly awaited repress of DJ Shepdog's 2006 mashup of Damian Marley's 'Welcome To Jamrock' with Dead Prez's 'It's Bigger Than Hip Hop', effortlessly juxtaposing one of contemporary dancehall's most iconic vocals with undeniably one of the fattest basslines ever laid. This iconic pairing is flanked by ultra fun cut 'Sleng Hop' uniting the original Dead Prez acapella with another of the world's most famous basslines- Prince Jammy's Casiotone MT-40 'rock & roll' rhythm... You do the math!
Review: Romanian psych-house outfit DRG Series follows heartily in the tradition of dropping vowels and rendering titles in all-caps, helping us to vascularly administer a heavy dose of DRGs. Four disinhibitors - we mean it, as these tracks are incredibly loose in feel - 'Track 1' and 'Track 2' pump and sway through unholy garage house swings and vintage hauled, shoop-a-doop sample oddities; it's only at the point of the B-side when we reach a whistling version of Ciara's '1, 2 Step' set to clinching electro, and 'Track 4' befuddles further with tense, materially informed exercise in soulful bruk. A real eclectic release from an even kookier label, well worth the spin.
Lost Girl (Marc Hype & Jim Dunloop Late Night rework) (3:24)
Special Technique Of Love (Jim Dunloop Shaolin Soul edit) (3:08)
Review: The mighty Dusty Donuts return to Queensbridge where they encounter a 'Lost Girl' featured on a legendary mixtape by one of QB's finest. This bouncy, choppy Marc Hype & Jim Dunloop Late Night Remix is sure to ignite any gathering. On the flipside, the vibes shift from Queensbridge to Staten Island and bring a special sound to work the crowd - this heavy soul classic arrives in true Shaolin style with choppy, dark soul chords and classic hip-hop beats. It's a track that commands attention with the drums but also locks in head and heart.
Review: Telefax Productions - mysterious musical masterminds formed by veteran producers with roots in the late 80s - finally drop a vinyl release of their 2024 breakout club anthem, 'Break This House Down'. It is an unashamedly revivalist hip-house banger backed by proper DJs like Honey Dijon and Luke Solomon and features fiery verses from rising Buffalo MC DeeVoeNay. Alongside the flame-hot original is a live band version with HR Nightmare, plus a rough and ready bruk remix from London's EVM128 and last but not least, a visceral acid house rework. This is a perfect example of how you balance nostalgia and freshness and do it right. The package is finished in style with fine artwork by KLF legend Jimmy Cauty.
Review: Here's a timely re-issue that reminds us all just how quickly time flies. Already alternative rap OGs by the time this first saw the light of day back in 2004, De La Soul brought together the hip-hop elite to collaborate on their seventh studio album. Featuring cameos and production from the likes of J Dilla, Madlib, 9th Wonder, Supa Dave West, and MF Doom, the LP was met with critical acclaim when released and continues to stand up nearly 20 years later. Nostalgic yet forward-thinking, the well-formed album includes plenty of high points. 'Shopping Bags' offers a cautionary tale flow over dusty beats with a mightily hooky chorus, 'Rock Co.Kane Flow' demonstrates the group's ability to evolve with the changing times, while the feel-good flex of the title track is a standout, hands-in-the-air classic.
Facelift (feat Estee Nack, Raz Fresco & Daniel Son) (3:19)
Overkill (feat Hus Kingpin) (1:38)
You're Dead (feat Al.Divino & Crimeapple) (3:12)
83 Canadian Hollow Tips (feat P-Dirt, Raz Fresco & Daniel Son) (3:35)
Head Hunters (feat Izrell) (3:41)
Welcome To Hell (feat P-Dirt, DJ Eclipse & ILL BILL) (2:54)
Maximum Overdrive (feat Raz Fresco, Goretex & J-Spliff) (3:42)
White Crown (feat Casual, DJ Eclipse & Planet Asia - part 2) (3:31)
Call Me Snake (feat P-Dirt & J-Spliff) (3:34)
Wild Style Warz (feat Raz Fresco & Da Flyy Hooligan) (3:52)
Writing On The Wall (feat Izrell & J-Spliff) (3:20)
Review: Bay Area producer Dead Perry follows up on the success of The Art of Re-Animation with his dark, gritty solo LP Acoustic Shadows. After impressing with his reimagining of Hieroglyphics' Casual's work, Perry now leans fully into his signature shadowy style and has said he was inspired by a Civil War phenomenon where sound vanishes due to geography for this work. The album's title reflects Perry's low-profile, graffiti-rooted ethos and the tunes feature a stacked lineup with Casual, Planet Asia, Ill Bill, Estee Nack and more all involved on a project that dives into murky sonic terrain. Standout track 'Call Me Snake' evokes John Carpenter and inspired P-Dirt's concept lyrics. A brilliant return.
Police State (feat Chairman Omali Yeshitela) (3:40)
Behind Enemy Lines (3:24)
Assassination (1:40)
Mind Sex (4:51)
We Want Freedom (4:29)
Be Healthy (2:34)
Discipline (1:58)
Psychology (5:15)
Happiness (3:48)
Animal In Man (4:27)
You'll Find A Way (3:11)
It's Bigger Than Hip-Hop (feat Tahir & Peoples Army) (3:47)
Propaganda (5:11)
The Pistol (4:14)
Review: The debut album by hip-hop duo Dead Prez was released in 2000 and quickly earned critical acclaim. Praised as a "return to politically conscious rap," it drew comparisons to acts like Public Enemy, Brand Nubian and The Coup. Let's Get Free features stark, direct lyrics delivered over sparse beats with M-1 and stic.man addressing issues like media manipulation, the music industry, poverty and systemic oppression - all of which remain relevant battlegrounds to this day. They advocate for socialism and black power while condemning societal inequalities and for that, Rolling Stone awarded the album four stars, highlighting its powerful commentary on the connections between classrooms, prisons and systemic control
Review: This debut album is sure to prove a solo breakthrough for DJ Narciso. It taps into Lisbon's rich reserves of kuduro and puts a devastatingly fresh new spin on the sound in the wake of pioneers like Nidia, N Fox and P. Adrix. Narciso pushes drill-adjacent rhythms and tresillo syncopations here and creates a unique European counterpart to Havana's wild sense of rhythm that is, at its core, deeply rooted in West African traditions. Tracks like 'Ziu Ziu (Reprise)' and 'Cabelinho' explore quirky textures and unpredictable grooves while 'Vai Estragar a Camera' echoes early Nazar's cantankerous vibe and '5 Do Jo' and 'Jogo' deliver heavy basslines and experimental sounds that cement Narciso's distinctive style in Lisbon's unique landscape.
Review: Chicago's standout beat innovator DJ Slugo is back to reclaim his throne as the self-proclaimed "king of ghetto house" with this new seven-track album. It is packed with some of the most real and raw ghetto sounds of now with hip-house and Miami bass also checked into the mixer and spat out the other side in time for Record Store Day 2025. Killer dance floor weapons are everywhere you listen here - 'Drop It Low 112707' has chopped and screwed vocals and corrugated drums and bass. 'Back Da Fuck U' (feat Missy - remix has tumbling kicks and bass and sleazy vocal samples and 'F*ck These Hoe' is as silly as it is seriously effective.
For My Dogs (feat Big Stan, Loose, Kasino & Drag-On) (4:02)
I Can Feel It (4:08)
Prayer (skit) (2:30)
The Convo (3:35)
Niggaz Done Started Something (feat The LOX & Murda Mase) (4:57)
Review: DMX was a mould-breaking force. Twisting a savage gangstra rap energy around a barking flow, he imparted street knowledge in a soul-rattling voice that, to this day, still leaves us feeling thoroughly sergeant-drilled. Some deemed him a snarling negative of 2pac, though deeper heads knew him better for his unexpected vulnerabilities, on full display as early on as his studio debut, It’s Dark And Hell Is Hot. Earl Simmons had endured an abusive upbringing and struggled with crack addiction from a young age; his later life would be marked by prison stints and rehab, but his music was a way to "create concerts that felt more like a church service”. These pious emphatics - the moment, the church, duty - certainly contrasted his manifest badboy, raw-dog persona. From ‘Let Me Fly’ to ‘Stop Being Greedy’ through to the skit ‘Prayer’, DMX presented a downcast debut with enduring, parabolic lessons, going beyond the morose veils of moral dubiety and antiheroism.
Review: On Alligator Bites Never Heal, Doechii blends her Tampa roots with her current Los Angeles life, embodying the past, present, and future of music in under an hour. A verbal banjaxer of countless genres, she delivers an eclectic mix of sounds, striking a pose on the cover as a stone-faced albino alligator queen. The mixtape follows the success of her Eurodance-ish hit 'Alter Ego', which was praised by SZA and remixed with a verse from JT. Doechii now finesses her streak, with such energetic tracks as 'MPH' and 'ROCKET' making for remarkable, cutting summer anthems.
Review: Doechii drops a vivid, genre-blurring mixtape, riffing on her Floridian roots and personal battles, relaying them over an arresting artistic statement. Raised in Tampa, she first gained attention with the viral hit 'Yucky Blucky Fruitcake' before signing with Top Dawg Entertainment in 2022. The mixtape's title and cover, with Doechii holding an albino alligator, nod to her "Swamp Princess" nickname and symbolize resilience" as she explained, "This mixtape is my riposte. I am no one's prey; I was born to be the predator." Doechii confronts industry pressures, sobriety, and self-worth with sharp lyricism and stylistic versatility, over standouts like 'Denial Is A River' and 'Boom Bap'.
Review: Following her weekly Swamp Sessions on YouTube - in which the rapper demonstrated her biting bars against eye-catching, patinated visuals - came the third mixtape from Doechii, now released on vinyl. The album's name suggested unwound hurt, marked by the caiman power of a perfidious love interest, whose bite has indeed left its mark. Philosophical, penumbral yet still lively in spirit, the American artist spans a variety of hip-hop styles here, with 'Denial Is A River' serving her ex a "gotcha" in thickly laid bars and booming beats, and 'Nissan Altima' bringing further skeeting rhythms and autofire bars, which order her male competitors to bow down, as the claim is laid to the crown of new hip-hop Madonna.
Review: Among heads, this is of the most hotly championed hip-hop collab records of all time - and yet it is all too unknown. Doomstarks is the fabled collaboration of masked raconteur come rapper MF Doom and one of nine sonic samurai, Ghostface Killah (here known as Tony Starks); Swift & Changeable: The Prequel is their quick-wristed, mic-proximate debut mixtape, released in 2012. Just as some comic books series would prologue their main stories with pre-release strips, The Prologue served as the "unofficial" warm-up to accompany the pair's long-anticipated debut album of the same name. The Prequel hears some of Doom and Ghost's most popular tracks and collabs from various projects, including the original Doomstarks tune 'Vistory Laps'; the album provides a chopped but not screwed experience, playing out in the style of a gapless, scratch-heavy DJ mix.
Review: Doseone teams up with New York prodder Steel Tipped Dove for a sharp-edged, forward-charging record, playing talents of both back at full voltage. After not quite finishing another ShrapKnel record, Doseone felt a creative jolt in the other direction, after which knife-tip moment he would reach out to fellow artists Dove and Fatboi Sharif. Such redirections often cause the creative process to loosen, and here was no exception, with APNC going from a stagnant entanglement to blistering rollout. Within weeks of receiving the first beat pack in late 2023, dose had recorded five tracks; and by Spring, the end was in sight. Though not typically down for guest spots, Dose called on a tight circle of kindred spirits - Open Mike Eagle, M.Sayyid, Billy Woods, Fatboi Sharif, Myka 9, and Andrew Broder on turntables - whom all lend the project extra scratchy, verbal dimensionalities. The result is a taut, unsentimental record that marries Dove's vivid, shape-shifting production with Doseone's most surgically precise writing in years.
Review: It's been a while since we've heard from high-end hip-hop helmers PartyNextDoor and Drake. The two superstars usually work together to make ethereal stopovers on otherwise damn hard rap records, especially by the latter former Young Money megastar. Though the pair have never worked on a full-length album together before, Some Sexy Songs 4 U tots up to the third in an unsaid series of Drake collab albums, following ones between 21 Savage and Future. Dealing in themes of sexual jealousy and ongoing personal feuds - especially amid tumultuous fallouts between the larger private-jet-bound artist and various smaller up-and-comers such as Ice Spice - the record offers a stylistic range on an wide trap smorgasbord, working in Mexican rock samples and alt-rock progressions.
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