Juno Recommends Hip Hop / R&B August 2020

Review: The latest slab of sure-fire dancefloor heat on Wah Wah 45s' "Dubplate" series comes courtesy a Haynesy, a duo renowned for the fat, party-starting nature of their reworks, with turntable wizard Jabbathakut providing plenty of on-point scratches. What we get here is not "edits", but rather banging new hip-hop beats laden with classic acapellas. On side A they bring Jungle Brothers' hip-house classic "I'll House You" back to its hip-hop roots, layering the NYC crew's famous vocals over a bustling, up-tempo, Latin-tinged hip-hop beat. Over on the flip they take on Beastie Boys classic "Root Down", with Jabbathakut's tidy deck-work sparring with acapella vocals atop a weighty club hip-hop beat.

Review: For those whose Californian hip-hop collection is missing a few gems, the West Coast Classics series should be a must-check. The latest edition in the series of the light-touch "45 Edits" by Ronnie Frazzle serves up two more essential cuts from the peerless Dr Dre and lesser-celebrated Death Row Records signee The Lady of Rage. Side A boasts the superb "Nuthin' But A G Thing" from Dre's iconic 1992 album "The Chronic", in which the main man and Snoop Dogg trade verses over a typically on-point G-funk style beat. The Lady of Rage's 1994 jam "Afro Puffs" is a darker, sleazier and tougher affair, with the Virginia-raised rapper's distinctive flow rising above punchy beats, creepy chords and a filthy analogue bassline.

Review: The first volume in the Lickshot series serves up two almighty slabs of reggae and dancehall-influenced hip-hop from two of the biggest names in the game. On side A you'll find an edited version of Jay-Z's "Bam" from 2017 album "4:44", where the long-serving rapper trades verses with Damian Marley over a sparse beat and sampled reggae horns. Over on the flip dancehall vocalist Spragga Benz guests on Foxy Brown"Oh Yeah", a hybrid hip-hop/ragga workout . Like its' A-side companion, it's a weighty, club-ready rocker that should be in every hip-hop head's collection.

Review: A decade has passed since Slum Village jumped on a KVBeats instrumental and delivered "We Do It", a warm, sweet and bass-heavy number full of the Detroit act's usual on-point rap flows. Here the track is given a 2020 makeover courtesy of hired hands DJ Spinna and Jazz Spastiks. Spinna naturally opts for a distinctively "Golden era" vibe, laying the Motor City crew's raps over a relaxed, head-nodding beat rich in jazzy double bass samples, crunchy snares and woozy electric piano chords. The jazz Spastiks up the tempo on their flipside version, delivering a revision that's closer in tone to Slum Village's original while offering all manner of subtle differences and dancefloor-focused touches.

Review: Andres (aka DJ Dez) steps up to join the MotorCity Wine family in fine style with the Allegria de Vino series. For this 2 volume series Andres flexes his blunted downtempo beat-driven side, complete with his primo cut skills celebrating our favorite red, white, and pink libations. Both volumes feature 3 instrumental hip-hop beats, cut loud at 33.3 rpm, pressed with love at Archer on Detroit's east side, and housed in the MotorCity Wine company 7" jacket.

Review: Andres (aka DJ Dez) steps up to join the MotorCity Wine family in fine style with the Allegria de Vino series. For this 2 volume series Andres flexes his blunted downtempo beat-driven side, complete with his primo cut skills celebrating our favorite red, white, and pink libations. Both volumes feature 3 instrumental hip-hop beats, cut loud at 33.3 rpm, pressed with love at Archer on Detroit's east side, and housed in the MotorCity Wine company 7" jacket.

Review: Earl Sweatshirt's Feet of Clay album from late in 2019 was tantalisingly short in length, but not short in quality. The raw, woozy record found him exploring ambiguous wordplay that will keep you entertained trying to unpack it all for many hours. He himself described the 15 minute work as "a collection of observations and feelings recorded during the death throes of a crumbling empire" and it makes for a physical yet abstract record with emotion to spare. From gloomy and introverted r&b styles to more distorted jazz and loop beats, his silky tones always unify each track with great allure.

Review: The 5 Borough Breaks series has long been a good way of acquiring killer cuts that have some way played a part in the ongoing evolution of hip-hop culture in New York City. The hush-hush label's latest release boasts the full version of Betty Wright's head-nodding soul classic "Clean Up Woman", which boasts a breakbeat that has been sampled on scores of killer rap jams. On the A-side you'll find something a little less well-known: "Zulu War Chant", a 1992 cut by the Afrika Bambaataa and Rusty Egan-helmed Time Zone crew. It samples the familiar groove from "Clean Up Woman", adding a swathe of well known rapped and sung vocal samples and a hard-spun hip-hop beat.

Review: Prolific Los Angeles beat scene producer Ras-G finished this last ever collection shortly before his sad passing in 2019. For the first time, it was presented to the world as the legendary artist intend on Raw G Day, 04/04/2020, and now makes it to vinyl. It is another work crafted with his chosen tool, the Roland SP 404, and is packed with his signature boom-bap, lo-fi aesthetic and crisp instrumentals. There are woozy numbest that draw you into a late night world of debauchery next to classically tinged soul cuts and darkly hypnotic loops that will keep you coming back for days.

Review: Los Angeles-based Latin hip hop group Funkdoobiest are not as well known in Europe as they should be given their successes over the years. Their 1995 album Brothas Doobie came on Epic and was the final album featuring back-up MC and hypeman Tomahawk Funk. It became a much talked about album for its controversial track "Superhoes", which you might also recognise from the soundtrack to the film Friday with Ice Cube. Elsewhere it is rich with West Coast hip hop sounds, slick instrumentals, alternative grooves and sick production from DJ Muggs, DJ Ralph M and DJ Lethal.

Review: Free Nationals are of course best known as the live band for Anderson .Paak, but their debut album tries to set them apart on their own musical terms. The future retro, funky and soulful sound that denies their monstrous rise with Paak still abounds here, however. Guests, including Syd, Kali Uchis and the late Mac Miller, all help add character and a melange of rock-riffs and trap vocals, smooth r&b stylings and genre-bending moments of bliss also make this an interesting and innovative affair. While The Free Nationals will struggle to ever hit the heights they do with their front man, this is a damn fine effort.

Review: Thomas Bangalter will forever be best known as one half of robotic disco house sensations Daft Punk, but turned out various house and hip hop projects before and during the iconic pair's rise to fame. Once such outing came in 2002 when he paired doff with French hip hop collective
113 for "Fout La Merde", a raw single with plenty of different versions. "113 Fout La Merde!" in original format bares plenty of Daft Punk hallmarks with its hip swinging claps and vocodered vocals, while the dub is more bumpy and low riding. Add in an instrumental and a cappella and you have a fine package that is long overdue this reissue.

Review: Brighton's excellent Headcount Records scores another hit here with a UK hip[ hop project that draws on some of these shores's finest talents. The sound is contemporary and fresh but with plenty of cues from the classics, as well as key jazz elements, ambient pads and heavy beats. The timeless sounds come from Children of Zeus, Akemi Fox, Saffron Grace & [ K S R], with plenty of star lyrical wordplay, heart melting vocal harmonies and late night grooves to smooch up to. The smoothness never grows too sentimental, though, as these tracks display a real sense of storytelling.

Review: Tuff Kong seems to be having a fine run at the moment, and this newest offering is a lush, jazz tinged hip hop outing. It harks back to jazz giants Blue Note in both the title and the sounds on offer, with Domenico Errico and Skyler Taylor taking care of the executive production, and Benjamin Ventura, Jesse Germano and Skyzoo on the arrangement and production. It's filled with plenty of sweet moments, from the expressive sax of "The Caveat" to the busy drums and jazz-funk keys of "There It Goes". The Roy Ayres refereeing "We (Used To) Live In Brooklyn, Baby" is a real highlight.

Review: Sic US are in a fine run of classic rap reissues that includes the likes of Gangsta Pat's Deadly Verses as well as Young Ed's Time To Stack from 1996. It's a straight up gangsta collection from the San Fran artist who was also a member of The Cartel along with Mac Boo-Rue and Mac Moose, and who now goes by the name of Bread Ed. There are hard hitting and confrontational joints next to more sultry and steamy late night, low slung cruisers. The vocal flow is tight and twisted, while the production still sounds fresh almost 25 yers later. A true classic.

Review: Gangsta Pat was a fixture of the underground rap scene that emerged in Memphis, Tennessee in the late 1980's. Deadly Verses is the artist's most famous album and features tongue-twisting flow popularized by Lord Infamous and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. The music is dark and involved, almost possessed, and is hardcore rap with plenty of menace at its heart. There are odes to the virtues of cannabis, creepy melodies and low slung g-funk synths. All this make it one of the most definitive early albums of the South's still emerging rap scene.