Juno Recommends Hip Hop / R&B: July 2022

Review: This 7" reissue, thanks to Deep Soul Entertainment, sheds due light on a hip-hop collab that perhaps didn't see the praise it deserved back in the day. The New York native duo Skratch, aka. Big Ill and Al Skratch, this time taking on their individual names, scored their biggest hit in 1994 with 'I'll Take Her', a sexually-charged g-funk track arousing sultry thoughts of cruising around Harlem or Brooklyn, scouring the streets for the honies. For those less inclined towards the song's (perhaps questionable) lyrics, there's also a new dub mix on the B-side, allowing the enjoyably weighty instrumental to shine and breathe.

Review: Emapea is a bonafide Polish beat-wizard and man being many highly collectible albums, 12"s and 7"s. This lates is another call to action for when the sun arrives, a laidback fusion of soul, funk and jazz with lazy hip hop beats that just melt the heart. The opener '7 Inch' is a crisp boom-bap joint, 'True Fam' brings a steamy sax line and golden keys to the fore, then 'Smuggling Town' rolls us into downtown Jamaica on a blissed out dub. 'Takeover' is another lounge beat masterpiece amongst many in his arsenal.

Review: Oddisee is a Brooklyn-based artist born Amir Mohamed el Khalifa. Over the last decade plus he has made some superb records that join the dots between instrumental albums and full rap records as well as being part of the Diamond District crew. He is a great tunesmith with an inspirational sound and is hugely prolific with an average of just about one new album a year dropping from the Washingtonian. Many of them get reissued and next for that treatment is 2012's Rock Creek Park. It's steeped in classic boom bap but with a healthy respect for soul and gorgeous samples that bring it a classic and timeless feel. This is meaningful music, for sure.

Review: Edan's Beauty and The Beat is a classic of the genre from back in 2005. It's a fusion of rap and hip hip styles that are all rooted in the classic era of the 90s but with some contemporary production flourishes. Edan's psych-influenced beats and wide array of well chosen samples are draw from all manner of genres and are carefully worked into funky beats that range of raw and hard hitting to more laid back and sun kissed. A range of guest MCs such as Percee-P, Dagha, Insight, Mr Lif and more all help add their own colour .

Review: Beats House Records serve up some unique slice of funk, aptly named after its firestarting mood, 'Lighter Fluid' hears in house producer Djar One link up with 'funky man' Andy Cooper on the mix, as well as fellow artist Incredeeple on extra cut-up duties, making for one hell of a tune. The B side 'Let's Do The Breakdown' adds further kindling to the flame, stoking a Family Plann classic with adept razor-n-tape cuttage.

Review: Not many people could call an album Genius and get away with it but you'd be hard pushed to find anyone who disagreed that Detroit beatmaker J Dilla wasn't just that . His beats shaped a whole sound and scene when he first emerged and he is still just as revered many years after his death. He worked on various projects and put out plenty of solo material but her we're presented with another top collection of early cassette recordings. There are all his trademark dusty beats, soulful samples, dreamy melodic motifs and more to be enjoyed here.

Review: The ever divisive Kanye West dropped this 10th album Donda on streaming platforms back in August 2021. He has already served up an expanded 'deluxe' version on CD and now it comes on limited edition vinyl. Less over the top than its predecessor, this record continues the iconic artist's infatuation with blending cutting-edge contemporary hip-hop (and nods to his musical roots in the '90s rap scene), R&B and his beloved gospel, resulting in a grandiose and entertaining set that makes use of a huge roll call of guests and collaborators *Lil Baby, Lil Durk, Lil Yachty, Roddy Ricch, Young Thug, Jay Electronica, Travis Scott, The LOX, Kid Cudi, Fivio Foreign and many more.

Review: British-American rapper-producer Daniel Dumile drooped his third album Vaudeville Villain back in 2003 under the Viktor Vaughn pseudonym. Most of the cuts are produced by Heat Sensor, King Honey, and Max Bill, who are members of the Sound-Ink label, with plenty of fun-to-identify samples from classic records gone by. The record came about when Doom was working with Madlib on the seminal Madvillainy and an early demo was stolen and leaked. Both went their separate ways and this album is the result of what came next. It's a timeless bit of hip hop with sick beats and sicker bars.

Review: Edan's Beauty and The Beat is a classic of the genre from back in 2005. It's a fusion of rap and hip hip styles that are all rooted in the classic era of the 90s but with some contemporary production flourishes. Edan's psych-influenced beats and wide array of well chosen samples are draw from all manner of genres and are carefully worked into funky beats that range of raw and hard hitting to more laid back and sun kissed. A range of guest MCs such as Percee-P, Dagha, Insight, Mr Lif and more all help add their own colour .

Review: If you love your hip-hop classics given a little shake up, you won't want to sleep on this 12". Taking some of the biggest cuts you've heard a million times before, The Breaks slides some fresh grooves underneath to take the raps into a whole new dimension. The spotters might have some fun figuring out where the beats themselves come from, and if that's all you're after you can just flip the record over for the instrumentals and groove away to your heart's content.

Review: After his big and well received outings with Madlib, rapper Freddie Gibbs is back on a solo tip. The American hills from Indiana and here he rounds up some of his singles on a great looking new EP that comes with various different coloured sleeves. '4 Thangs (feat Big Sean & Hit-Boy)' kicks off with a trap-style beat and tight verses that hit hard. 'Gang Signs' (feat Schoolboy Q) is a more lazy and sorted hip hop joint with West Coast vibes and 'Big Boss Rabbit' closes with punchy drums and snappy snares. All three then come as instrumentals.

Review: US downtempo label Cold Busted welcome another global exchange between Cologne's Midan and Kochi, Japan's AHNAMUSICA for a supremely laid back trip through crisp hip-hop beats and smoky jazz samples. The EP leads in with the funked up slinker 'Cool Jazz Lovers', which tells you everything in its title. 'Trying To Find' nods to Bossa Nova in its Brazilian percussion and dreamy female vocals, and 'New Beginnings' strikes a mellow mood for when you want to turn the lights down low. If you're thirsting for the smoothest of grooves, this record has everything you need.

Review: Breaking from her incredible vocal work as frontwoman of the Melbourne jazz unit 30/70, Allysha Joy here presents her second solo LP, 'Torn: Tonic', a 10-track foray through the process of sound as healing. Following up the 2018 debut 'Acadie: Raw', the album is a weird and wonderful array of raw wonky production, filtered and moody neo-soul, and genre motifs from dancehall ('Remedy') to gospel ('Fatima'). A marked difference to her earlier work.

Review: A decade after Blockhead dropped his seminal Interludes After Midnight album it gets a deserving reissue on Ninja Tune. Blockhead is of course an alias of the revered New York producer Tony Simon who is reissuing all his albums at the moment. This one set a blueprint for the broken beat and nu jazz scene, with elements of trip hop and downtempo also colouring the grooves. Some tunes like 'Never Forget Your Token' have a Latin feel thanks to the keys and breaks, others are more psyched out late night store jams like 'Hungover Like Woah.' All are great.

Review: San Francisco rapper Larry June has been on an upward curve since breaking through some six years ago with his Orange Season EP, and now he's coming correct with his future-classic album Orange Print. It's a flexible twist on modern rap which can nod to boogie and old-skool hip-hop tropes as much as crisp trap, with June's cool and deadly flow riding over the top. The guests on the album include heavyweights like Money Man, Trae The Truth and Dej Loaf, but really this is June's party and we're all invited. Try dropping 'Escrow And Orange Juice' and not being transported to Cali in a heartbeat.

Review: Filofilx is a classy beatmaker who has been turning out some top notch albums for a while. His last one was Close Distance on the Melting Pot label out of Germany back in April and now come, we assumed based on the shared title, some of the key cuts that we can only assume never made the album. Elements of soul, funk, downtempo, jazz, Balearic and R&B all get mixed up in his studio and out com the sort of lush beats that you hope never end.

Review: Slum Village remain one of the most vital outfits in hip-hop., They were of course a band rooted in superb beat making by the one and only J Dilla but also had some and skilled mic men and musicians on board. Many years after the Detroit crew made their name and changed the game there is still plenty of clamour for their work. As such, here comes the latest reissue of arguably one of their best works - Fantastic Volume 1. It is one of the many high-water marks Dilla's name is attached too and has subtle grooves and soulful claps with super sweet bars throughout.