Hot Rox US Vinyl & CDs

Review: The Hot Rox label drops more glowing nuggets of hip-hop goodness with a second offering on 7". These are party-starting b-boy breaks with plenty of big samples and lively beats to get the floor rocking. Ronnie Frazzle's 'The Bronx Rocker' is just that with its hi swinging claps, old school raps and al the bells, horns and whistles you'd expect. On the flip is a DJ tool in the form of the main refrain from the Queen classic, 'We Will Rock You.' A useful weapon for your arsenal for sure.

Review: 'Most Wanted Hip-Hop' is exactly what it says on the tin, offering two high-quality versions of hard-to-find and poorly ripped 90s rap tracks from the golden era. Ronnie Frazzle himself is undertaking work of the utmost importance, restoring and maintaining a physical archive of musical greatness - this being the follow-up to the 2022 disc 'The Doom Sessions', featuring a mix of MF DOOM tracks. Side A is Citizen Kane's 1997 track 'Elements of Mind (Black Rain Remix)', which can't be streamed currently so you are forced to either have it in your collection or scour YouTube for a rip. Sampling their 1996 cut 'Black Rain', Erf's production on this is like butter on a slope for the Canadian duo to slide straight down with these effortless flows. Side B cuts a little deeper, a high-quality pressing of Big Squig's 1995 hit 'Keep it Going', a combination of a Tribe Called Quest interpolation and a 1971 organ jazz number by Isaac Hayes.

Review: The mysterious Ronnie Frazzle steps out with a head-turning 7" for Hot-Rox, again limiting itself to just 300 copies. The precedent has been set since 2022, when the 'Doom Sessions' series set about laying MF Doom acapellas to other unmistakable hip-hop instrumentals. On the A, 'The Doom Sessions' leans into murky low-end and glinting synth bursts, anchored by grainy, half-lit verses from Doom, set to Roots Manuva's 'Witness'. Flip it for mix 2, which displaces the mood entirely with slick bass runs, sun-warmed keys and smoother vocal flows; less clash than complement.