Method Man & Redman - Appearances (2021 Update)

Just in time for Tuesday's VERZUZ battle: Originally released in 2009, this HHIR compilation has been updated to include 16 new tracks. (Click the cover.)

Redman - Oscar Madison

I drop unexpectedly like bird shit, don't I? 😂 This compilation was inspired by Redman's recent Hot97 interview. Enjoy... and Turn It Up!!

Ultramagnetic MC's - Instrumentals

In 1992, Next Plateau Records put out a 12" containing Ultramagnetic MC's instrumentals. This unofficial release only had 9 tracks. Time for an update. I've put together this compilation because I've been on a bit of an Ultramag kick lately. Severely under-appreciated group. I had to share. This compilation's got 27 tracks! Not bad, huh? So enjoy... And as always... Turn it up!!

Eric B. & Rakim: B-Sides, Rarities & Remixes (Vol. 4)

Waaaaaaaay back in 2009, I put together a trio of Eric B. & Rakim compilations (#1, #2, and #3) featuring a variety of b-sides and other odds and ends I'd collected from various single releases over the years. Seven years later(!), I've returned with #4! Enjoy... and turn it up!!

Freddie Gibbs - Remember the Name, Pt. II

In 2013, I put together a Freddie Gibbs mix titled "Remember the Name." This compilation served as a personal work-out mix but also doubled as a solid introduction to Gibbs for new heads. "Remember the Name, Pt. II" features a handful of songs I left off the first installment for the sake of concision, as well as a bunch of great tracks released ever since. I'm happy to turn the "Remember the Name" concept into a sporadic "Best of Freddie Gibbs" series if you guys dig it. For now, here's installment #2. Enjoy... and turn it up!!

Step Brothers - Here to F**k S**t Up

Alchemist and Evidence's Step Brothers LP has been a long time coming. To prepare for (and promote) the album, I decided to do some digging and put together every(?) Alchemist/Evidence collaboration released to date. I didn't wanna have a bunch of Alchemist-produced tracks featuring Evidence (and not Alc) on vocals, because that'd be unbalanced. So instead I looked for every song in which the Step Brothers share the mic. I didn't realize how deep this duo's track record was! Here to F**k S**t Up clocks in at over 2 hours. All in all, I found 32 tracks (not including some skits I threw on for fun). Just another classic HHIR release. Make sure to pre-order Lord Steppington ASAP. (That velvet sleeve sounds niiiiiice © Stu Lantz.) Album drops on January 21st. Feels like this one might just be a classic. 'Til then, you've got Here to F**k S**t Up to hold you down. Enjoy... and turn it up!!

The Throne - My Brother's Keeper (Compilation)

   

Freddie Gibbs - Remember the Name

Here's my personal Freddie Gibbs workout mix. Kind of a best-of compilation, 23 tracks deep. It also serves as a decent primer for the uninitiated. Gangsta Gibbs, hoe! Support ESGN...

DOOMSTARKS - 'Swift & Changeable: The Prequel'

Hip Hop Is Read on DatPiff? Game got real!!!

A Tribe Called Dilla

This project has been on the Hip Hop Is Read backburner since February 2008. That's just ridiculous. Since that time, Q-Tip released the much-acclaimed solo LP The Renaissance - also in 2008 - which included a Dilla-produced track ("Move"). You won't find that record on this mix, however. My intentions with A Tribe Called Dilla were to focus strictly on the signature sound style of the Ummah era, which spanned throughout the second half of the nineties. One might argue that Tribe's new production work, which was a clear break from their earlier aesthetic, may have led to the group's disbandment. In my review of Michael Rapaport's 2011 documentary Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest, I noted an important point of criticism which was introduced in Werner von Wallenrod's review: the film's failure to include the narratives of J Dilla (then Jay Dee) and Consequence - and the two artists' inclusion with Tribe. That being said, one can only speculate - as many already have - as to whether or not Jay Dee's affiliation with the crew somehow led to A Tribe Called Quest's falling out. When you compare Tribe's first three albums with their latter two Jay Dee-assisted joints, I suppose it's easy to jump to conclusions. But I call bullsh*t on that. The music speaks for itself and the production on A Tribe Called Dilla, as I see/hear it, is amazing. Those drums! Those drums... Happy Dilla month! Enjoy my mix! And as always... Turn it up!!

A Tribe Called Quest - A Tribe Called Dilla by Boom Bap Beatnik on Mixcloud

A$AP Rocky & ScHoolboy Q - Purple Reign

The next best thing to Rakim Allah and Quincy Jones.

In 2011, eighties babies A$AP Rocky and ScHoolboy Q set the internets ablaze with the release of their respective solo mixtapes LiveLoveA$AP and Setbacks. Despite coming from opposite ends of the country, A$AP Rocky and ScHoolboy Q both seem to have tapped into a new energy in hip hop that's both fresh and appealing. Just a few weeks into the new year, Q has already dropped a follow-up to Setbacks (though he's referred to it as a prequel) with Habits & Contradictions - an impressively thorough project which further establishes his trademark as a solo artist. And we can only imagine what Rocky's got in store for us in 2012. Together Rocky & Q share a kush fueled vibe that's youthful and effervescent while at the same time being anchored by elements I'd describe as grim-yet-clean existential aesthetics. I like it; so much so that I thought to myself "A$AP Rocky and ScHoolboy Q should make an album together." And then I just went ahead and put this compilation together. You're welcome. Purple Reign features eighteen songs which serve as a primer (of sorts) on A$AP Rocky and ScHoolboy Q's respective track records. Mixed for seamless playback, I'm very proud of the final product. Listen and let me know what you think. But most importantly... Turn it up!!

Cee Lo Green - A Common OutKast

Here's another project I started on a while back (2009 to be exact): a compilation of Cee Lo Green's features on Common and OutKast albums. Though Common and OutKast come from different regions and have different styles, nonetheless they share a few things in, um, common. Putting aside the Erykah Badu connection (ha!), Cee Lo Green is a mutual friend/collaborator who has managed to hop on many standout album tracks. It wasn't until I started collecting these songs that I realized how many times Cee Lo had actually been featured on the aforementioned artists' albums. By my count, Cee Lo has appeared eleven times on Common and OutKast's albums. Conversely, Big Boi and Andre 3000 have each appeared on separate tracks off Goodie Mob's debut, Soul Food, but I didn't include them here. Instead, I decided to include some added bonus tracks: "In Due Time" (off the Soul Food OST), "Speedballin'" (off the Tomb Raider OST, though also included on some copies of Stankonia), and "Rooster Remix" (off Big Boi's entry in DJ Drama Gangsta Grillz series, Gangsta Grillz X). The final result is a nearly-eighty-minute-long playlist of some excellent, left-of-center hip hop to funk your head up. So enjoy... and turn it up!!

Nas - GSQBKTA

I haven't purchased a hip hop rag in a couple of years now, but XXL Magazine's November 2011 issue piqued my interest when I first saw the teasers/previews online: Nas gets interviewed by Tyler, The Creator. Interesting, I thought; kinda like what Interview Magazine does, pairing up two well-known people (i.e. actors, musicians, artists, etc.) to chop it up in a manner that seems more personal and free-spirited than the ol' journalistic approach. Putting aside Tyler's incessant tendency to use the word "legit" once every five seconds, I enjoyed the interview. In the issue, comparisons were made between Tyler and a young Nas that I'm not too sure I agree with (Nas "helped to pioneer shock rap"), but for whatever reason it motivated me to compile an Odd Future-inspired Nas mix. Don't ask.

GSQBKTA (can you guess what that stands for?) features a selection of some of my favorite songs by Mr. Jones - most of them lesser-known entries in his inarguably deep and diverse catalog. What these Nas tracks share in common, at least in my eyes (and ears), are off-kilter beats, unorthodox subject matters and aggressive vocal deliveries. I suppose that's also how I'd best describe the whole Odd Future musical movement as well. Unlike my sample sets and volumes of The Tape Deck, GSQBKTA is seamlessly mixed for optimal aural enjoyment. Enjoy... and turn it up!!

Cam'ron & Kanye West - That 1970s Heroin Flow

Cam'ron and Kanye West have only given us a glimpse of what they'd be capable of creating as a full-fledged duo. Tracks like "Down and Out", "Dead or Alive" and "Champions" are emblematic of what was so great about Roc-A-Fella Records in the first half of the aughts. I really miss those days. This pairing of the finest from Chi-Town and Harlem - both signed to the same label at the time - demonstrated one of the great, oft-overlooked emcee/producer chemistries in recent memory. That 1970s Heroin Flow highlights the magic we can only dream of getting back again one day. Keep hope alive. Enjoy... and turn it up!!

Scarface & Beanie Sigel Are... Mac & Brad

I don't want the throne or the crown, I ain't sell enough/
You can have the jail or the ground, you ain't in hell enough/
- Styles P; "Shot Down"

The fun and games of Watch the Throne lasted for about a week - tops! As they say in Brooklyn the galaxy where Jay-Z resides: "we off that". A Jay-Z/Kanye West pairing is great for the charts, but what about the streets? A recent article posted on TheWellVersed.com - featured on the Rap Round Table, of course - listed "ten hip hop collaboration albums we wish would happen". They missed an important duo however: Scarface and Beanie Sigel. With Face coming home and Sigel going back in, it's a shame that the chemistry and timing for a project of this magnitude will require nothing short of a miracle for it to come to fruition. In the meantime, enjoy this little compilation I put together, aptly named Mac & Brad (the working title was Fuck the Throne, go figure...). It features some Roc-A-Fella era classics, deep cuts and three remixes/blends flipped by yours truly. Hold your head, Beans. Enjoy... and turn it up!!

Wu-Tang Clan - Live at Glastonbury 2011

Time flies by, huh? It seems like it was only yesterday significantly less than three years ago when I made both Jay-Z and Lupe Fiasco's sets at the Glastonbury Festival available for download in track-by-track mp3 format. Back by popular demand (and by that I mean just a tweet from BHYPHEN), I present to you: Wu-Tang Clan's June 24th performance at Glastonbury. Enjoy... and turn it up!!

Guru - Collaborations and Rarities, Part Two

This is my final Guru release - for now at least. That's over 200 tracks in 48 hours. Cover art is based on Monk's follow-up compilation Genius of Modern Music: Volume 2. Bump this - especially tomorrow. Enjoy... and turn it up!! Guru, rest in peace.

Guru - Collaborations and Rarities, Part One

The Guru compilations keep rolling with Collaborations and Rarities, Part One - clocking in at over six hours in length. You know my steez. The cover art was inspired by Thelonious Monk's Blue Note compilation Genius of Modern Music: Volume 1. Stay tuned for Part Two! 'Til then, enjoy... and turn it up!! Guru, rest in peace.

Guru - Boston-Brooklyn Junction

If you've been following me on Twitter, you know I've got some comprehensive compilations lined up in honor of the life and music of Guru, upon the one year anniversary of his passing. Boston-Brooklyn Junction is a loose compilation that includes artists from the two respective regions. This selection is somewhat of a leftovers mix from the two larger releases I've got on the way. Stay tuned for that. In the meantime, bump this while the Celtics and Knicks prepare for battle. Funny how things work out like that. The cover art to Boston-Brooklyn Junction was inspired by Thad Jones's 1956 LP Detroit-New York Junction (Blue Note Records). Check that out as well if you're so inclined. Bottom line: Enjoy... and turn it up!! Guru, rest in peace.