Juno Recommends Hip Hop / R&B: February 2022

Review: Yvette Michele was a breakout star in the glory days of mid 90s RnB, and her My Dream album still shines as a true gem from the era. Produced by, amongst others, Funkmaster Flex and Full Force, Michele's moment in the sun was brief but brilliant, but now you can enjoy two of her best on this perfect nugget of a 7". 'I'm Not Feeling You' is a funked up blast of empowerment, while 'Everyday & Everynight' takes things in a slinkier direction for those lights down moments. It's pure soulful perfection, from Michele's smoky vocals through to the bass-loaded production.

Review: Lamont Coleman, aka Big L, was one of the brightest talents in the New York hip hop scene through the mid 90s, both as a solo artist and as part of the D.I.T.C. crew. Sadly he lost his life in 1999 at the age of 24, stopping him short of what should by rights have been a much longer and fruitful career in music. Here 45 Kings dig out one of his strongest moments, the 'Ebonics' / 'Size 'Em Up' single from 1998. It's tough, street level rap of the highest caliber with Rondell Turner on the buttons, and it sounds as vital now as it did nearly a quarter of a century ago.

Review: Mr Bongo's EPMD reissue series continues with a fresh pressing of one of the NYC duo's most significant and best-loved singles, 1988's 'You Gots To Chill'. Predating much of the West Coast G-funk material that later covered similar sonic ground, it sees the duo delivering some of their rap verses over a beat crafted from samples of Zapp's P-funk classic 'More Bounce To The Ounce' and Kool & The Gang party classic 'Jungle Boogie'. This time round, it comes backed by another EPMD classic from the same period: the mid-tempo, JB's-sampling head-nodder that is 'Let The Funk Flow'. That's never appeared on a single before, making this "45" even more desirable.

Review: Madvillain is the collaboration of the most dynamic duo from today's hip-hop underground, MF Doom and Madlib. "Madvillainy" has witty, mental lyrics combined with rugged beats fashioned from every possible source material, resulting in a truly unique album pointing the way to hip-hop's future.

Review: A 7" is all about having a perfect nugget of music on the most compact of wax, and here Mr Bongo pick out two of the best cuts from one of the greatest crews to touch the mic. EPMD were on their finest form when they dropped Unfinished Business in 1989, doubling down on the runaway success of their debut Strictly Business, and here we get two of the album's hottest joints for your instant gratification. 'The Big Payback' piles the funk on heavy, keeping it moody in the low end for EPMD to do their thing over the top, while original opening track 'So Wat Cha Sayin' nestles on the B side with one of the wildest rub downs Erick and Parrish ever committed to record. Truly essential hip hop from the golden era.

Review: EPMD arrived as an almost unbelievably well-formed hip hop group in the 1980s. Right from the moment they dropped their 1989 debut - 'Strictly Business' - they soared, immediately backed it up with 'Unfinished Business' in 1989 then came more big hitters like 'The Big Payback.' But 'Strictly Business' remains one of the NYC duo's most significant and best-loved singles and it is pressed up here to its own 7" courtesy of hardcore fans Mr Bongo. It's a track with tons of samples, scratching, smooth bars and churning beats. Flip it over for an instrumental.

Review: A lesser known leftfield 90s hip-hop album, but nevertheless hefty in its magnitude, Freestyle Fellowship's 'Innercity Griots' shows off the rap quartet's undeniably advanced MCing and weird bomb-drop beats, worthy of a next-gen listen for any good fans of Cannibal Ox or Deltron 3030. With the original vinyl LP now extremely rare, this reissue by Be With fixes the audiophile's nightmare that hurt the original pressking, and also includes the formerly CD-only track 'Pure Thought'. A nonstop tour through Busta Rhymes-rivalling flows and 'b-boy jazz', the beats on this album are spacey (choice cuts being 'Danger' and 'Hot Potato' - all the cuts are rough and vinyl-edged), unforgiving, and light-years beyond what one might expect from a lesser-known name.

Review: A 7" is all about having a perfect nugget of music on the most compact of wax, and here Mr Bongo pick out two of the best cuts from one of the greatest crews to touch the mic. EPMD were on their finest form when they dropped Unfinished Business in 1989, doubling down on the runaway success of their debut Strictly Business, and here we get two of the album's hottest joints for your instant gratification. 'The Big Payback' piles the funk on heavy, keeping it moody in the low end for EPMD to do their thing over the top, while original opening track 'So Wat Cha Sayin' nestles on the B side with one of the wildest rub downs Erick and Parrish ever committed to record. Truly essential hip hop from the golden era.

Review: In a scathing criticism of religious dogma, Apollo Brown and Ras Kaas move quickly and surely in dropping their next album - it immediately follows the former's reissue of his classic album 'Dice Game'. Atting every -ism under the sun, this album is a thorough inverting of blind belief - 'How To Kill God' blasphemously teaches the listener to do just that with knife-edge, saturated gospel samples. Meanwhile, the g-funk melancholia of 'Animal Sacrifice' and the haunting, sexual reverie of 'Drink Irish' drown in a sea of big name features from Pharoahe Monch, Rakaa Iriscience, Xzibit and Royce Da 5'9"'.

Review: Greedy Fingers is the hip-hop production team made up of Howard Stevens, Smimooz and Wim Verbrugghe and they have been turning out plenty of albums and 12"s since the turn of the millennium. This new 7" is a reissue of a track from right back then: it was the first cut on the b-side of the Shady Sirens / Greedy Fingers LP produced by DJ Grazzhoppa and Greedy Boy in 1999 for DC Recordings. It's an erie one, with some distant and trippy sonics and an ice cold beat that still sounds future to this day. The menacing bass sings low while the bars come with a sweet sense of flow.

Review: Horror-core rap collective Gravediggaz set a new standard with their 2004 album 6 Feet Under. It is a collection of material packed with freaky narratives and menacing beats, dark synths and has a general sense of light night unease all throughout. It is from a time when original member Frukwan was still with the band and now makes it to vinyl for the first time. All the big tunes such as 'Big Shot Dead,' 'What's Wrong With You' and 'Burn In Hell' are featured and are taken from previous record Nightmare in A-Minor as well as Frukwan's solo album, Life.

Review: All City Ireland comes through with a second volume of its warmly received Gangster Music series. This is another bumper collection of street wise beats across four sides of glorious white wax. It has been compiled by Gangster Doodles who said he had more fun than he ever has working on the first volume and he clearly has again on this one: it features everything from newly emerging producers (Ovrkast, Woodie Smalls, Big Baby Scumbag) to underground mainstays (Teebs, Knxwlege) and next level producers like Dam Funk and Open Mike Eagle. The jam packed collection covers all hip hop niches from sweet and soulful to raw and bad ass.

Review: Howard Stevens kicks off his own label with a new tune featuring Lewis Parker two make for a heavyweight combination of London artists. It emcees in many different forms but thermion mix is a hard hitting bit of throwback boom bap. Its raw hip hop with big horns and elastic bass beneath those neck-snapping hits. The verses deliver extra attitude and edge while musing on street life. The rocked-out b-boy vibes continue through a Scratchapella, instrumental and combination of both that is finely called a 'Scratchapella.'

Review: Peyton's debut full-length PSA finally lands on Stones Throw having been started back in 2018 with help from producers including Vicky Farewell, Julie Lewis and Biako. The Houston singer and songwriter exudes real confidence across all of these tracks, with self-love a key motif throughout. This is a record that will have your thoughts turning to warm summer days and back yard BBQs thank to its gloriously sunny and breezy atmospheres. Featured guests like Brice Blanco and Ian McGilber bring their own steez but Peyton's signature sound always remains front and centre as the artist muses on love, friendship and life itself.

Review: Big Sean's Finally Famous mixtape is 10 years old and so Def Jam are presenting this new remixed and remastered new version. Out has never made it onto a double vinyl album before and comes with a wide spine jacket. This version includes a new track, 'Freshman 10 (Freestyle)' amongst plenty of other originals such as 'Marvin & Chardonnay', 'Dance (A$$) Ft. Nicki Minaj' and 'My Last (Ft. Chris Brown)'. It's a classic album that explores a wide array of hip hop sounds from the pre-trap era when rappers sang about things other than their addiction to prescription meds.

Review: Acclaimed beat maker Emapea has put out a number of essential albums that often go on to fetch high prices on resale markets. This is one of them but now a reissue resets the market. This version comes on white wax and is mega limited so act quick. Opener 'The Winner' samples the Louis CK title music, 'On The Run' drops into a fat-bottomed reggae rhythm, and as you'd expect the brace of b-boy tunes bring the breaks. There is still time for another slow stoner dub on 'Wicked Sound' and more reggae explorations on 'Rudeboy' and some late night jazz beats on 'Reflection.'

Review: Legendary Italian rapper Gue follows up his last long form release, Fastlife 4, with another new record that comes just four months later. He is an artist who has paved the way for many Italians in his wake and has broken plenty of records in the process. In the lead up t the release of the album, Gue shared a number of behind the scenes videos which gave insight to his process, The album itself takes in dark, hard hitting rhymes and edgy beats as well as airy and rolling, sun kissed and feel good joints for summer.

Review: Peyton's debut full-length PSA finally lands on a nice megenta vinyl via Stones Throw with help from producers including Vicky Farewell, Julie Lewis and Biako. The Houston singer and songwriter exudes real confidence across all of these tracks, with self-love a key motif throughout. This is a record that will have your thoughts turning to warm summer days and back yard BBQs thank to its gloriously sunny and breezy atmospheres. Featured guests like Brice Blanco and Ian McGilber bring their own steez but Peyton's signature sound always remains front and centre as the artist muses on love, friendship and life itself.

Review: Lo-Fi producers Glimlip and Yasper come together for the first time on this lush collaborative album Undertones. It combines both of the artists respective backgrounds in soul, jazz, funk and instrumental hip hop to craft something new. Properly schooled jazz musicians were involved with the making of the record so real classy creativity abounds throughout. The fact the record was recorded live also lends it a real life, lived in feel with rich, refined sounds glowing warm and bright. Some of the pieces are day-dream material with noodling grooves going nowhere in a hurry, while others trigger deep and pensive though and some get you all loved up.