Repressed On translucent blue vinyl! Too many people sleep on Tougher Than Leather, Run-DMC’s fourth album. But hear us out as we plead the case for this amazing LP. By 1988 there was a lot more competition in the rap game – Public Enemy, Boogie Down Productions, Eric B. & Rakim, Ice-T and many more had given Hollis, Queens’ prodigal sons lots of competition. But Joe, Darryl and Jay were still at the top of their game, and hip-hop fans should never let this classic – chiefly produced by their Queens neighbor, DJ and multi-instrumentalist Davy D[MX] – get lost in their crates. For starters, the album’s first single, “Run’s House” b/w “Beats To The Rhyme” is arguably the most powerful one-two punch of the trio’s career, showing contenders to the rap throne that they could still destroy a beat, tag-teaming with power at any speed. Not to be lost in the shuffle, fans were also reminded on both sides that Jam-Master Jay remained one of the world’s best DJs, flexing the pinnacle of what would be called “turntablism” a decade later. Both songs show a musical telepathy between all three that has rarely been equaled.

The second single, “Mary, Mary,” driven by an infectious Monkees sample, took a different approach, shrewdly ensuring that pop fans who jumped on the Raising Hell bandwagon had something to chew on. But, like “Walk This Way,” the song wasn’t just bubblegum – there was an edge to it, and the lyrical gymnastics were very real. It wasn’t selling out, it was allowing fans to buy in. “Papa Crazy,” driven in concept and by a sample from the Temptations’ “Papa Was A Rolling Stone,” followed a similar pop-leaning path. Overall, the lyrical content on the album was a step up from the group’s first three LPs. It’s easy to infer, looking back, that they were feeling the heat from their younger competitors in the rap game. The genre was changing fast, and they were up to the challenge. On cuts like “Radio Station” they bring substance to the grooves, by attacking Black Radio for its continual denigration of rap. “Tougher Than Leather” reminds the world that they were still the Kings of Rock, with hard guitars to drive the point home. And “They Call Us Run-DMC” and “Soul To Rock And Roll” both bring things back to their early days, with sure-fire park jam rhymes and killer cuts. Tougher Than Leather, which went platinum up against a lot of competition, perfectly bookends the ‘80s output of one of the decade’s most important groups. It encompasses the full range of the trio’s capabilities, and reminds us that Run-DMC should never be forgotten as both pioneers and party-rockers. And so, we say, long live Joe, Darryl and Jay!

FORMAT INFORMATION

Coloured LP Info: Translucent Blue vinyl.

Future archaeologists will discuss two periods in 1980s: before Run-DMC and after Run-DMC. It’s no exaggeration to say that the group changed the course of music in the ‘80s, bringing the old-school of rap into the new with one simple piece of flat, black plastic. Coming up in the rap world of the early 1980s under the wing of Kurtis Blow (group manager Russell Simmons managed Blow, and Run was, at one time, a DJ known as “Son of Kurtis Blow”) and Blow’s bassist and burgeoning super-producer Larry Smith, the trio – Joseph “Run” Simmons, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels and Jason “Jam Master Jay” Mizell – learned from the best, but created their own path. 1983 was the year that they first broke out. With only an Oberheim DMX drum program and some cuts by Jay, “Sucker M.C.s (Krush-Groove 1)” was a shot across the bow to the slick, post-disco pocket rap had settled into. It was raw, pure swagger and it took both New Yorkers and music aficionados around the world by storm.

The song’s lyrics are a mandatory memorization assignment to this day by MCs learning their craft. “Two years ago, a friend of mine…” The group’s sound, which was laid out muscularly on Run-DMC, had a harder approach than their peers, thanks to producer Larry Smith’s use of live musicians who laid down grooves but didn’t soften the edges. Lyrically the group wasn’t just about brags either, with songs like “Hard Times,” “It’s Like That” and “Wake Up” (the first two were singles). Run’s and DMC’s overlapping tag-team approach to lyricism was powerful and immensely influential. “Rock Box,” another single and arguably the centerpiece of the album, was a nod to their hard edge, and a foreshadowing of their first worldwide smash, 1985’s “King Of Rock.” Jam Master Jay’s DJ work was stellar, knowing exactly when to jump in and put listeners’ ears in a headlock. The album was the first rap full-length to achieve Gold status, and as fans know, the group was just getting started – their next two LPs would take them to even higher status in the music world, critically and sales-wise. But this is where it all started, and it’s a classic that still sounds fresh today as it did more than 30 years ago. 

FORMAT INFORMATION

Coloured LP Info: Clear vinyl.

“Only a few people have ever changed the way that records are made. Pete Rock is one of them,” veteran hip-hop A&R man and producer Dante Ross told Brian Coleman in the book Check the Technique Vol 1. “People like Pete change the sound palette for the whole world. He had a signature sound, and that’s so hard to get.” It is a tall boast, but it’s backed up two different ways: by fans of the group from back in the ‘90s who knocked each other over in record stores to get the latest Pete Rock production; and by record buyers today, who still hear the same freshness in the group’s sound that people did more than two decades ago. These two songs are taken from the group’s legendary first full-length from 1992, Mecca & The Soul Brother. Originally, both were their own 12-inch singles, but for this special, first-time-ever 7-Inch release, they are paired together. “They Reminisce Over You” – a tribute to their late friend Trouble T-Roy (a member of Heavy D’s crew) – is one of the most beloved hip-hop tracks of the ‘90s, and rightfully so. Grooving very deeply over a filtered bassline and a now-ingrained Tom Scott saxophone riff (“Today”), CL Smooth lives up to his moniker, weaving various tales and lessons about family and friends. His status as a storytelling MC remains underrated, but here it remains proudly on display. “Straighten It Out,” although not the runaway smash that “They Reminisce” was, is equally emotional and soulful. Again over a mid-tempo groove, and again with Pete’s trademark warm horn samples, CL explained in Check the Technique, “On [part of] the song, I was talking about sampling, and I was basically reacting to how everything was such a procedure when you had to clear stuff. They didn’t seem to care about how their music affected anyone else, they just wanted money. So it was just something that needed to be straightened out. Older artists thought that us younger cats were ripping them off, but it wasn’t like that. It was a tribute.” So here’s the math: one classic hip-hop group, two memorable singles, one killer 7-Inch. Case closed.

THIS IS A BLACK FRIDAY RELEASE AVAILABLE ONLINE ONLY ON FRIDAY NOVEMBER 27TH FROM 6PM.
LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

3000 pressed worldwide.
Vinyl Previously Issued Only In Japan.

For Black Friday Get On Down Offers A Complete Replica Of The Japanese Release Including A Full Color Insert And Deluxe OBI Strip. This 1977 studio recording finds Herbie Hancock embracing his jazz roots. The straight forward trio setting puts Hancock’s piano front and center. Backed by Ron Carter on bass and Tony Williams behind the drums, the recording features Hancock originals as well as the Trio’s take on Miles Davis’ “Milestones.” Though recorded at fabled San Francisco studio The Automatt, the recording was only immediately issued in Japan. To this day, Japan is the only country to see a vinyl release of the session. That changes on Black Friday as Get On Down presents The Herbie Hancock Trio. 

THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2020 RELEASE AVAILABLE ONLINE ONLY AS PART OF THE SEPTEMBER 26TH DROP DAY AT 6PM.
LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

Debuts on RSD.Only released on CD, never fully on vinyl.3000 copies worldwide.Features 2nd LP of rarities from the Mingus Ah Um Sessions.Mingus Ah Um, the artist's 1959 debut for Columbia is one of the most consequential albums in jazz or any other genre.The release is part of the Library of Congress National Recording Registry and has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame."Goodbye Pork Pie Hat", "Boogie Stomp Shuffle", "Open Letter To The Duke"Öthe release is packed with classics and is a best-selling release to this day.For Record Store Day 2020 Get On Down presents Ah Um Redux, the full Ah Um record as you know and love it with a second LP featuring alternate takes from the session previously unreleased on vinyl.Tracklisting: A Side.1.Better Git It In Your Soul 2.Goodbye Pork Pie Hat 3.Boogie Stomp Shuffle 4.Self-Portrait In Three Colors 5.Open Letter To Duke B Side.1.Bird Calls 2.Fables Of Faubus 3.Pussy Cat Dues 4.Jelly Roll C Side.1.Pedal Point Blues 2.GG Train 3.Girl Of My Dreams D Side.1.Bird Calls (Alternate Take) 2.Better Git It In Your Soul (Alternate Take) 3.Jelly Roll (Alternate Take)

THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2020 RELEASE AVAILABLE ONLINE ONLY AS PART OF THE SEPTEMBER 26TH DROP DAY AT 6PM.
LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

Colored Vinyl Pressing Exclusive For RSD 2020 (5000 copies worldwide).God's Son was released in December of 2002, and like Stillmatic before it, was subject to major critical acclaim.On God's Son, Nas effectively took the battle-hardened demeanor he had cultivated and tore it down across 14 tracks that were emotionally insular, though still dusted in urban grit.(And still finding time to shoot back at Jay-Z's potshots on tracks like "Last Real Nigga Alive" and "Mastermind.") Assisting Nas was a slew of top-tier producers like The Alchemist, Eminem, Ron Browz, and Salaam Remi, (Over samples of James Brown, the Incredible Bongo Band, Fela Kuti, and Beethoven) and guest vocals from Alicia Keys, Kelis, Claudette Ortiz of City High, and even a posthumous 2Pac.God's Son has been out of print on vinyl since its initial 2002 release, but Get On Down is excited to bring you this deluxe LP package for Record Store Day 2020, remastered from its original audio and pressed on exclusive colored vinyl! Issued in 2002.CD, LP and digital.Vinyl out of print since original release.Track listing: 1.Get Down 2.The Cross 3.Made You Look B Side 1.Last Real Nigga Alive 2.Zone Out (feat.Bravehearts) 3.Hey Nas (feat.Claudette Ortiz & Kelis) 4.I Can.C Side 1.Book Of Rhymes 2.Thugz Mansion (N.Y.) (feat.2Pac & J.Phoenix) 3.Mastermind 4.Warrior Song (feat.Alicia Keys).D Side 1.Revolutionary Warfare (feat.Lake) 2.Dance 3.Heaven (feat.Jully Black)

THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2020 RELEASE AVAILABLE ONLINE ONLY AS PART OF THE AUGUST 29TH DROP DAY AT 6PM.
LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

Splatter Colored Vinyl Pressing Exclusive For RSD 2020.First issued in 1970.CD last issued in 2002.Vinyl out of print since the 70s.2500 copies worldwide.Arriving on the heels of the socially conscious Babylon, Dr.John's 1970 album Remedies marked his 3rd studio release under his eccentric, voodoo-inspired "Night Tripper" persona, and his first not to be produced by Harold Bapttiste, instead turning to famed rock producer Tom Dowd.Featuring a psychedelic and progressive take on Dr.John's signature style of swampy, hazy New Orleans boogie-woogie rock, undoubtedly inspired by his then recent stint in a psych ward.Track listing: A Side.1.Loop Garoo 2.What Goes Around Comes Around 3.Wash, Mama, Wash 4.Chippy, Chippy 5.Mardi Gras Day B Side.1.Angola Anthem

Available on 2LP, with the look of a silk-screened jacket we are excited to bring to you these Liquid Swords Instrumentals. There are many reasons why Wu-Tang Clan rapper GZA's second solo album Liquid Swords is considered one of the greatest hip-hop records of all time. Critics and historians point to GZA's raw, and starkly poetic lyrics which featured references to chess, crime and philosophy, as well as superb guest performances from his Wu-Tang Clan contemporaries. One can't comment on Liquid Swords' brilliance however without touching upon the production, courtesy of Wu-Tang's own mastermind RZA.

Behind a hazy and murky backdrop of rare samples and classic boom-bap beats, RZA crafted a bleak atmosphere of urban dystopia for GZA's esoteric rhymes to flourish in,cribbing from a wide panoply of sources ranging from the dusty soul of The Bar-Kays and Ohio Players, the nostalgic jazz of Cannonball Adderley and Willie Mitchell, and even the experimental weirdness of Mothers Of Invention. In a retrospective 5-star AllMusic.com review of Liquid Swords, writer Steve Huey said of RZA’s production: “The Genius' eerie calm is a great match for RZA's atmospheric production, which is tremendously effective in this context; the kung fu dialogue here is among the creepiest he's put on record, and he experiments quite a bit with stranger sounds and more layered tracks.”

These instrumentals, peppered with frequent interludes of dialogue from the classic samurai flick Shogun Assassin, became the core of the GZA’s acclaimed sophomore LP. The full Liquid Swords instrumentals are now available in a white and black vinyl pressing, a nod to 10 the chessboard art synonymous with the album’s cover art. All tracks have been restored, with re-mastered audio from the original source tapes

FORMAT INFORMATION

2xLP Info: Pressed On Limited Edition Black And White Vinyl!

Get On Down is all too eager to reissue this unique record for Record Store Day Black Friday, which has not been repressed on vinyl in over 40 years. In keeping with the album's hallucinogenic sound, it is presented on trippy splatter colored vinyl, and housed in a deluxe gatefold jacket

FORMAT INFORMATION

Coloured LP Info: Trippy Splatter vinyl.

THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2019 EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

First issued in 1976. Available on CD and digital but vinyl has been out of print since the mid-80s. 2000 only worldwide. By the 1970s Reggae had spread from Jamaica and become an international phenomena. Enter Dillinger, who rose up with the El Paso Sound System as part of the second generation of Jamaican toasters. His name came from American gangster John Dillinger at the suggestion of none other than Lee Perry (who produced his first album). A deal with Island Records followed, with sessions happening at Channel One Studios with Joseph ""Jo Jo"" Hoo Kim producing. Recording at Channel One in mid-70s meant Dillinger and Jo Jo were tapping into an immense talent pool in the form of The Revolutionaries, the studio’s in-house band. CB 200 features contributions from Earl “Chinna” Smith, Aston “Family Man” Barrett, Ansel Collins, Sly Dunbar, and Tommy McCook among others. The release also brought forth the career defining cut “Cokane In My Brain”, a hit record on an international basis. Despite the success of CB 200 and “Cokane In My Brain” the release has remained out of print in all formats since the mid-1980s. Get On Down is about to change that, with their Record Store Day 2019 reissue of this too often overlooked Reggae masterpiece. Tracks : 1. CB 200 2. No Chuck It 3. Cokane In My Brain 4. The General 5. Power Bank 6. Plantation Heights 7. Race Day 8. Natty Kick Like Lightning 9. Buckingham Palace 10. Crankface

The contemporary realm of hip hop music can be seen as polarized between two sides; mainstream versus underground, industry versus independent, at a base level boiled down to catchy sounds & infective hooks over higher quality lyrical content. These elements don’t need to be mutually exclusive, but these days it’s rare to find an act that can please all sides of the discussion. Clipse are one of the few groups that successfully and consistently caters to both sides of rap’s splintered psyche, simultaneously serving the scene with upbeat bangers that get the club poppin’ & subwoofers rattlin’ while crafting clever quotable compositions deserving of repeated headphone submersions. Though their preceding official albums "Lord Willin’" & "Hell Hath No Fury" made bigger splashes commercially, 2009’s "Til The Casket Drops" is surely no slouch, a gem which deserves to be revisited with fresh ears – good thing Get On Down has given it the proper treatment it deserves with its first-ever vinyl pressing!
Clipse have always delighted in dualities, juxtapositions and contradictions, unabashedly celebrating the capitalistic lifestyle and the grind as the kings of ‘coke-rap’, while taking hard looks at society’s mores and those of their own individual journeys. We hear Malice’s eventual transition to No Malice taking form on this album as he found religion, warning others who might follow in his path on ‘Footsteps’: “don’t let my wrongs give you the right of way/ to emulate my past escaping the law’s grasp” while refusing to be pinned down in one lane: “it weights on my conscience and I hate conscious rap”. Meanwhile Pusha T continues his lyrical ascent into the King Push persona with bars like “pompous motherfucker, look what them jewels made me/ I’m only finding comfort in knowing you can’t replace me/ What a thing to say, but what am I to do/ I’m role-playing a conscious nigga and true is true/ Cocaine aside, all of the bloggers behooved/ My critics finally have a verse of mine to jerk off to” decisively on album opener “Freedom”.
Since it dropped, the Clipse have stated that Casket… is their final album together while subsequently alluding to the possibility of an eventual reunion. Only time will tell, but until then it’s time to re-celebrate one of hip hop’s most dynamic duos by hearing "Til The Casket Drops" in a whole new light with its long-overdue, first time on vinyl pressing via Get On Down featuring all 13 original tracks on wax and cover art by the legendary KAWS! It’s kinda like a big deal…

Dan The Automator’s and Kool Keith’s famed collaboration from the mid-‘90s is celebrated with a 28-track set housed in a custom, octagonal box, with 5 unreleased songs (originals + remixes); original Pushead cover artwork; and 40 page liner notes booklet. By the mid-1990s, the rap game had been through a lot in its two decades of existence: Early-days scraping to get by and be heard; The advent of sampling; The rise of groups ranging from Run-DMC to the Wu-Tang Clan and the sprawl of Dr. Dre’s shadow from the West across the globe; and solo juggernauts ranging from MC Hammer to the Notorious B.I.G. Thankfully, though, with everything that the genre had been through, there was still a lot of room to grow. And in early 1996, a new indie duo appeared that won over a whole new international audience, from hard rocks to skate punks. That pair was Dr. Octagon: Dan “The Automator” Nakamura and Kool Keith [Thornton]. In some ways, the Dr. Octagon album is a solo release.

But Keith wasn’t the only hand on deck. He brought along a young, New York-based MC with him: Sir Menelik. Menelik was featured on four album tracks, starting with “Dr. Octagon,” and proved to be an excellent super-scientifical, fast-rhyming foil to Keith. And there was one final featured contributor who helped add to the album’s next-level sound: San Francisco’s DJ Q*Bert, who cuts on half of the album’s songs. The album originally came out on The Automator’s Bulk Recordings label in early 1996, with cover art by metal and punk cult hero visual artist Pushead. Pressing numbers weren’t huge, but as the year went on, the buzz grew, and a slightly expanded version of the album was released on James Lavelle’s London-based Mo Wax label.

Then Dan took an offer from newly-formed major label DreamWorks, to re-release the album with extra tracks in mid-1997. The new domestic pressing allowed for a bigger press push, as well as the group’s first and only video, for “Blue Flowers.” Beyond “Blue Flowers,” the album is chock-full of mind-bending tracks, like “Earth People”; the wacked-out but sincere love ballad “Girl Let Me Touch You”; the metal-tinged “I’m Destructive”; Q-Bert’s turntable workout “Bear Witness”; and, of course, freaky Keith skits like “Elective Surgery” and “General Hospital”. Dr. Octagonecologyst is one of the most unique rap records the genre has ever seen, and this is the perfect way to celebrate it – whether it’s the first time you have heard this mind-expanding record, or the three thousandth. 

FORMAT INFORMATION

3xLtd LP Info: 28-track set housed in a custom, octagonal box, with 5 unreleased songs (originals + remixes); original Pushead cover artwork; and 40 page liner notes booklet.

Run-DMC’s self-titled 1984 debut pushed the doors of pop music open, showing that hip-hop was not the fad that haters had prophesized. As they proved decisively on Run-DMC, rap was a legit art form, fully capable of producing long-players full of no-fast-forward cuts. By 1985, any doubters were running on fumes, as the group’s King Of Rock blew the aforementioned pop doors off their hinges.

Emboldened by their success (including the first rap album to ever go Gold); energized by worldwide touring and accolades; and given all the support they could want by a genius producer (Larry Smith), an open-minded label (Profile) and a charismatic manager (Russell Simmons, who also lent a hand on production), they ruled the charts and hinted at even greater things to come. The album’s most fondly-remembered single set the album’s tone perfectly: “King Of Rock” was hard, full of charisma and tag-team vocal finesse, and had enough guitars to bring the suburbs into the rap fold. The song’s video was equally popular and powerful, and the pioneering MTV exposure drove the group into a new stratosphere. But there was much more to King Of Rock than the title track, including more rock / rap hybrids.

Augustus Pablo (Horace Swaby) was born just outside of Kingston. “I am a Kingstonian,” he told the NME in 1986, “but my heart is for the hills.” This mystical connection to “the hills” is at the heart of Pablo's unique and immediately identifiable sound. By the late '60s, Swaby and his brother Dougie had founded a small sound system they called Rockers. The brothers spent a lot of time in record shops, including Aquarius, where owner Herman Chin-Loy heard Swaby experimenting on his melodica and was struck by the inspiration to record. The resulting tune was credited to Augustus Pablo, a name that Chin-Loy invented, as the story goes, to give an air of mystery to the release. Pablo recorded two more singles soon after with “Java” becoming a major hit and being voted Instrumental Song Of The Year by Jamaica's Swing Magazine. This success led to the Randy's label moving to create a full-length album from Pablo. Recording in the Randy's studio upstairs from the record shop “we weren't watching the clock...we had the studio,” Clive Chin recalled. The band included a cast of the greatest reggae musicians of all time: future Wailer Tyrone Downie on keyboards, Aston “Family Man” Barrett, “Fully” Fullwood and Lloyd Parks on the bass, Carlton Barrett, “Santa” Davis and Lloyd “Tin Leg” Adams were on drums and Earl “Chinna” Smith played guitar. In addition to these future Hall of Famers, the mixing board was helmed by Errol Thompson. Thompson and Chin would together pioneer a tough, new reggae sound that, Chin referred to as “Rockers” after the Swaby brothers' Rockers Hi-Fi sound system. 'This Is Augustus Pablo' is considered among the greatest collections of Jamaican instrumental music and is an essential part of reggae history. 

Afrika Bambaataa & Soul Sonic Force “Planet Rock” 12-inch re-issue on glow-in-the-dark vinyl (Limited edition of 1982 copies) B-Boy anthem from 1982 lights up any dancefloor…literally! First time ever on glow-in-the-dark vinyl! Fresh off Bambaataa’s historic donation of his vinyl collection to the Cornell University Hip-Hop Collection and the Fall 2014 “Renegades of Rhythm” tour by DJ Shadow & Cut Chemist celebrating his unparalleled contribution to hip-hop, Get On Down celebrates the song for which the Godfather of Hip-Hop is best known: 1982’s “Planet Rock,” a Kraftwerk-meets-Bronx-B-Boy anthem. Renowned the world over as a never-fail floor-filler, this new 12-inch pressing of the single is pressed on glow-in-the-dark vinyl for the first time ever. Although Bambaataa may have gotten top-billing on the release, it was a team effort, with crucial contributions by a team including DJ Jazzy Jay, Afrika Islam, Arthur Baker, John Robie, a Roland TR-808 drum machine (aka Planet Patrol) and of course MCs Mr. Biggs, G.L.O.B.E. and Pow Wow. This edition is housed in a clear, custom-embossed Get On Down poly-bag to let the glow show through.

THIS IS A RECORD STORE DAY 2014 EXCLUSIVE, LIMITED TO ONE PER PERSON.

Available from Get on Down, we are proud to bring back this rare 7”, the UK Picture sleeve release of Eric B & Rakim’s Paid in Full (Mini Madness – The Coldcut Remix). When Eric B & Rakim debuted with Paid in Full in the summer of ‘87 the album was an immediate classic. By the time the cut "Paid in Full" was released as the album's fifth and final single, it became a hit in clubs, radio and MTV largely due to the songs remix. Enter Coldcut, a new DJ/Remix team from the U.K who at the time just made a big splash with a record of their own, the cut & paste classic “Say Kids What Time Is It”. It made such a huge buzz that Julian Palmer from Island Records urged them to do a remix of “Paid in Full”. The result was the “Mini Madness” mix which turned Rakim's one verse song into a magnum opus that that crossed cultures and influences into one seamless remix. Today it still holds as one of the most groundbreaking remixes ever, Rakim himself is even quoted as saying it was the “best remix” he has ever heard. What made this remix so special was how Coldcut incorporated several new elements in producing their remix, mainly the use of vocal samples. The most prominent in these samples was the addition of Israeli singer Ofra Haza, whose voice when lowered in pitch, synced perfectly with the Paid in Full breakbeat. Another notable element of the Coldcut remix is its opening vocal sample, "This is a journey into sound” which even today it is recognizable as the start of this Remix. "Now wait a minute, you better talk to my mother" comes from Humphrey Bogart and lines like "Pump up the volume" and "Dance to the record" are sampled from Eric B. & Rakim's own song "I Know You Got Soul". While there are many more vocal bits and breaks that go into what makes this remix so special, it’s better to let the music speak for itself.

In 1994, hip-hop was going through an at-times painful growth spurt. Since NWA’s and Ice-T’s ascent in the late 80s, the rap game was no longer owned by the East Coast. After the worldwide popularity of Dr. Dre’s ‘The Chronic’ in 1992, things were looking even worse for hip-hop’s hometown. The East Coast / West Coast feud that would later indirectly claim the lives of Biggie and 2Pac was still in its infancy, but New York needed a shot in the arm. The hype behind young Queensbridge native Nasir “Nas” Jones had been in full swing months before his smash debut album ‘Illmatic’, thanks to Columbia Records’ promo machine. From his earliest appearance on Main Source’s ‘Live At The BBQ’, to his own accomplished debut ‘Half Time’ (as Nasty Nas, in late 1992), it was clear that this kid was something special. In fact, the pressure on him must have been overwhelming at times. April 19, 1994 couldn’t have come soon enough. And as soon as the first lines of ‘NY State Of Mind’ kick in, bolstered by perhaps DJ Premier’s darkest beat of all time, the entire East Coast breathed a collective sigh of relief. God’s Son had arrived. Backed by an absolute all-star cast of New York’s top-shelf producers - Premier, Pete Rock, Large Professor, Q-Tip and a youngster named LES - the album never lets up. Serious to a fault, and lyrically dense to an extent that has possibly never been matched, the 20-year old Nas stood on the shoulders of his predecessors and proudly proclaimed, “Don’t f*** with the East… we are BACK”. ‘Illmatic’ was actually a slow-burn, which might surprise fans that have come to its genius more recently. Despite an unheard-of “5 Mics” rating in The Source – breaking an unwritten rule of never awarding classic status to debuts - it didn’t go gold until early 1996, and didn’t hit platinum status until late 2001. But when you dive deeper that shouldn’t be a shock: like Black Moon and Wu-Tang’s debuts, it was a dark, hard record, made for heads in New York, not teeny-boppers in Des Moines. There were no dance beats, no crossover love songs. Just boom-bap and rhymes, skills and heart.

STAFF COMMENTS

says: This album pretty much single handedly reignited the flame of East Coast hip hop. Produced by DJ Premier, Large Professor, Pete Rock AND Q Tip!! It's an authentic, masterpiece of minimal beats and street poetry that is universally recognised as one of the greatest rap albums of all time.

It's safe to say that hip-hop has never seen an album like Ol’ Dirty Bastard's 1995 solo debut 'Return to the 36 Chambers'. The brief glimpses of ODB's unhinged genius provided by Wu-Tang Clan's landmark Enter the Wu-Tang album two years earlier were begging to be expanded on to a larger canvas, and, with RZA guiding production, the album promised to give Dirty the creative license to make one of the most bizarre, entertaining and original LPs in hip-hop history. With his raspy, drunken flow and dark sense of humor, Dirty fearlessly attacks from all angles, throwing himself fearlessly into punchy rhyme attacks (“Damage,” with GZA), drugged-out party jams (the monster singles “Brooklyn Zoo” and “Shimmy Shimmy Ya”) and bizarre, grimly hilarious fantasies of sex and violence (“Don't U Know” and the R&B-tinged “Sweet Sugar Pie”). Backed by RZA's appropriately gritty, dissonant beats and appearances from the Clan, Return became an instant hit, selling over 1 million copies and earning a Grammy Award nomination for Best Rap Album in 1996. The album stands as a high water mark in the Wu-Tang Clan's collective creative output and was selected as one of the Best 100 Rap Albums by The Source magazine in 1998.