When Breakestra appeared on the scene just at the start of the millenium, they immediately grabbed the attention of longtime hip-hop listeners with their Stones Throw debut, The Live Mix Vol. Two. Reason being, was because like the group’s name suggests, their album was an hour long mix of classic funk and soul breaks used by everyone’s favorite classic hip-hop legends. Beautifully orchestrated, Miles Tackett and his crew built an immediate fanbase with the release of this record, simultaneously packing dancefloors at their live shows. 

      But there was one big problem with “The Live Mix Volume Two” – while an almost flawless album and essential listening for anyone who grew up on hip-hop in the eighties and nineties – Breakestra made very little money from the record. Reason being was that because the record was made up of so many familiar breaks, they had to license each one, leaving very little money left for each of the band’s six (or more) members at the end of the day. So naturally, their next album was less likely to be “The Live Mix Volume Three”, and instead a series of original recordings. 

      And rightly so, while a new “Live Mix” would have been fun (let’s not rule it out entirely fellas), this would have pigeonholed Breakestra into being nothing more than a really good cover band. So enter “Hit The Floor”, Breakestra’s re-entry into the music scene, featuring 14 original tracks for your listening pleasure. Sure, you won’t find yourself identifying sounds or “samples” on this record, but the end result is enjoyable as anything else they’ve released. 

      “Hit The Floor” plays throughout as if it were the Live Mix Volume Three, in the sense that each of the tracks seems to lead into the next one, but with two second gaps in between each one. You can definitely sense the cohesion here that will undoubtedly translate into their live performances. As for this new original material, all of it works. Songs like “Don’t Need To Dance” and “Stand Up” pose Mix Master Wolf as the frontman, as he does his best James Brown (for lack of a better comparison), urging listeners to get on the floor and shake a leg, with his distinctive gruff vocals. However the true meat of the album lies in the middle, when instead Miles himself steps up to the mic. He pours his heart and soul into passionate tracks like “Hiding” and “Recognize”, making some of the album’s most honest and genuine material. 

     Like their last record, “Hit The Floor” offers up a diverse selection of sounds and styles. There’s no denying some of the incredible instrumental selections, such as the ridiculous “Burgandy Blues”, which amazes with a non-stop barrage of funky flutes that begs to be sampled, while “The Gettin In To It” does the same for the sax. The night winds down to a close with mellower instrumental selections such as “See Sawng” and “How Do You Really Feel”. As an added bonus, “Hit The Floor” comes complete with it’s own old-fashioned hip-hop song in “Family Rap”, an incredible salute to the days of old starring members of Jurassic 5 and People Under The Stairs. 

      “Hit The Floor” proves Breakestra to be more than just the cover band you might have thought they were. While it may be unfamiliar, this stuff is undeniably danceable – and who said it had to be familiar to move to it? But after a couple of listens to the album, all need for nostalgic sample identifying will be forgotten. But if you really need that to enjoy a Breakestra album, just buy the album now, put it at the top of your closet, and in thirty years open it and listen to it. Then you can say “Hey, Madlib Junior and Lil’ Kanye sampled that!”