While this Long Beach crew might not spit slang like their DPG neighbors, the trio of Dizzy Dustin, Andy Cap and Young Einstein still manage to churn out fun-loving head nodders that resonate from Southern Cali to across the globe. Making a strong debut with the “Fresh Mode” 12″ of ’97, the three set a pace to [cont.]

As some may know, Screwball ain’t new to this. Like the song say, they’ve seen it all. Hostyle, Poet, KL, and Quran have remained staples in the indie Hip-Hop market before it was even considered to be one. Following the Hydra method of constantly releasing singles, these fellas had a catalog of pressed material before [cont.]

 Foreign Legion is all that is traditional “independent” Hip-Hop, musically and lyrically Prozac and Marc Stretch stick to the conventions previously paved and run with it. Which ultimately, depending on the tastes of the listener, will make or break this Bay Area crew’s debut. Fun loving braggadocio, endearing raps about Hip-Hop culture, with an occasional ‘secret [cont.]

 The Living Legends have remained one of the more tightly knit families in the younger world of Rap, new to this they are not, but involved in one another’s projects most heavily. They lend themselves to a tape slangin’ Wu-Tang Clan, with one or more artists making appearances on someone else’s work at all times. [cont.]

 For those that picked up last years J-88 “The Look Of Love” 12″ on Germany’s Groove Attack imprint than you probably figured out the trio is in actuality the enigmatic Slum Village. By enigmatic, I mean, not only has this crew seen massive amounts of hype from both established artists and the press they also have curiously [cont.]

 The Hip-Hop world has an exhausting amount of late-fees when it comes to paying Moka Only the dues he rightfully deserves. Having a textured catalog of material more extensive than some entire record labels, Moka’s contribution to the music has been unheralded and under-appreciated at best. With a Battle Axe full length along side several other [cont.]

 The cloth the “Hip-Hop” producer is cut from has expanded and mutated infinitely since the bumpin’ days of the 808, no longer bound by simplistic hand-claps or repeated Skull Snaps renditions (although when freaked properly will always prove successful), what we know to be the “Hip-Hop” producer has engulfed all that is music, both past [cont.]

Love him or hate him, Madlib has been putting in crazy work in the past 365 days. From Lootpack beats to a plentiful batch of guest production and remixes ‘Lib has been up to his dreads in Hip-Hop. Amazingly enough he’s had the ability to record a whole 24 track full length (vocals and beats) [cont.]

 Jeru The Damaja once mentioned something about letting his ‘mindspray’, and at that time a lyric from ‘D. Original’ constituted an unloading of rhyme-ammunition few could withstand, wordplay of un-fuckwitable proportions. But today his spray pans out to be nothing more than a mere faucet leak in the vast lyrical diarrhea ocean that is Dose One. [cont.]

Planet Asia has undoubtedly made an impact on Hip-Hop consumers these last few years. Running with the ethic of dropping joints one after another has proven a successful pay-off, scoring the vainglorious Fresno-bred emcee a major deal with Interscope Records. As a precursor to the album and to keep his momentum up, Asia delivers the slim-yet-thick [cont.]

 Following suit with piecemeal releases from his Freestyle Fellowship brethren (a la Timetable, Suther’n Fried Chicken and even Accepted Eclectic), Self Jupiter steps to the plate with his first respected release of this stature. As the more elusive limb of the Fellowship tree, Jup, who spent a portion of the 90′s incarcerated, blossoms as a sort of [cont.]

 “I am prepared to face many obstacles in my journey” read a message scribed on the back of a then youthful and slender Freddie Foxxx’s ’89 seminal LP, Freddie Foxxx Is Here. Is it possible that he could foresee the path of his renegade-like position for the the next decade and beyond? Bouncing from Boogie [cont.]

While this Long Beach crew might not spit slang like their DPG neighbors, the trio of Dizzy Dustin, Andy Cap and Young Einstein still manage to churn out fun-loving head nodders that resonate from Southern Cali to across the globe. Making a strong debut with the “Fresh Mode” 12″ of ’97, the three set a pace to [cont.]

?The Molemen ain’t new to this, without a doubt the production trio of PNS, His-Panik, and Memo have signified the underground esthetic as well as that Chicago grit many heads have come to love with a true-to-the-movement perseverance. It’s actually a little surprising that its taken this long for the fellas to come out with a collective album. [cont.]

The concept of concept albums isn’t as conceptually tight as one might think, granted Prince Paul’s Prince Among Thieves had many a moment and The Dan The Automator /Del The Funkee Homosapien connection, Deltron 3030 appealed to some, the overall end product usually doesn’t come to met the expectations set for it on paper. Unclear directions [cont.]

In the wake of Matthew, First Come, Firt Served and Lost In Space, Kool Keith heads were undoubtedly digested a mass of Thorton bravado, some overwhelmed others underwhelmed. Yet if Keith was to drop another album in the same vein as the aforementioned joints, many would undoubtedly begin to question the longevity of one of today’s [cont.]

The trio of Zion I is an interesting one no doubt, utilizing rich synths and electronic tid-bits to create an almost technotronic soundscape while remaining rooted deeply in their East Oakland conventions. Last year’s “Inner Light” catapulted the group known for their electric stage presence to nationwide recognition. Interestingly enough it was the drum-n-bass remix that [cont.]

 With an enormously increasing interest for Living Legends’s fare across the board, members of the rather large squad see it fit to branch out. Not too far from the tree of course, but rather in an unanimous flex of their creative muscles. Earlier in the year we saw The Grouch and PSC’s CMA project receive critical acclaim, [cont.]

 Mr. Complex is from what some might label as the “first generation” of (contemporary) underground artists – a relatively small grouping of emcees and producers who made names for themselves in the mid-Nineties more through word of mouth than today’s intricate marketing and promotional schemes. In its short-lived (nevertheless grand) time, consumers sought out the “new [cont.]

This is your worn-down cassette, no longer sporting the imprint of its manufacturer, dulled from the consistent run it finds in your big ass walkman. Much like the kids and their burnt CD “mixes”, this mix once only heard through static of plastic is now nestled amongst the crisp ridges and valleys of your vinyl. [cont.]