Gazing back a few years ago to the adolescence of new school independent hip-hop we can proudly reminisce on a slightly different picture to the contrast of the current sight of things. ‘Back then’: There weren’t 25 different records coming out a week, Fat Beats only had one store, and Rawkus  was being clowned more [cont.]

The so-called Mudkids certainly aren’t dirty or gritty, even though with a 4trackmind you might expect something that sounds rougher than an unreleased Wu-Tang Clan demo. Never that. What the rapper cHoc MC and partner/producer El-Mass put together will not leave washboard mudstains on the ride of your mind; rather, they will refresh you and leave you [cont.]

Here to set it on ya, direct from California is the Fresno breed mic-phenom Planet Asia. Bringing true underground skills full-circle, Asia represents the epitome of old school lyricism, in an updated new school package. Lots of names are thrown around when discussing which up and coming emcee holds the most promise for the year [cont.]

     When Cypress Hill appeared on the scene in 1991, it was like a breath of fresh buddah smoke. The fisherman capped, goateed trio were a crew that hailed from the streets of Los Angeles, East Coast Stomping their way on the scene. Abandoning the traditional sound of gangster rap that was coming out of [cont.]

The Bay Area’s Mystik Journeymen return with yet another project, keeping the spirit of true underground hip-hop alive. If you have never heard these cats before, just imagine a few frustrated, unsigned and hella broke brothers coming from the Bay, with more to say than the average player the town is know for. The formula here [cont.]

Another forgotten mystery of the 1990′s was Black Sheep’s A Wolf In Sheep s Clothing, an incredible debut album from Dres and Mr. Lawnge, of the then functional Native Tongue family, (which also consisted of Brothers in the Jungle and cousins on a Quest, as well as De La Soul, for those that slept.) A [cont.]

Back in the early ’90s, if you browsed the CD shelves of people who weren’t rap fans but were at least open to it, you were likely to find one or more of the following: Public Enemy’s It Takes A Nation Of Millions, Dr. Dre’s The Chronic and Digable Planets Reachin’. While it’s hard to [cont.]

Acey’s alone once again with his follow up to his slept on solo debut All Balls Don’t Bounce, with his latest effort Book of Human Language. This time striking independently, giving us an entire bible of life’s lessons in rhyme form. But without a major label Capitol to direct him, Acey defines his own hip-hop [cont.]

Showbiz and AG’s Runaway Slave is perhaps the best album I have that I’ve never really loved.  I know that sounds utterly contradictory and well, it is. For whatever reason, I just can’t get into it though I’m hard pressed to suggest what’s wrong. Is it the beats? Are you kidding?  Showbiz is killing it with [cont.]

Gang Starr’s Step In the Arena is widely credited as one of the first albums to really pioneer a jazz/hip-hop fusion but people got it slightly wrong.  Sure, DJ Premier sampled jazz songs to make some of the tracks for Arena but his innovation was taking the jazzy and making it funky. In comparison to the [cont.]

Back in the early ’90s, if you browsed the CD shelves of people who weren’t rap fans but were at least open to it, you were likely to find one or more of the following: Public Enemy’s It Takes A Nation Of Millions, Dr. Dre’s The Chronic and Digable Planets Reachin’. While it’s hard to [cont.]

There’s something pensive about an Elusive beat, yet unkempt, in the past overtly sparse and now with time, strengthened by a heightened sense of the importance of drums. As depict on the album cover, Elusive’s fingers have awoken and while the dancing hand-shoes may still need some breaking in, as they feel uppity enough to provoke [cont.]

 Noticed by European followers under aliases such as “The Soul Saints”, modern funk outfit, Poets of Rhythm, quickly got the attention of Lyrics Born, who later would collaborate with them on “I Changed My Mind”, on the Quannum Spectrum compilation. But is the idea of a millennial funk band all it’s cracked up to be? [cont.]

Personality wise each member of the Living Legends is as different as night & day. But it is readily apparent thru their musical offerings that they all have one thing particularly in common– a taste for the obscure. Eligh is no different in that regard, as his eclectic array of production and mind-expanding lyricism is indeed [cont.]

In 1996, Kool Keith reinvented himself. While most hip-hop aficionados knew of Kool Keith from his ego trippin’ Ultramagnetic days, it wasn’t until the release of the Dr. Octagon album that he became a nationwide underground sensation, soon to be chillin’ on billboards in L.A. He’d always been the weird one, and even back in [cont.]

 The influence of Project Blowed is unquestionably un-measurable. Both the loose collective of Los Angeles artists and the ’94 compilation album of the same name have made more progressive strides for an underground movement than any other related occurrence/release. Musically influencing all types of artists across the globe while simultaneously introducing the world to some [cont.]

Way before Rakim was rocking a graying beard next to the luscious lips of Truth Hurts, or even before he pioneered the idea of rap and R&B collaborations on Jody Watley’s “Friends” (yes, it was all his fault), there was Paid In Full, the debut album from Eric B. & Rakim, which ushered in a new [cont.]

The diversity of sound is nice, but I found the vast bulk of this seven cut EP kind of snoozy. “Say It Loud”, might stimulate the mental and I appreciate the message it’s trying to impart, but the beat is slow and rather dull, has very little punch to it as all. Same goes for [cont.]

The Living Legends crew has become synonymous for placing prevalence on innovation, and Eligh is the embodiment of that movement. An against the grain emcee/producer, Eligh’s production, much like his first two offerings, is stripped to the barest of essentials. A master minimalist, Eligh’s tracks take quick turns stylistically, but his most impressive attribute remains [cont.]