News & Updates — rap/hiphop

The brand new record from Miami’s Spam Allstars is chock-full of tropical electro space-funk spiced with a heady dose of Cuban flavors. Instant Trans-Oceanic beach party! Download card with the extra bonus track "Agua de Poço" included! The six-piece Spam Allstars have been at the forefront of Miami's creative musical blending for twenty years. Founded by turntablist/producer/engineer DJ Le Spam to create electronic descargas, those compelling improvisational Latin jams, but this time with funk, electro & hiphop elements. Through the course of six albums, international touring, interesting collaborations with the likes of Phish side project Vida Blue and Rumberos de la Ocho, and a...

The social worker-turned-rap producer/DJ Scott La Rock formed Boogie Down Productions with homeless teen KRS-One in the South Bronx in 1986 and the act brought the art of rap to a new level of poetry. Their first album, the proto-gangsta Criminal Minded, was a heavy blast of borough pride, battle raps, sparse and cutting funky production (inspired by James Brown and dancehall) and a gritty urban realism that has been a continuation in rap (for good or bad) ever since. They (theatrically?) initiated the "rap beef" with their battle boasts. Scott was shot while trying to defuse a situation and...

Our friends over at the always-tasteful Paris DJs have put up a downloadable mixtape of some of the grooviest nuggets of recent vintage for your listening pleasure. Yes, the Friends & Family Vol 1 set is your audio update on the dopest sounds of today. Their website has given coverage to so many great contemporary bands of the funk, reggae, soul, hip-hop, jazz and boogaloo scenes that it's like they want to do the work for you, keeping you up to date with the freshest arrivals. All of the tunes selected here are from late 2016 or 2017. They cover...

Happy birthday to the recently-passed keyboardist/songwriter/producer Leon Haywood, the man behind that G-Funk staple "I Wanna Do Something Freaky To You". He came from Houston and was playing piano as a young child. He put together his first professional band in the '50s, playing locally while also backing Guitar Slim. In the early '60s he moved to Los Angeles, where he played in a band with saxophonist Big Jay McNeely, and backing Sam Cooke in his band until Cooke's death. He continued working as a session musician with Dyke & The Blazers, among others. He had a few minor soul...

James D. Yancey aka Jay Dee aka J Dilla is one of a long lineage of Detroit musical geniuses. Both a producer and a rapper, he started Slum Village in '96, produced The Pharcyde, worked with Common, Erykah Badu, Talib Kweli, De La Soul, Janet Jackson, The Roots and many others, including producing, beatmaking, rapping and remixing. His partnership with Madlib produced the classic Champion Sound album. He is an indie rap icon, more popular in death than ever. (Not sure who did the very cool profile above, but respect!) My personal favorite is his collage-album Donuts, here: