Jack Diggs "Out The Dust" (Instrumental Album)

Jack Diggs is a producer/rapper from London. "Out The Dust" is a hefty collection of Jack Diggs' instrumental work up to this point - over 2 dozen tracks in total. Released via Revorg Records, they add that "Some of these beats have featured on previous Revord releases, some are exclusive to this release." As the title suggests, these dusty boombap-influenced beats have a lot snap and kick to them. If you've been diggin' the instrumental releases from Nick Wiz, you may dig this as well.

Sa-Roc "MetaMorpheus" (EP Stream)

Metamorpheus is a compilation of songs from Sa-Roc's catalog which spans 12 albums over the last 8 years with 6 new songs. After just one listen, one would truly discover that Sa-Roc is a lyrical gymnast. As Sa-Roc always says, she is an MC who just happens to be a woman. Sa-Roc says on The Reckoning, "I'd rather be remembered for my quick wit and intelligence / Then big tits and a swelling ass cause looks never last forever / I'm like the best of Darth Vader and Skywalker, family product of two sides, dark and light smashed together / Perfect combination of church and abomination, I'm person to file with the grace..." An elite lyricist with bars and real messages, please stream it below!

Blahzay Blahzay "Blah, Blah, Blah" (The Source, 9/96)

"After rocking the entire East Coast last year (for a good six months) with their anthemtic single "Danger" - which was revived by the Syracuse Orangemen on their impressive Final Four trip this spring - Blahzay Blahzay are poised to release their long awaited album, Blah, Blah, Blah. While it is clear that comparisons with Jeru The Damaja's The Sun Rises In The East will abound - among them, the gritty texture of the tracks and the relentless lyrical assault upon formulaic rap artists, not to mention their shared locale of East New York - Blahzay definitely have something to offer and cannot be written off as imitations. If anything can be said, it is that they, like Premo, MOP, Smoothe Da Hustler, OC and Jeru, are helping to further represent and define their piece of the Bucktown sound." Peep the official music video to Blahzay Blahzay's "Pain I Feel," cont'd below...

Included in the album are the original "Danger," "Danger-Part 2," with Smoothe and brother Trigga, and their current single, "Pain I Feel." The rest of the album delivers the goods and builds upon the promise of these joints. "Pain..." is a standout track and could be the third entry in a trilogy - begun with Jeru's "Come Clean" and OC's "Time's Up" - dedicated to exposing the phantasmic content of a large segment of hip-hop and to refining lyrical skills. Likewise, "Don't Let This Rap Shit Fool You" and "Posse Jumpa" are verbal jabs at hip-hop pretenders and reminders to those MCs and crews in the industry who don't know the ledge. "Long Winded" employs the time-proven tactics of looping one's own words and creating one's own vocabulary. That track, along with "Jackpot" and the title cut, serve as a declaration of the Blahzay sound. Blah, Blah, Blah is a refreshing, no-nonsense product which delivers exactly what it promises: beats and lyrics without relying on catchy hooks, posse cuts or shock value parading as "reality." At the end of the album the listener will, as promised, "know and feel what the blahz means." - The Source, September 1996. Album is still a gem!

Xzibit "At The Speed Of Life" (The Source, 9/96)

"If you collected every complaint about this hip-hop game, the resulting mass would probably explode and spawn the frustrated b-boy Xzibit - an energetic west coaster displaying battle flows and make-sense lyrics from a fed-up MCs perspective. If his debut - At The Speed Of Life - is any indication, there might still be some space in this overcrowded game for Xzibit, who shows it ain't where you're from it's where you're phat..." Peep "The Foundation," easily one of my favorite joints...

"...But Xzibit more than holds his own without crew, pointing out the illest little details in the rap game. For example, see the well-orchestrated masterpiece "Paparazzi." It remains the main brick in this foundation. With its solid Beethoven meets Enigma production mixed with no nonsense lyrics about today's in-dust-ry, it presents an accurate microcosm of the entire album. Another impressive track is "The Foundation," a very next-levelish joint in which Xzibit shows the importance of having a child and manages to give Edo G's "Be a Father..." a run for the money. Add the underrated production of Soul Assassin Muggs and At The Speed Of Life's chances for underground classic status increase dramatically." - The Source, September 1996. The full album review is below...

DJ JS-1 "Sureshot Mix" (2016)

From DJ JS-1, "This is a new mix I did in July of 2016. It is mainly popular 90's Hip Hop tracks and some blends. It's a nice, feel-good mix that should put a smile on your face. I have been focusing on doing tons of graffiti pieces and murals all over, but I have several new mixes in the works for you. I am about to head out on tour, but as soon as I return, I will be finishing up and posting new mixes. I hope you enjoy it, peace... JS1." The mix features tracks from A Tribe Called Quest, Poor Righteous Teachers, N.W.A., Nine, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, Eric B. & Rakim, PM Dawn, Ice Cube, Lords of the Underground, Brooklyn Slumlordz, De La Soul, Nice & Smooth, Grand Puba, Big Daddy Kane, Run DMC, Masta Ace, MC Lyte, Queen Latifah, Special Ed, and lots more! I respect JS-1 more than most for always being willing to speak his peace, say what's on his mind, and offering valuable perspective on what's real and what's fake. It helps that he's a better DJ than 99.9% of the world.

Apollo Brown x Skyzoo "The Easy Truth" (Album Stream)

"After years of mutual respect, circling each other in collaborations, tours, style and respect, two titans of their craft have finally collided in Apollo Brown & Skyzoo’s “The Easy Truth.” The album is everything you’ve dreamt it would be: breakneck instrumentals and syllables crafted to make your head spin. The marriage between Detroit instrumentals and NYC wordplay has never been more cohesive. Themes range from police brutality to NY ambitions; Skyzoo shows you the world the way he sees it. Recorded and produced in Detroit, “The Easy Truth,” is the perfect distillation of hiphop influences. Every moment on the album is a loaded question, a perspective positing a notion of truth, the convergence of grit and symphony. Joining the artists on the record are Joell Ortiz, Westside Gunn, Stalley, Conway and Patty Crash, a reciprocal band of guests that only add depth and richness to the duo’s chemistry." - Mello Music Group. This came out dope, check it out below...

The Last Emperor "Music, Magic, Myth" (2003) / "Unsigned Hype" (1996)

Let's go back to The Source, The Last Emperor received "Unsigned Hype" honors in December of 1996. Riggs wrote, "Through word of mouth, Last Emperor is quickly becoming a hot commodity in hip-hop's underground... Last Emperor's rep as a new force in the game is maturing by the day ... His 4 track demo instantly takes the listener to a world of Logic, Literature and Black Magic through a vocabularic appeal reminiscent of Jeru back in '93-94. This kid does what the average MC stopped doing a while ago ... he reads." At the time & even now, a comparison to golden era Jeru The Damaja was comparing him to underground's hip-hop elite. With a slew of indie releases over the course of the early 2000s, the Philadelphia MC has oddly been a bit more elusive than prolific, however each bar has been put under a microscope in ways the Rap Genius generation will never understand. Recently, the good folks over at Deep Concepts Media released a reissue of The Last Emperor's "Music, Magic, Myth" - originally released in the summer of 2003 - via their Bandcamp page. The album featured production from Da Beatminerz, Prince Paul, Ayatollah & more. Stream it below.

Whether it's "Logic, Literature, & Black Magic" or "Music, Magic & Myth," if you weren't outside in 1996, you can read the full "Unsigned Hype" from The Source below. These were an important and highly coveted section to be in as an artist on the come-up. There were a few misses over those years, but for the most part, they predicted some of the biggest artists of our generation.

DJ Spinbad "1-900-SPINBAD" (Mixtape, 1996)

New York's DJ Spinbad recorded this mix tape in 1996 entitled, "1-900-SPINBAD." It features joints from KRS-One, Common, Jeru The Damaja, Hi-Tek, The Roots, Big Noyd, Ghostface Killah, De La Soul, M.O.P., Organized Konfusion, MC Lyte, Heltah Skeltah, Mr. Man of Da Bush Babees, PMD & Das EFX, Sadat X and more. Several of the tracks are exclusive blends/remixes by DJ Spinbad, totaling around 90 minutes of late golden era hip-hop. Listen below, compliments of Stevie G on Mixcloud.