Loop.Holes "Loopstrumentals" (Instrumental Album)

The production crew loop.holes have blessed us with another powerful and relaxed instrumental album, Loopstrumentals. The compilation-style album is a selection of their works from the past decade. Some tracks date back to their early Soundcloud days, where the whole instrumental hip hop renaissance started, while other tracks are freshly mixed in their lab. Much respect to Loot Fattig, Marshtini, Henc, Filliboom, Type Raw, Uncle Filth and Blunt One for all their contributions to this 14-track project. If you're not familiar with their sound or past work, dig into the archives for some additional releases and production credits. In the meantime, listen to Loopstrumentals below...

Grown Man Rap Show "Scratch Hooks Mix"

The Grown Man Rap Show is hosted by veteran DJ Toast and broadcasted live every Sunday night 10pm-12 midnight (ET) from 91.5 WRPI in Albany, NY. DJ Toast brings you 2 hours of the best in vintage and contemporary true-school Hip Hop. This is Episode 196, which spotlights records with scratch vocal hooks. The mix includes tracks from Eric B. & Rakim, Lord Finesse & DJ Mike Smooth, Bumpy Knuckles, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, Gang Starr, KRS-One, Real Live, Nas, De La Soul, Thirstin Howl III, Raekwon, Sean Price, Double XX Posse, Fat Joe, Special Ed, Bahamadia, The Notorious B.I.G., Group Home, Large Professor, Street Smartz, Intelligent Hoodlum, Craig G, A Tribe Called Quest, EPMD and more! Of course, much respect to the DJs who held it down on those records! This is a great tribute, because I miss DJs cuttin' on hooks for records these days. Enjoy the mix below...

DJ Sandman "Tape #119" (Mixtape, 1995)

I remembering hearing the white label freestyles from the Sandman tapes before I'd actually heard the full mix tapes around '95. This is DJ Sandman's Tape #119, which features exclusive freestyles from Masta Ace, Lost Boyz, R.A. The Rugged Man, and tracks from Cypress Hill, LL Cool J, D'Angelo, Total, R. Kelly & Biggie, Redman, Jeru The Damaja, Method Man, Goodie Mob, Fat Joe & KRS-One, Smoothe The Hustler, Lord Finesse, The Fugees, Sadat X & Akinyele, AZ & Nas, Capleton, and more!

DJ S&S "N!@@az Ain't Nice" (Mixtape, 1994)

Today's tape is from DJ S&S, a classic mix tape from 1994 called N!@@az Ain't Nice. S&S hits us with classics from Onyx, Slick Rick, O.C., Pete Rock & CL Smooth, Mary J. Blige, Craig Mack, Ill Al Skratch, Jeru The Damaja, Lords of the Underground, Eddie F, Method Man, M.O.P., The Legion, The Notorious B.I.G., Redman, Group Home, Keith Murray, LL Cool J, Gang Starr, RZA, Shyheim and more! DJ S&S is a classic mix tape DJ, click play on this great mix tape below... Props to DJ Step One on the upload.

Fabolous "Best Of Fabolous Sport" (Mixtape, 2001)

Reppin' the Breevort Houses in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, Fabolous entered the game through a freestyle on DJ Clue's radio show on Hot 97. In those early years, he went by the street name Fabolous Sport, a salute to the Polo clothing line. He was signed to Clue's Desert Storm Records and lit a fuse to every Clue tape he touched at the time. This mix represents the best of Fabolous, mostly those exclusive freestyles and tracks, which featured Joe Budden, Paul Cain, Nature, Cam'ron, The Lox, Nate Dogg (R.I.P.), Mase, Lil' Kim and more. Not sure if this was an official release or just something another DJ pieced together, but it's a nice rundown of those early Fab smokers. Dig in...

PSA: Why "Blog" In 2019?

For kids old enough to remember Doogie Howser... you remember how every episode ended with the lil' dunn at his computer, sharing a journal entry. When people ask why I have a music journal in 2019, I say it's just something I try to do (at least) once a day, to keep track of the new music I'm listening to and share memories and information about artists I came up enjoying. It's entirely possible to put energy into something and not be married to - or measure - the results of its impact. I don't tweet out links; I don't police people that borrow content for their own purposes; I don't have the link in my bio and I genuinely don't think much about it beyond wanting to leave Google something behind that reflects what Hip-Hop has meant to me over the years. I've been doing this off and on for 15 years, long before blogs were cool, and now, it seems, long after it's beneficial to have such a labor of love. If you weren't outside at the time, maybe this site doesn't generate the same level of nostalgia for you that it does for me. That's okay. I try not to be too mindful of others reading these posts, or else the lizard brain might keep me from sharing anything at all. Anyhow, I hope that answers the question of WHY I'm still blogging. Now you can move on to more pressing questions, like, why is Jadakiss as hard as it gets? If you've got other questions, let me know, and in the meantime, I hope that you enjoy the content on the site. It'll be our lil' secret.

DJ B-Mello "Blowin' Up Worldwide" (Mixtape, 1996)

Seattle's DJ B-Mello set it off with Blowin' Up Worldwide (Part 1) in 1996. The mix tape includes heavy joints from Heltah Skeltah, Royal Flush, Akinyele, Real Live, Large Professor, De La Soul, Busta Rhymes, Smoothe Da Hustler, Camp Lo, Jigmastas, The Arsonists, AK Skills, Raekwon, Nas, Sadat X, Frankie Cutlass, Saukrates, Artifacts, Wu-Tang Clan, Xzibit, Onyx, Company Flow and more. A nice mix of underground gems and some slept-on joints keep this mix still sounding especially good today because these weren't the overhyped and overplayed cuts being played everywhere else. A nice shout-out to my Fat Beats family, DJ Eclipse and DJ Jab on this one. Listen to the mix tape below...

9th Wonder "Zion III" (Instrumental Album)

It's been a long time since 9th Wonder won over the nation with his production skills as a part of Little Brother. His soulful samples and electrifying percussions paint pictures before any given rapper begins laying down their lyrics on the beat. That's why when 9th comes through with an instrumental project, the world rejoices. Last December, 9th dropped off Zion II, and now he's returned with a third entry into the series. King Draft and Swank are the only two featured artists on the project, which is amazing because the album spans 42 tracks. Some of the instrumentals are shorter than you'd like, but the entire album pulls together nicely to create a retro aura that will light up your speakers. - HNHH. I'm a week or two late on this, but Happy New Year everybody!