Juno Recommends Hip Hop / R&B October 2020

Review: For the latest "45" in the Dusty Donuts series of edits and mash ups, the Berlin-based crew has turned to long-time crew member Jim Dunloop, a jazz-trained pianist-turned-producer best known for his work alongside Marc Hype. He begins with "Spirit De Rio", a wonderfully warm, head-nodding, hip-hop style revision of a summery-sounding old samba gem rich in dewy-eyed female vocals and glistening guitars. Long-time friend, and occasional collaborator Grizzly Adams lends a hand on flipside cut "Different Sweetnuts", a deep and woozy revision of a fragile, female-fronted soul number that wraps drowsy elements from the pair's source material around a bass-heavy beat.

Review: Juno exclusive green vinyl version of the best known Cypress Hill classic hip hop monster produced by DJ Muggs. Limited to 300 only copies

Review: In his career to date, Jim Sharp has proved to be one of the bootleg remix and mash-up scene's smartest and most successful producers - a man capable of brilliantly breathing new life into a string of familiar favourites. He's at it again here, offering up fresh reconstructions of N.W.A's gangster rap classic "F*ck Tha Police". The killer flip is his A-side "Main Mix", in which he places the L.A crew's iconic acapella over a jumpy, party starting hip-hop beat rich in sampled short funk guitar riffs, snare and kick-heavy drums, James Brown style yelps and tight scratches. It's a great beat - so good, in fact, that the flipside instrumental mix is equally as essential as the club-rocking vocal version.

Review: Here's something for those looking to fill in the gaps in their classic hip-hop collection: a sizzling seven-inch boasting two of the Jungle Brothers hottest hits. On the A-side you'll find "Because I Got It Like That", a lolloping party hip-hop jam built around an assortment of complimentary samples, most notably a lift from Sly and the Family Stone's killer cut "You Can Make It If You Try". Over on the flip you'll find one of the most recognizable dance anthems of the late '80s, the early hip-house classic that is "I'll House You". Based on Todd Terry's similarly big "Can You Party", the tune is a warehouse-ready bounce-along that sounds as fresh now as it did way back in 1988.

Review: Mash-up maestro, bootleg remix king and talented beat-maker Jim Sharp launched the Soul By The Pound label last year to offer up sneaky re-edits of classic soul and funk jams from the '60s and '70s. Here he finally delivers the imprint's second-single, delivering some Blaxploitation-era goodness that should tickle the fancy of all those who like their funk energetic and enthusiastic. A-side "I Got It Funky" more than lives up to its name, with call-and-response vocals, wah-wah guitars, tasty Hammond licks and rising horns riding a snappy, breakbeat-driven groove. He switches focus a little on flipside "Trippin' Out", adding bouncy hip-hop beats to a dewy-eyed, string-laden slab of Curtis Mayfield style soul.

Review: For the latest edition in their ongoing series of golden-era hip-hop seven-inch reissues, Mr Bongo is taking us back to 1992 and Positive K's biggest hit - the 500,000-selling ode to unrequited love, "I Got A Man". Lyrically impressive, with the Bronx mic man delivering both male and "female" rap parts (the latter via voice-changing studio trickery), the song owes its success in part to a beat that makes great use of a funky loop from A Taste of Honey's "Rescue Me", which famously also formed the backbone of Funky Four + 1's early hip-hop classic "That's The Joint". Over on the flip you'll find the hazier and jazzier "SHakin", whose killer beat boasts judicious lifts from tracks by Wade Marcus and the D.O.C. In a word: essential.

Review: Written and conceived on the road with Iggy Pop as head of his touring band, and including many field recordings of his adventures, HA Chu is the debut album from trumpet-tooting auteur Leron Thomas's alias Pan Amsterdam. Like everything he's done before - both under his real name and the more recent alt-rap PA excursions - it's a loosely woven tapestry of influences and ideas from theatrical narratives ('Trix') to jazzy twists on the 90s west coast sound ('Carrot Cake') by way of far-out castaway sounds ('Dried Salvia') All sewn together with Leron's smoky spoken word, and strange eavesdroppy snippets of recorded conversations he's had on the road (including a cameo from Iggy himself) it's a genuinely unique body of work. Gesundheit. Or as we say in the UK... Bless you Leron.

Review: There's a lot to admire about this first collaborative album from gruff-voiced rapper Freddie Gibbs and fast-rising beat-maker The Alchemist. For starters, the latter's drowsy, atmospheric, musically detailed and sample-rich backing tracks fit Gibbs' distinctive flow like a glove, shuffling between slow-motion haziness, jazzy goodness, vintage boom-bap beats, semi-ambient soundscapes and rougher, more contemporary-sounding rhythms. Lyrically, Gibbs rhymes are as high-quality and thoughtful as ever, with a string of verses focussed on both traditional Italian American and African American gangster culture. With Gibbs also providing interludes based around snippets of vintage gangster movies and TV documentaries, the point they're making comes through loud and clear.

Review: Actual brothers Reginald Omas Mamode IV and Jeen Bassa have been making solo beats for a number of years. They have an earthy sound that draws on their Mauritian heritage and often comes laden with meaningful samples or their own vocal deliveries which muse on a range of social and political issues. Now they come together as Mama Ode and take things to the next level with a grounding of hip hop beats infused with 'Creole Sega Rap Roots'. It's authentic and traditional yet futuristic and inventive and as well as making you bop song to the killer beats, is filled with smart influences from jazz, funk and blues.

Review: Hip-hop trio Syrup (a collaboration between Cologne-based beat-maker Twit One, and Bristol-based London mic men Turt and C Tappin) have already come up with a name for their distinctively soulful, deep, languid and jazzy sound: cool bap. It's a fitting description to be honest, as the vast majority of the tracks on their fine debut album, Rosy Lee, succeed thanks to the distinctive blend of Twit One's dusty, jazz-fired boom-bap beats, Turt's fluid and considered rhymes, and C Tappin's soulful chorus vocals and twinkling jazz piano solos. Although unique, they inhabit similar sonic territory to the slightly more R&B-influenced Children of Zeus. Given their quality, that's no bad thing.

Review: To the best of our knowledge, Sweden does not have a particularly active cloud rap scene, though Stockholm's Yung Lean has been delivering notable albums in the Deep South-pioneered style for the best part of seven years. Of course, as new album Starz shows, his typically lo-fi, pop-tinged take draws just as much from frowning EMO rock as it does from, say, crunk or classic cloud rap. He's undoubtedly good at what he does and Starz boasts plenty of highlights, not least the fragile sweetness of 'Outta My Head', the auto-tune sporting 'Acid at 7/11', surprise Ariel Pink hook-up 'Starz' and the impressively heavy 'Boylife in EU'.

Review: Chris Glasson and Stu Whiffen's Hardcore Listing Podcast has over 1 million downloads and is part of Scroobius Pip's Distraction Pieces Network. Now a first instalment is pressed to vinyl, and features the one and only record don and scratch master DJ Yoda talking on his favourite golden era Hip-Hop albums. The whole thing was recorded in one take and wasn't edited afterward. There are plenty of personal stories included along the way making this a perfect accompaniment to a cosy home listening session.

Review: Earlier in the year, Adrian Van Der Velde and Onra delivered the first fruits of their studio collaboration as OXP, an album of early 90's R&B, new jack swing and G-funk inspired songs entitled 'Swing Convention'. It was an inspired set, though its vocal-heavy nature resulted in a demand from some DJs for an accompanying set of instrumental versions. Happily, we can report that they've listened to feedback and duly delivered a partner album that showcases their own impeccable beats and backing tracks. Heavily indebted to the likes of Jam & Lewis, Teddy Riley, Daz Dillinger and Dr Dre, their beats are smooth, deep, synth-heavy, soulful and supremely sexy.

Review: To mark 20 years since Atlanta's answer to De La Soul, Mass Influence, released their double A-side classic 'Analyze/All Out', All Right Fresh has decided to reissue it on a striking, double purple vinyl. Plate one boasts the superb original mix of 'Analyze', a jaunty, piano-heavy slab of boom-bap goodness featuring thoughtful raps from the Atlanta trio and scratches by Mr Len, and the deeper, slower and jazzier late-night flex of 'All Out'. The second disc boasts fresh vocal and instrumental takes on the latter track by The Roots' Stro Elliot. Utilising fresh instrumentation - including some sunny acoustic guitar - and his own head-nodding, toe-tapping beats, Elliot successfully re-frames the track whilst retaining many of its' most alluring elements.