Hip Hop/R&B charts

Review: After the success of Lextended, the mysterious Lex Wolf is back with a second volume of sweet edits of classic dance tracks. Highlights include the clean edit of Smokin' Gang's hip-house classic 'Just Rock', a Latin house remix of the classic 'Conceicao' and a huge mix of the legendary banger 'House Music' at Eddie Amador. All these edits succeed in focusing in on the grooves while keeping the soul and energy of the original. True and proper edits, primed to reign on the dancefloor.

Review: The EastSide Edits label outta Canada is here to provide big moments of fun for jobbing DJs. Their first EP sold out in quick fashion because of the irresistible nature of the mash-ups it contained. Now comes a second volume, this time in the form of a couple of edits. Demiur's Jacked Payboi edit of his own take on massive rap hit 'WAP' is smoothed out into a chunky house groove with all the controversial original lyrics from Cardi B and Megan the Stallion left in place. On the flip is a big, shimmering disco epic in the form of Double A - 'Oh My God' (Double A's Mid Tempo Rework).

Review: GW Edits made a fantastic start to life with a big edit of an Italo classic back in September. Now the second volume of edits arrives with three more disco gems. Up first is a bonkers mix of Amerie in fine form and drums from The Verve's 'Unfinished Sympathy', a character cut with bustling beats. 'Gotta Keep Workin' It' the mixes up Miss Elliot with some old school funk to playful effect and 'Working The Illusion' layers up 80s synths and vocals with tambourines and hip swinging claps next to more iconic samples.

Review: Breakbeat Paradise invites back onto their island once more for a tenth volume of the on going Toxic Funk series. This is another vital 45rpm for DJs which will blow up any spot with b-boy sounds and edgy breaks. 'Hang On The City' offers up some tightly woven in, Kendrick-like bars while on the flip, 'The Funk Is Yours' is a more coruscated and disco tinged tune with a searing bassline and mid tempo drum loops as well as retro rap vocals and lively yelps.

Review: More from the cheeky scamps behind the Disco Bits label, an imprint whose releases regularly blur the boundaries between re-editing, re-making and remixing. Here they welcome back imprint regulars Cannon & Mirrorball (we laughed, at least), who once again serve up two guaranteed disco floor-slayers. A-side 'Hot Lovin (Don't Stop, Don't Quit)' sits somewhere between disco-house and hip-house, with excitement-building raps lifted from vintage hip-hop cuts sitting atop a non-stop beat crafted from tooled-up elements from a celebratory disco favourite. As the title suggests, 'Shack Attack' cheekily blends elements from Banbarra classic 'Shack Up' and B-52s hit 'Love Shack', adding some other choice samples to create a tidy, well-made mash-up that sounds tailor-made for disco dancefloors.

Review: Bologna-based Sam Ruffillo is undoubtedly a rising star. What's most impressive about his work is his seemingly innate ability to blend elements of deep house (both Italian and American) and US garage with nods to jazz-funk, broken beat, soul and boogie. His latest EP for Toy Tonics is another exceptional collection of cuts. There are three Ruffillo originals on show: the slick soul vocals, boogie bass and kaleidoscopic house colour of 'Just Fine' and the electrofunk-meets-Italo-disco excellence of 'Mind & Soul (Italo Version)'. Elsewhere, Ash Lauryn turns unreleased cut 'Don't Think Twice' into a subtly disco-tinged deep house body-warmer, while Art of Tones delivers two passes on 'Mind & Soul' - a glistening, sun-bright vocal version that sounds like a classic Dave Lee production, and an equally as impressive, vocal-free Dub Mix.

Review: Casual Connection is a master of mash up and is back to stake his claim on that title once more here on the effectively titled Edits label. This red hot double shot kicks off with 'Message Like It's Hot', which as you can probably guess form the title alone mixes up a Snoop Dogg classic with a stoney cold hip-hop classics. It's the bars of the former that are dropped over the shimmering lead synth and 80s analogue beats of the latter to make for something simply irresistible. 'Witness Up' is another big one with two more hip hop cuts smashed together in seamless and effortless fashion. Pure fire.