Empire Vinilo y CD

Review: Benny The Butcher is a surefire hip-hop mainstay. He started off deep in the underground and then rose through the ranks thanks to his undoubted skill and has gone on to achieve plenty of both commercial success and critical acclaim. He hails from Buffalo in New York and is a hugely prolific artist who has put out plenty of records and twice reached the Billboard Top 40 albums chart as an independent. Tana Talk 4 is his latest highly anticipated record and is sure to set him off to a super 2022. It features fine guest spots from Conway, Westside Gunn, 38 Spesh and more.

Review: Conway the Machine, the Griselda MC and CEO of Drumwork Music had fans waiting on tenterhooks for the arrival of his new album and when it dropped, Won't He Do It certainly did not disappoint. Producer and longtime collaborator Daringer worked on the album with him and the bars are raw, unapologetic and full of insight into street life. His own rags to riches journey is at the centre of the narrative, as is the loyalty he has towards his team. Plenty of his Drumwork associates feature as do top names like Benny The Butcher, Westside Gunn, Fabolous and Dave East to make for a vital new album that sits at the heart of the modern hip hop landscape.

Review: Conway The Machine is back in quick time after the success of his 2022 album God Don't Make Mistakes with follow up Won't He Do It. It finds Conway in super form having over come various perusal obstacles as he looks to inspire others to greater achievements than they thought possible. Across the 14 tracks he works with Westside Gunn and Benny the Butcher, plus Jae Skeese, Sauce Walka, Juicy J, Fabolous, Dave East, GooseByTheWay and 7xvethegenius amongst more while production is handled by heavyweight producers such as J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, Khrysis, Daringer, Juicy J and several others.

Review: Multi-faceted and Grammy-nominated supergroup Dinner Party returns with new album Enigmatic Society which is packed with fantastic instrumental orchestration. As intricate and opulent as that is, the sleek r&b vocals add extra smoothness with plenty of neo-soul vibes and mesmerising flows. Terrace Martin, Robert Glasper, Kamasi Washington and 9th Wonder turn in great performances, while guests such as Phoelix, Arin Ray, Ant Clemons also bring their a-game to the production of Sounwave, Hi-Tek and Trevor Lawrence Jr. This welcome follow up to 2020's self titled debut muses on Back America, adversity, life, beauty, art and culture with real emotional depth.

Review: As any fans of smoochy neo-soul will know, Dinner Party is something of a super group. It is made up of the masterful contemporary talents of Kamasi Washington, Robert Glasper, Terrace Martin, and 9th Wonder and is like a modern answer to the Soul Aquarians back in the neo-soul heyday. This is a CD version of their Enigmatic Society album which is a deeper, warmer work than their self-titled earlier work. Jazz and hip-hop and some great samples all get fused into sublime sounds for late night grooving and smooching and make it another essential outing from these musical powerhouses.

Review: The Alchemist and Larry June say they 'followed what felt natural' when writing this one and the results are organic and absorbing. This is the CD version of the pair's new album which finds them combine forces for this smoother than silk outing on Empire that brings the best out of both. The Alchemist is a veteran producer who has worked with a who's who of hip-hop over the years, and June is a Bay Area rapper with a real touch of class to his work. He can rap about anything from gourmet food to art, teaching people how to hustle, or whatever else.