5 Albums You Should Know About (2/23/2010)

Published by Tyler Hakes on February 23, 2010 at 8:00 am

Returning for the 2nd installment of his head noddingly good “Beat Tape” series, L.A. Diking staple and Beat Junkie crew member DJ Babu releases 39 new instrumentals that are laced with his trademark sample manipulation and pinpoint cutting and scratching.

2. Rob Swift – The Architect

Famed NYC turntablist Rob Swift of The X-ecutioners hits his loyal wax followers with The Architect; his latest album that finds him in the familiar position of pushing the artistic boundaries of his craft. Only recruiting one guest MC in Breez Evahflowin to assist him sparingly, prepare for a true exercise in new movements and DJ arrangements with one of the very best to ever slide a crossfader or drop a needle.

3. General Steele – Amerikkka’s Nightemare Pt. 2

One half of Boot Camp Klik affiliated group Smif N’ Wessun; General Steele (or just Steele if you were a 90′s BCC fan) drops his new and socially weighty Amerikkka’s Nightmare Pt. 2: Children Of War. If you’ve grown used to the usual Smif N’ Wessun subject fodder of street life in Brooklyn, prepare for a dramatic shift here as Steele delves deeply into conveying the dismal state of America to young black males and females. Touching on everything from the health care crisis to unemployment this time out, this is exactly the type of album more so-called “MC’s” need to be making right about now.

4. Madlib – Medicine Show No. 2

The busiest man in the realm of Hip-Hop production continues his monthly Medicine Show series with “No.2: Flight To Brazil“. A dazzling 80 minute super mix of all things Brazilian music, that covers the country’s Jazz, Bossa Nova, Funk, Psych-Rock, Soul and Indigenous sounds, Madlib scales roughly 5 decades of great music in order to piece together this fantastic compilation.

5. Elusive – District to District

L.A. based production veteran Elusive, who was bred out of the Living legends camp readies his 8th or so release in District To District that finds the underground beatsmith abandoning his habit of working strictly with wordy subterranean L.A. heads and collaborating with a host of the best rhyme artist’s from around the country. With names like Royce Da 5’9″, Prince Po, El Da Sensei, Main Flow, Killah Priest and some of the west’s finest holding things down over Elusive’s versatile soundclaves you’d be foolish to let this under the radar release remain liberated from your collection of producer compilation LP’s.