"it's been a long time, I shouldn't have left you..."

This is the hidden gems, that no one talks about anymore. Straight hip hop classics in the collections and minds of true hip hop lovers. From Positive K and his voice pitch controls to Kool Kieth and his outta space style, every beat a banger...

1. Camp Lo - Coolie High
2. Nice & Smooth - Old To The New
3. OC - Times Up
4. Smooth The Hustler - Broken Language
5. MC Serch - Back To The Grill
6. Positive K - I Got A Man
7. LL Cool J - 1 900 LL Cool J
8. Crooklyn Dodgers - Part One
9. Craig Mack - Get Down (Q Tip Remix)
10. UltraMagnetic MCs - Poppa Large (East Coast Remix)
11. Smiff N Wesson - Bucktown
12. Akinyele - Put In In My Mouth (Explicit)

Enjoy, yo!!!!

Sage Francis - Legend of freestyles, hip hop, spoken word and much more - Amazing lyrics and dope beats...

1.Vital Signs
2. Can I Kick It (Freestyle)
3. Narcissist
4. ReWrite
5. Whoremonger
6. Mullet (Spoken Word)
7. Swedish Fish
8. Makeshift Patriot (9/11 track)
9. Drop Bass
10. I'm Not A Hater
11. Crack Pipes
12. Different
13. Xaul Xan
14. Broken Wings
15. Bounce
16. My Name Is Strange

(P.S. I had 176 tracks to choose from - Hard work!!)

J Dilla is one of my favourite MUSIC producers of all time. Go and find out about him and his prolific and extensive catalogue of work. Here are some of my favourite Dilla productions...

1. Welcome To Detroit Intro
2. The Red - Jaylib
3. Raise It Up - Slum Village
4. Drop - Pharcyde
5. Untitled - Slum Village
6. Lets Ride - Q Tip
7. Look Of Love Pt 1 - J88
8. Pause - Frank n Dank
9. Dooinit - Common
10. Runnin' - Pharcyde
11. Get A Hold - A Tribe Called Quest
12. You Play Me - Amp Fiddler
13. Stakes Is High Remix - De La Soul
14. Players - Slum Village
15. Bye - J Dilla

R.I.P. J Dilla

Some of the 'hard to find' old classics, that without which, we wouldnt have the hip hop of today...

1. Charmells - As Long As I Got You
2. Aretha Franklin - One Step Ahead
3. Meters - Hand Clapping Song
4. Wendy Rene - After The Laughter
5. Lowell Fusion - Tramp
6. Flaming Embers - Gotta Get Away
7. Black Ivory - I Keep Asking You Questions
8. George Jackson - Aretha, Sing A Song For Me
9. Minnie Ripperton - Inside My Love
10. Lou Rawls - You Make Me So Very Happy
11. Roy Ayers - Daylight

Figure out which hip hop tracks used the samples yourselves, and if the Minnie Ripperton and Lou Rawls tracks dont move you - You have no soul...

A continuation from the frist part - It's all about the beats and lyrics...

1. J Live - Don't Play
2. Unspoken Heard - B Boy
3. Slum Village - Selfish
4. Quasimoto - Boom Music
5. JayLib - The Red (Possibly one of the finest hip hop beats ever!!)
6. Cool Calm Pete - New York Bittie
7. Infamous MC - Ya'll Not Ready
8. Common - Sun God
9. Little Brother - Lets Move
10. Tanya Morgan - Paper Thin

Nod Ya Head To This...

A selection of my favourite tracks by my favourite group.

1. Steve Biko (Stir It Up)
2. Check The Rhime
3. Phoney Rappers
4. Find A Way
5. Midnight
6. Jazz (we Got)
7. Like It Like That
8. Electric Relaxation
9. Keep It Moving
10. Verses From The Abstract
11. Lyrics To Go (Check that Minnie Ripperton sample!!)

My favourite type of Hip Hop - Smooth, dope beats, lyrics on point, personality, depth, cool out, fresh, head nodders. Some of the finest tracks from the last 4-5 years - The essence of Hip Hop...

1. ?uestlove - Intro
2. Lone Catalysts - Destiny
3. Skillz -Take It Back
4. J 88 - Look Of Love Part 1
5. Foriegn Exchange - Nic's Groove
6. Unspoken Heard - Truly Unique
7. Slum Village - Untitled
8. Little Brother - Whatever you Say (The 2nd verse dont rhyme, yo!)
9. J Live - Braggin' Writes
10. High & Mighty, Mos & Skillz - B Boy Document (9th Wonder Remix)
11. L Swift - Ride This (Prod. By Kenny Dope)
12. 5 Deez - Got Dough
13. Grap Luva - Touch The Sky
14. J Rawls - Smile Again
15. ?uestlove - Outro

Guaranteed to make yo head nod...

The title says 'hot', but obviously that is a matter of opinion!
All tracks were constructed on GarageBand, using the MacMini. As the programme is free, there are limited range of things to do, so this is basically sample free, simple looped stuff.
Enjoy though!!

1. Smooth 'Ish
2. Dope 'Ish
3. ScroobBeatOne
4. Hot 'Ish
5. ScroobBeatThree
6. ScroobBeatFour
7. Raw 'Ish

A selection of tracks by Scroobius Pip. Taken from his EP 'No Commercial Breaks'. All live studio recordings, with Royston Illa, overview and Enomony on instrumentation.

1. ScroobRap (Beats by FlameYall)
2. Angles
3. 1st Time I Met Muzik
4. Dreamin'
5. Muses
6. Rat Race
7. 1000 Words
8. RePrise
9. ScroobRap (Original Demo Version - Pip On Da Ill BeatBox).

More Info - www.scroobiuspip.co.uk

These are my favourite hip hop remixes. A few are in the hearts of most hip hop fans and a few are from B-sides of 12"s. I have worked out how to use Audacity a little more, so the mixes are a bit smoother and improved this time.
Obviously, I start with the greatest remix of all time...

1. Public Enemy - "Shut Em Down"
2. Black Sheep - "Choice Is Your Revisited"
3. Black Moon - "I Gotcha Opin"
4. Common - "Soul By The Pound"
5. Craig Mack - "Flava In Ya Ear"
6. Tribe Called Quest - "Scenario"
7. Kurious - "I'm Kurious"
8. De La Soul - "Stakes Is High"
9. Notorious BIG - "One More Chance"
10. Erick Sermon - "Music"

40 minutes of remix heaven.

Huh...What!
This is 'classic' hip hop the way I see it. No generic, overused tracks that are found on any compilation found in every record shop.
These are the tracks I fell in love with and listened until my tapes snapped. These tracks are responsible for me not paying attention at college, but paying attention to the creative, poetic genius of some of hip hops true heroes.

1. Eric B & Rakim - 'Aint No Joke'
2. Big Daddy Kane - 'Aint No Half Steppin''
3. Black Moon - 'Who Got The Props'
4. Pete Rock & CL Smooth - 'T.R.O.Y.'
5. Tribe Called Quest - 'Check The Rhime'
6. Showbiz & AG - 'Next Level (DJ Premier Remix)'
7. Brand Nubian - 'Slow Down'
8. Beastie Boys Feat. Q Tip - 'Get It Together'
9. Gang Starr - 'Mass Appeal'
10. EMPD - 'Rampage'
11. Main Source - 'Live At The BBQ'

45 minutes of pure dopeness.