Cactus Jack - Act Like What You Say [1999]

Act Like What You Say (Raw) 

Act Like What You Say (Clean) 

Act Like What You Say (Instrumental)

Redline (Clean) 

Redline (Instrumental) 

Cactus K-9 Connect (Clean) 

Cactus K-9 Connect (Raw) 

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 On the first track you got also Edo G and Roc Raida on cuts, and collab with Da Bulldogs on the third ...

Main One - Learn 2 Be A Man 4 Self [1994]

 Learn 2 Be A Man 4 Self (Clean)

 Learn 2 Be A Man 4 Self (Remix Clean) 

Learn 2 Be A Man 4 Self (Dirty) 

Learn 2 Be A Man 4 Self (Remix Dirty) 

 Learn 2 Be A Man 4 Self (Remix Instr)

 Learn 2 Be A Man 4 Self (Instr)

 Kid You Aint Got It 

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Peep the single, I will upload the album for a couple of days...

Oktober - It Was War / Infinite Echoes [2000]

It Was War

Infinite Echoes

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Oktober aka Oktober Zero. This is one of his first releases.

DJ Format & Phill Most Chill – The Foremost [2013]

The Feeling 

Diggin’ For A Livin’ 

Get Busy Music 

Beverly 

Angry Birds 

Work Song 

Triple Threat MC’s feat. The Rampagers (Oxygen, Emskee & Phill Most Chill) 

The Foremost 

Take A Stand 

The Shape Of Things To Come

BUY / listen

!!!

Gutter Snypes ‎– The Trials Of Life [1994]

Flatline

Who Fell

Judge Me Not

Non De Plume Ft. Cel One, Jeopardy, Principal Mark, Sniper G

Trials of Life

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This EP is one of my all time favourites, and I can say the same for the track "trials of life". From my point of view, the production on the EP is perfect and mic and lyrics skills are on the high level. Gutter Snypes group member Sigher announced the new LP that will be released at the end of year!

Opus Akoben - Art Of War [1997]

"Washington D.C., the federal capital of the United States, is the place where the band’s three vocalists, Carl Walker (aka Kokayi), Terence Nicholson (aka Sub-Z) and Joshua Culbreath (aka Black Indian) started out. They met through their involvement in the Freestyle Union which was founded in 1994 by Toni Blackman and Monty Taft. This creative arena was designed as an ongoing workshop dedicated to the “elevation of the rhyme” in which any kind of physical or verbal aggression was banned." (quoted from http://www.last.fm/music/Opus+Akoben/+wiki )

Operation: War Horn

Don't Run 

Contact

Recon 

Hot Outside

Art of War 

See No Evil 

God/Devil

Nimi 

Study

The Game 

Fresh Shoes 

Fantasy 

Crossfade 

Opus Akoben 

Vibe & Emotion 

DOWNLOAD (bandcamp)

Don't sleep on this! Raw underground shit!

Asheru & Blue Black Of The Unspoken Heard - Soon Come [2001]

Both of Asheru and Blue Black do the MC and production jobs (not the whole beatmaking and production stuff tho). Best thing about this album is that you can clearly see the evolution of the rap from golden age era, but in a positive way... we could easily say that from one point in the begining of '00s not just the big part of rap god dumbed down, but that it was hard to follow and understand the high level of consciousness of the part that continued to evolve in good way. So, "Soon come" is the mix of conscious and party rap under the "stay true" moto. 

without we gettin oded and philosophical 

we creatin a space where anything is possible 

we makin it so...even if it's not logical 

cause we runnin spiritual with the biological.......................

Tracklist:

Welcome

Meals To Dinner Time Prelude

Truly Unique

Live At Home

B-Boy (We Get Shit)

Theme Music

Soul

This Is Me

Jamboree

Dear You

Smiley (The Woh, Woh Song)

Soon Come

Think About feat. J-Sands of Lone Catalysts

Elevator Music

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Lewis Parker - Summer With Asakala

New single from Parker's album "The Puzzle: Episode two - The Glass Ceiling". Preorder here.

Tumi - A Dream Led To This EP [2002]

"Born in exile in Tanzania in 1981, Tumi returned to Soweto, South Africa in 1992. Formerly known as MC Fatboy, Tumi Molekane is an MC/Poet who has done countless work on the Johannesburg hip-hop scene. " (quoted from http://www.discogs.com/artist/Tumi). Unfortunatelly I don't know much about African rap, but I've found a couple of gems that I would like to share with you... Tumi is one of them...

Tracklist:

A Dream Led To This

The Inner View

Ivonne 

She-Spirit Fancies

People Of The Light

A Dream Led To This (instrumental)

The Inner View (instrumental)

Ivonne  (instrumental)

DOWNLOAD

King Tee - IV Life [1994]

Here comes the funk of the future!!!!!!

"DX: And I want to talk to you about King Tee, another of my heroes.
Ice-T: He was [Notorious B.I.G.'s] favorite fuckin' emcee! Let's go there. Biggie said, when he came to L.A. They're very similar. [Laughs]

DX: King T, besides Spoonie Gee's "cheeba, cheeba, y'all" is one of the first emcees to rhyme about smokin' weed.
Ice-T: He had a thing he used to make rhymes, he called it the "drunk technique." He had to be the right amount of drunk to get on the mic. If he got too drunk, he couldn't spit. If he wasn't drunk enough, it wouldn't came out. Sometimes it would take days to get to the right focus point. [Laughing] " (quoted from http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/interviews/id.1512/title.these-are-our-heroes-ice-t)

Tracklist:

You Can't See Me

Super Nigga ft Rashad

Duck ft E-Swift

Dippin'

3 Stikes Ya Out

Down Ass Loc

Free Style Ghetto ft Breeze, Tha Alkaholics, Xzibit

Way Out There

Let's Get It On ft Nikke Nicole

Check The Flow

Advertisement

Dippin' [Remix]

DOWNLOAD

You should also check King Tee's latest project "Still Triflin'"

Kid Frost - Hispanic Causing Panic [1990]

Classic album from one of the pioneers of the chicano rap.

Tracklist:

Hold Your Own

La Raza

Straight To The Bank

Come Together

Smoke

Ya Estuvo

Homicide

Hispanic Causing Panic

In The City

La Raza (Cantina Mix)

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Morcheeba ft Slick Rick - Woman Lose Weight [2002]

Women Lose Weight (Alchemist Remix)

Women Lose Weight (Alchemist Instrumental)

Women Lose Weight (Morcheeba Spare Tyre Remix)

Women Lose Weigh

Women Lose Weight (Acapella)

DOWNLOAD

Cyrus Malachi – Expressions EP [2013]

House of Pain - Same As It Ever Was [1994]

Tracklist:

Back From The Dead

I'm A Swing It

All That

On Point

Runnin' Up On Ya

Over There Shit

Word Is Bond

Keep It Comin'

Interlude

Same As It Ever Was

It Ain't A Crime

Where I'm From

Still Got A Lotta Love

Who's The Man

On Point (Lethal Dose Remix)

DOWNLOAD

Clokworx - Microchips [2002]

"CLOKWORX was established in 1997 as a branch of the “Secret Service Crew” (Vocab, Products, One Verse, AOI, Non-Prophets, Sage Francis and Oktagon Supreme) by the members AmsUno, PhesOne and DJ Orator. " (read the whole review at http://indie-cratez.blogspot.com/2007/05/clokworx.html)
Don't miss this gem!

Tracklist:

Mental Flux

Preservatives

On The One

Robots

Top Choice feat. Vocab

Hereafter feat. Elements

Time In This Career

Who’s That

World Of Truth feat. Produx

Who’s That (Celph Titled Remix)

Preservatives (Celph Titled Remix)

Freestyle (88.9 WERS)

Mullet (Sage Francis)

DOWNLOAD

Mystic - Cuts For Luck And Scars For Freedom [2001]

As an artist Mystic is firstly located in the Bay Area. As long as I know "Cuts For Luck And Scars For Freedom" is her only album and there's a video for track "The Life" from it. She combines her mc skills with soul and r&b on this album. Beside high qulity lyrics and serious approach to different subject matters you'll recognize the whole set of emotions following them, and that's just what makes the whole album very dynamic.

Tracklist:

Intro

Ghetto Birds

Neptunes Jewels

The Gottas

The Life

Once A Week

Dave Ghetto

Forever And A Day

D-Boy

You Say I Say

A Dream

W (Ft Planet Asia)

Fallen Angels

Girlfriend Sistagirl

Fatherless Child

O.K. Alright

Spoken Peace

Destiny Complete

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Yani Mo - Compound/Words EP [2013]

nah/ledge

ad/libs feat. allen thomas of iLLmont

home/grown

out/LAWD

go/diva feat. ladin awad

radio/activ

super/vise

diss/trust [bonus, but not really]

DOWNLOAD

This girl is from Atlanta and she's making some fresh jazzy rap, check it, it might be the next big thing.

Maylay Sparks ft. Chukk Rukkuz - Bucknasty

Various ‎– Underground Airplay: Volume IV - Certified East Coast Bomb [1995]

"Marc Ecko was a huge hip-hop head/graff fan and he was competing feverishly to keep his fledgling clothing line relevant in the midst of other brands growing in popularity (yes, Fubu, Nautica, Mecca, Timberland, Polo Sport, and Tommy Hilfiger were threatening his business). Ecko had an advantage though. He already in a short amount of time had managed to gain a decent cult following because from day one his brand was dedicated to the underground Hip-Hop culture. In an attempt to appeal to that core audience of saavy street-influenced consumers the Echo brand would join forces with the ultra respected Hip-Hop troop, The Lyricist Lounge and release a free mixtape in conjunction with the purchase of their T-shirts.....they dubbed it the "One shirt, One tape, One Love" philosophy. These tapes... represented true hip-hop to the highest degree." (quoted from http://purehip-hop.blogspot.com)

A. Marshal - Intro

Triip - Keep It Flowin' 

Zoooizoo - Wild Like a Zoo 

L. Swift - Check Da Style 

8Off & PI - Pass Da Tron

Sinistar Voices - Can't Be Ya Lover

Problemz - Neva B4 

Mystidious Misfitss - I Be 

Ran Reed - So What You Want 

Grand Puba - Hip Hop 

VA - Cypha Session IV 

A. Marshall - Outro 

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Da Homlez - Abandoned In Da Streetz [1995]

Knock Knock

Boogie Man

Whats Itall About

Neva Luvet Ya

Hip Hop Yall

Bum Skitz

Abandoned in da Streetz

I Got Your Back

Naughty Hip Hop

Where Ya from B

Money Spent

Hip Hop and Rap

Shout Outs Hip Hop Yall Reprise

DOWNLOAD

Homeless, Homey and Hobo are the members of the group. They're from Cali, and this album is a true gem.

DJ Format & Phill Most Chill - The Foremost[album sampler video]

Release date is 28th October!

L'Orange & Stik Figa - The City Under The City [2013]

Dusty Speakers

Monochrome

Blind Tiger

Before Midnight ft. Rapsody

Decorated Silence ft. Open Mike Eagle & Mindsone

Dopamine (instrumental)

World of Monsters

One of Them ft. 7eventhirty

The Wind Picked Us Up (instrumental)

Smoke Rings

Stone Like Me ft. Has-Lo

Among Thieves ft. Yu

Bravo Bravado (instrumental)

We Were Heroes ft. DJ Iron

After All

BUY or Download & Listen 

"You turn down a dark alley, seeking refuge from the sweltering heat of the factories that line the city streets. As you wind through a maze of alleyways, darkness falls and the sky glows a toxic orange. You hear music coming from behind a door at the end of a dark and narrow tunnel. You know that once you open the door and descend into a world beneath the concrete, you will never be the same. This is The City Under The City, a new collaboration from producer L’Orange and Topeka, KS MC Stik Figa. Mello Music Group teams up with L’Orange and Stik Figa to take you on a dark and abstract journey through a realm that lies under the surface. Guest features include haunting verses from Rapsody, Open Mike Eagle, MindsOne, Has-Lo, 7evenThirty and yU as well as cuts by DJ Iron.
There’s a world under the concrete. The question is - can you see it?"

The Kraken - Abstract & Cognac [1996] / Dusty Subliminal Rhymes [1998]

Abstract & Cognac tracklist:

Money on my mind

Whispers in the wind

L.A.'s story

Rise of the Kraken

Tempest

The knock

Dusty Subliminal Rhymes tracklist:

Dusty Trails Original

Dusty Trails Clean

Subliminal

Every Time I Rhyme

Dustybeat

Subliminalbeat

Download both EP's

The Kraken is a group from LA consisted of Pyro, Able-1 and Sirus. You should definitely check the EPs, its LA underground at its finest. 

Clem Beat'z ft. Racecar - S.T.N.B

Dope track and visuals! Album "Itineraire" is officialy released and you can buy it  here.

John Robinson & Kyo Itachi - The Path Of Mastery [2013]

Too bad this is shamelessly slept on album, this masterpiece deserves a lot more of recognition. Itachi is one of the freshest producers nowadays (check the Bankai Fam if you haven't heard of them), and Robinson is just that type of true mc that keeps constant effort in making good music. 

Tracklist:

All Hail the Honorable

Gritty Trenches

Who Goes There

The Rap Shogun

Life Itself

Love You Like Music

Mastery

Manga

Indigo Child

War Spelled Backwards

Mystical Strings

They Just Don’t Care

Manga (Astronote Remix)

Life Itself (Phalo Remix)

Mystical Strings (Venom Remix)

War Backwards (Azaia Remix)

Download and listen or BUY

Da Great Deity Dah - Cerebral Warfare EP [1997]

Tracklist:

Intro

Running Off With Your Cognitive Patterns

Running Off With Your Coining Phrases

R.O.W.Y.C.P. (Instrumental)

R.O.W.Y.C.P. (Acapella)

Trapped In The Middle State (Purgatory) 1

Trapped In The Middle State (Purgatory) 2

The Day I Raped Hip Hop (What A Dream)

Download

Ship Of Fools - Live And Direct [1998]

Tracklist:

Introduction 

My Wisdom, Pen & System 

The Golden Tongue Massacre 

Innerstate Of Mind 

Shyztee Individuals

Claiming Your Style

Methods Entirely Genius In Action

Live & Direct (Featuring EMC) 

Turntable Techniques

React To This 

DOWNLOAD

"The group was originally made up of DJ and producer Chewbaka and rapper Babybuns, but they were later joined by the second rapper Diceptagon. The group released their debut album "Live & Direct" in 1998." Ship Of Fools are from Sweden, they have the good production and some solid mic skills with lyrics that does not lack originality... just like most of the European non-UK rap in English...

D.V. Alias Khrist ‎– Building / Move [1997]

Building ft. Mobb Deep 

Building (Instrumental) 

Move 

Move (Instrumental) 

DOWNLOAD

Teekay – Psyychology [2013]

Here's something fresh. Pyychology is Teekay's album (he is the half of duo Dragon Fli Empire, the other member is DJ Cosm), he raps on some tracks and he did the beatmaking and production job on whole album. It's solid album, one of the few that drew my attention in the last couple of months.

Tracklist:

Psyychology (A.Y.E. & Teekay) 

Sinista Prime Minista (Bedroc Oxtail) 

We Do It (Humble Giants) 

Saturday Night (Teekay/Chux/Nillie) 

Throw 'Em Up (Rubix) 

Wasted Dreams (Natural Ensemble) 

The Ocean (Teekay) (3:23)

Mind on Vacay (Avious) 

Out of Range (Cam the Wiz) 

T.K.L.I.B. - To Kindly Live in Bliss (Jazzlib Collective) 

One of a Kind Remix (Teekay) 

Psyychology - Chill Mix (A.Y.E. & Teekay) 

DOWNLOAD

Natti (of CunninLynguists), Sha Stimuli & Substantial - Architecture

Listen & buy Natti's  "Still Motion" - here

Dark Sun Riders - Seeds Of Evolution [1996]

Speaking of mystic style... here's some classic material. It's Brother J's conceptual solo rapping album "Seeds Of Evolution".

Tracklist: 

1. The Preparation (Interlude)

2. The Mouth Ritual

3. Day Of The Gathering (Interlude)

4. Dark Sun Riders / Video

5. Arrival To Chemical Egypt (Interlude)

6. Time To Build

7. Ultra Blessings (Interlude)

8. Bro J. Theme

9. Zoneweilders Groove

10. Return To The River (Interlude)

11. Soulful Ascension

12. Positive Influences (Interlude)

13. Rhythmous Flex

14. Damu Blessings (Interlude)

15. Magnificent Son

16. M.A.T.E. On Music (Interlude)

17. Feel & Move

18. Justice (Interlude)

19. The Revival

20. Only Mortals (Interlude)

21. Jewels Of Evol

22. Outro

Download and listen 

Kashmere - In The Hour Of Chaos [2006]

Kashmere is one of the most original MCs ever. This album is a masterpiece of lyricism in the first place, production is perfect but it comes second. It's dark, deep and mystic - so, do your job cause "understanding is the name of the game".

Tracklist:

Intro 

The Ark 

Black Sea Ft. Red & Verb T 

Souls of the Unborn Ft. Jehst 

God Will Protect Us (Skit) 

Bones

Opium Foetus Ft. Verb T

Dead Gorillas on Broadway 

Spawn of Pazuzu Ft. Severe & Dramacide 

Have Faith

Playing with Fire 

Divine Communication Ft. Iron Braydz

Lets Go! (skit)

Lady of The Lake 

Alpha to Omega 

Veronica R.I.P 

Outro 

Download and Listen

Buy some Kashmere music

Kashmere has the rich discography, you can find the most of stuff he did listed in discogs. Also, he is doing his job now in the group Strange_U with producer Zygote, check their fb and soundcloud page, they have shared somedope tracks there...

DJ Skizz ft. Masta Ace & Nature - Metal Bars (Video)

BQE (Brooklyn - Queens Experience) is DJ Skizz's debut album, and this is the second single from it (first was for track "Day in the life". In BQE he handles the production, while NY mcs are doing their job... featured names on the album are from: Jakk Frost, Malik B, Willie Stubz, Shabaam Sahdeeq, Rah Digga, Tragedy Khadafi, Lil Fame, Ill Bill, Hannibal Stax, Big Noyd, Panchi , Problemz, Al Tariq, Big Twins, Roc Marciano, AG, OC, Godfather pt III, Justo, Illa Ghee, F.T., Torae, Reks, Maffew Ragazino, Rasheed Chappell, Craig G and Cormega. You can buy album here, or listen it here. The Doppelgangaz did their job for video production.

Clever Jeff - Jazz, Hop, Soul

This album is a classic, no doubt. If you haven't heard it yet, what are you waiting for? Clever Jeff is a San Francisco rapper and producer, he appeared first under the name "Mr. Dong"...



"Jazz, Hop, Soul" is his first album and it's from the 1994. He released the second one ten years later in 2004 and titled it "Street Therapy", it's a solid sophmore album, and there's a video from it for a track "I'm not  gangster"...



For some strange reason there's no more video on web for song "Year of the fly MC", that's the non-album track released in the same year as "Jazz, Hop, Soul". But you can download the single "Year of the fly MC" (instrumental of the track is included, and also Guru's and Clever Jeff's rmx version of the "Catch Rek")

There's also the official video for a song "The City" from "Jazz, Hop, Soul"; it was on youtube for a while but it was taken off due to copyright stuff. I have managed to find only low quality version, you can watch it or download it from mediafire- here.

If I'm thinking about my favourite rap albums Jazz Hop Soul is always first that comes on my mind. Jeff's lyrics are always on point, simple and wise, and his deep flow over jazz influenced programmed beats is making whole album hypnotic. Jeff did the most of the job on this album alone, there's no rap features, and he signs the most of production credits.

Album tracklist:

1. Intro
2. No Fiction
3. Full Stride
4. The City
5. Refresh
6. Catch Rek
7. Late Night Tip
8. Some Shouts
9. For Real
10. At The Club
11. Keep It Comin’
12. Let The Man Command
13. Gangsta Jazz
14. Down Low
15. Jazz
16. Birth
17. Rainy Day
18. Jazz Hop Soul
19. Outro

Download and listen

Afrika Bambaataa & James Brown ‎– Unity [1984]

This would be kinda symbolic start. If You ever had any dilemma about hip hop as a culture and its values then you should ask yourself few simple questions like: what it was on its begining, who created it and why... Hip hop comes in many different forms, but all of them have something in common that persists through time. So, who would define the essence of it better than one of the originators and godfathers of the hip hop culture?

This is classic collab, you have "The Godfather of Soul" and "The Godfather of Hip Hop" in six versions of one song. You'll find it all here: peace, love, unity, having fun, knowledge, wisdom, understanding, funk power, etc...


 


You can't define hip hop in any other way, with different principles than these that are listed in "Unity". Simply because you could never find bigger autorities than these two who would tell you something about it. Don't forget - they created it!



Download and listen: Afrika Bambaataa & James Brown ‎– Unity [1984]

Unity Part 1 (the Third Coming) (3:26)
Unity Part 2 (Because It's Coming) (3:52)
Unity Part 3 (Nuclear Wild Style) (3:52)
Unity Part 4 (Can You See it) (6:54)
Unity Part 5 (the Light) (4:40)
Unity Part 6 (World III) (2:57)