Juno Recommends Hip Hop / R&B: August 2022

Review: French beatmaker DJ Marrrtin has his fingers in a lot of pies, from running Stereophonk to working in groups like Funky Bijou. Now he's up on Friday's Funky 45 with a hip-hop rooted re-flip to get party people the world over rocking out. 'Marrrtin's Scenario' does a damn fine job of re-positioning A Tribe Called Quest's classic 'Scenario' with some organ-soaked funk, while 'Enta Humpty' goes heavy on the boom bap breaks to provide a heads down groove that should get the breakers breaking and the freakers freaking. When you can't get enough heat for that lil box of 7"s, Friday's Funky 45 have got you covered.

Review: Onyx had their break in the early 90s when they were pushed by none other than Run DMC's Jam Master Jay. The Queens crew had a madcap style that won them a following quickly, and their debut album Bacdafucup was an instant hit. New label Boom Bap Classics know a seminal cut when they hear one, clearly, because they've chosen to press up two of the big singles from the album as a finely chiselled 7". 'Throw Ya Gunz' lights up the A-side with some tough-as-you-like East Coast pressure, while 'Slam' rides a heavy-as-hell bassline for Onyx to get buckwild over.

Review: Galaxy Sound Co takes a surprising turn from the edit game to drop another pair of sure shots by Michigan skateboarder, cyclist, sneaker-head and bedroom b boy beat maker Strictly Butters, making his second appearance on the label. Main offering 'P.B.S.' offers up rolling piano and warpy keyboards with a hazy, nostalgic feel over a tight drum break. On the flip we get 'Turn It Up', which bounces effortlessly, teased along by a sweet soul guitar riff. Take your pick, they're both corkers.

Review: First released three decades ago, Main Source's debut album Breaking Atoms remains a peerless, golden-era masterpiece: a classic-sounding hip-hop full-length in which Large Professor's brilliant beats (think deep bass, crunchy breaks and a battery of killer samples) provide the perfect platform for two of the era's most versatile and on-point MCs. As this remastered anniversary edition proves, the album really is "all killer, no filler", with stonking singles such as 'Looking at the Front Door' and the scorching 'Peace is Not a Word to Play' being joined by lesser-celebrated - but no less impressive - album-only classics such as 'Snake Eyes', 'Just a Friendly Game of Bassball' (a jazzy masterpiece) and 'Vamos a Rapair'. If you don't already own a copy already, you need this reissue in your life.

Review: "Don't think twice just dive in" was the message to take home from the trailer released this February for the 20th anniversary release of 'Lovage: Music to Make Love to Your Old Lady By'. The album is drenched in self-parody, though of course meaning can be extrapolated from the satirical tone of the LP - themes of dangerous romance and debonairish debacles from a James Bond type figure (and I mean the old James Bond, who people forget used to be an old, incredibly uncool drunk pest and not a dark brooding agent). The album features a surprising line up, from Plug 3 of De La Soul, Mike Patton and Kid Koala to name a few. 'Everyone Has a Summer' is a personal highlight, a scratch cut that still manages to be sensual. A diamond in the rough as well as the bedroom, though of course there's a harmonica in the background. Lovage is just a fun time at the end of the day, and the music is still pretty damn good 2 decades later even if the references aren't relevant anymore (thank goodness).

Review: Madlib's mad one a month release mission continues with his fifth outing on his own imprint, Madlib Invazion. The odd numbers in the series are joints produced by the man himself, while the evens are mixtapes. This one looks at his personal history as a the loop digga over a ten year span in which Madlib cranked out a whole slew of mixtapes. They were his early productions for the Alkaholiks in about 1992, while his popular Quasimoto album came in 2000, before a sabbatical saw him go and work on his fictional jazz outfit Yesterdays New Quintet.

Review: To mark the 150th episode of Oonops's Brooklyn Radio Show he invited some artists to record some tracks for his for Oonops Drops label. Slick Walk (Merse & DJ Robert Smith) and Fingathing's Sneaky steppe dup first with 'Bird's Lament', a nice cut up beat with twanging double bass and dark cello vibes. South Korean producer Avantgarde Vak says 'Keep Ya Eyes Up' and does so with a sparse beat and moody bass. Last of all is the tight drum funk of Toshiyuki Sasaki's 'Toshi Bonus Breaks.'

Review: They may have been known for producing crossover hits way back in the early 90s, but Arrested Development have never stopped producing gold. The politically charged, socially conscious crew are a well-oiled machine at this point in time, and you need only listen to a snatch of new album For the FKN Love to understand that. As ever it's fronted by Speech and produced by Configa, but this time around they've invited a plethora of guests from legends like Big Daddy Kane, The Sugarhill Gang, Monie Love and Fatman Scoop through to emergent talent like Twan Mack, Dell-P, Lish and Ke'Andra. It's resulted in a vital statement for the rude health of message-laden hip-hop in 2022.

Review: Hot on the heels of reissuing Les Demerle's debut album in 2021, Groove-Diggers keeps up pace with this reissue of Transcendental Watusi!, the first album he released under his Les Demerle Transfusion moniker in 1979. Across these six tracks, the drummer delivers his trademark Jazz-funk sound, spanning the aural terrain of horn-infused ballad "Once Upon a Time" to the darting bass and percussion-driven sounds of penultimate track "Daggerpoint".

Review: Stimulator Jones is the alias of Samuel Jones Lunsford, a smooth crooner with an affinity for the gutsy, funky pop nous of Prince et al. On his third album for Stones Throw he's even cryptically nodding to the Purple wonder with his own grade-school misunderstanding of 'Raspberry Beret'. You can hear Prince's influence in some of the tracks, but Jones equally slinks over to 90s RnB with the likes of 'Impossible' and smouldering baby-making soul jams like 'Keep On Mashing'. Shot through with a sense of mischief which never gets in the way of the depth of the music, it's a confident step on for a modern, independent hit machine.

Review: Crunchy R&B re-edits come once again from DJ DSK, flipping big 90s tune 'Creep' and an unnamed 'Bhangra banger' on the the other side. All sounds on this double A-sided 7"are filtered through raunchy bitcrush and distortion, lending the reworks a deathly feel that renders them suitable for the dancefloor - and the dancefloor only.

Review: Lizzo is a three tie Grammy winner who after much build up finally drops this long awaited new long player. Her last album, the multi-Platinum selling, top-10 debut album, CUZ I LOVE YOU came back in 2019 and since then Lizzo has cemented her place as one of the most in demand live music performers in the game. This recorded has been proceeded by lead single 'About Damn Time', which leant on disco's colourful rhythms and some fresh cosmic melodies, while most recently Lizzo has partnered with Logitech as the face of their 2022 campaign Defy Logic.

Review: Immortal Technique originally dropped The Martyr as a free download back in 2011, clocking up one million downloads in its first week alone. The opening track even has the Harlem-based rapper urging his fans to burn the album and pass it to their friends. The collection is made up of previously unreleased tracks spanning different points in his career and with different producers on the buttons. J Dilla is at the controls on 'Toast To The Dead', while the likes of Dead Prez, Killer Mike and Chuck D all pop up on the mic elsewhere. Now Tuff Kong are pressing up this essential slice of 21st century hip hop as a double LP.

Review: Easily riding the hypewave of their infamous album The Infamous, Mobb Deep (Prodogy and Havoc) released the almost hilariously identical follow-up album 'Infamy', still to critical acclaim, on December 11th 2001. Topping up the original black vinyl pressings which first appeared on Loud Records, this new version from Get On Down comes to limited edition 'marbled copper' vinyl. It's clear all the block hustlin' and stack counting paid off.

Review: Slim Papi is back with a second instalment of his Chateaunuef Du Papi series. Once again it features some fresh hip hop joints packed with great samples and with additional production from Sonnyjim & Poison Zcora. Opener 'David Lynch (feat Crimeapple)' is a deep and sentimental one, while the grooves on 'Rod Sterling' are just as deep with thoughtful bars. 'Harry Dean Stanton' has sumptuous stings with more stream of conscious lyrics and 'Steve Buscemi' is a short but sweet closer. Pressed in small quantities and hand numbered, this is a real collector's item.