Back catalogue: Hip Hop/R&B

Review: For Record Store Day 2025, Bloom Japan presents a lovely 7" from the 45TRIO, who reimagine Minnie Riperton's classic 'Inside My Love.' This reinterpretation delivers a lush, jazz-infused instrumental take that honours the original's unique sensuality while introducing a fresh, soulful groove for modern 'floors. 45TRIO's tasteful blend of live instrumentation and vintage tones helps breathe new life into this timeless gem while the B-side offers a stripped-down version perfect for late-night spins or sample hunters. This is one to pick up and drop during those loved-up moments.

Review: LA label Milkcrate Mondays is back with more slick contemporary hip-hop and r&b sounds, this time in the form of a split 7". Abel takes care of the opener with 'Flex'd Up', which has slow, seductive and silky drums and synths making for a sunny sound that is topped with a gorgeously heartfelt r&b vocal that swoons and swoops effortlessly. On the flip, Netwerk's 'Horns Of A Feather' has a duster and more classic boom-bap hip-hop beat that's low in the mix, with muted horns and another aching vocal really finishing it in style. Two different vibes, both are excellent.

Review: Germany's Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band's profile skyrocketed in 2024 when their hypnotic steel pan cover of 50 Cent's 'Pimp' became a surprise emotional core in the Oscar-winner Anatomy Of A Fall. So pivotal was the track that steel pans would here make their first ever Academy Awards orchestra debut. But for longtime heads, 'Pimp' first turned heads in 2008, where it was pressed on Bjorn Wagner's Mocambo label and was often mistaken afterwards for a 50s sample source. The 'Big Crown Vaults' series now swoops in to save and preserve the group's best contributions to the music world, in addition to and in excess of the 'Pimp' version. A true archive-delving if we've ever heard one, the tracks so preserved include Bob James' breakbeat classic 'Nautilus' and a thunderous take on Khruangbin's 'Maria Tambien'. Then there's the B's funked-up flips of the Jackson 5 and Billy Jones, plus one original, 'Kaiso Noir'.

Review: The latest deep dive into Galaxy Sound Co.'s Black Hole series is another carefully dug out delight featuring three essential jazz-funk-psych cuts. Joe Pass' 'A Time For Us' opens with beautiful cinematic strings, sparse drums and ghostly guitar that has been famously sampled by J Dilla and the Slum Village crew, and sounds powerful in situ here. Milt Jackson & Ray Brown's 'Enchanted Lady' follows with hypnotic modal swing, again famously flipped, this time by Pete Rock, De La Soul and Knxwledge. Closing out is Archie Whitewater's 'Cross Country', which is a funky, soulful groove with brass and keys that have been immortalised by Kanye and Common, but remains a burner here in its original form.

Review: As you probably know if you're reading this, Jorun Bombay is one of the most consistently on for edit maestros in the game. Here he steps up with a new outing that sticks right at the heart of the dancefloor once more. 'Strictly Dann Stealy' is a clever mash-up of De La Soul's 'Eye Know (Know It All Remix)' featuring the original source vocals over a faithfully recreated instrumental. It channels the signature energy of early 90s hip-hop clubs with a fresh twist you've never heard before. On the flip, 'Whole Grain O's' offers a reimagined instrumental take on 'Oodles of O's' which is packed with reggae chants, added turntablism and signature 'Oh's'. It's a playful, party-ready version that balances just the right amount of nostalgia and brand new style.

Review: Remastered from a lost cassette in composer David Toop's archive, Unsettled Scores Records has secured the rights to a first-ever release of the legendary title track from Dick Fontaine's iconic 1988 graffiti documentary. Originally airing on Channel 4, the film followed Brim's 1985 journey from the Bronx to the UK, where he linked up with future icons like Goldie and 3D of Massive Attack. A formative piece for graffiti writers and hip-hop heads alike, Brim's 'Bombin'' became a cult classic and remained so. This long-awaited 7" includes the full version and unreleased mixes.

Review: American neo-soul pin-up D'Angelo has released a couple of the smoothest records of the last 30 years. He even made a welcome comeback in the mid 2010s and added some more magic to his cannon. Here Kero Uno remixes a couple of his tunes and ups their funky quotient to make them more suitable to dancefloors. First, he flips 'Spanish Joint' into a key-laced and funky workout with low-slung, hip-swinging grooves sure to seduce next to the zippy synth leads. On the flip is his hot take on 'Feel Like Makin' Love', another bona-fide gem full of heart and soul.

Review: For the last couple of years, DJ AL has been serving up creative edits that breathe new life into iconic tracks from hip-hop and r&b. He's already dropped a big one in 2025 but quickly backs it up with two more razor-sharp reworks. First up is 'MVP (DJ A-L Blahzay Blahzay remix)' which has big old school energy, dusty and raw drum breaks and hard bars a plenty. 'Jump Around (DJ A-L Shoot Your Shot remix)' is a more soulful sound with a deep cut groove but still plenty of 90s hip-hop energy and some hip-swinging claps. A great return that is sure to fire up many a 'floor this summer and beyond.

Review: Dusty Donuts return with another heavyweight 7" of hip-hop gold, this time journeying from Queensbridge to Staten Island. Side A delivers a bouncy, chopped-up rework featuring a Lost Girl once heard on a legendary QB mixtape and it is guaranteed to ignite any dancefloor. Flipping over, the vibe shifts to Shaolin with a raw and soulful reinterpretation of a classic that pays tasteful homage to Staten Island's finest. With tight edits and a deep love for golden-era hip-hop, this release hits hard on both sides and is another great example of the craftsmanship, nostalgia and party-starting energy the Dusty Donuts crew always deals in.

Review: The MC was one of a kind. His legend lives on through his work which here gets served up on new label Doom in instrumental form. 'Saffron' (MF instrumental) is a silky late-night sound with warm melancholic chords and subtle boom-bap beats. On the flip, things get more jazzy with the expressive trumpets and more raw broken beat patterns of 'Arrow Root' (MF instrumental). It's a timeless and sophisticated sound that will woo any listener into a calming mood and comes on a limited 7".

Review: Kero Uno has been kicking for almost two decades, credited with reviving jazz sensibilities in hip-hop almost three decades since it, unfortunately, fell out of fashion around the turn of the century. K1 introduces city-pop and jazz-hop to two of Kdots biggest tracks, 'Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe' and 'Love', the former of which was put on SoundCloud almost a decade ago now and created nothing but buzz. K1 skyrocketed to fame, having his album crowdfunded by excited fans and catching the attention of Kendrick's own mix engineer Derek Ali. The 'Don't Kill My Vibes' mix flips the 2012 hit into a vibraphone-led synthy jazz slice of heaven, while the 'Love' flip, 'Vinyl Love', is a chill, wavey city-pop banger, with subtle brass and airtight percussion coming together in perfect matrimony.

Review: Yet another early Masters At Work proto-jungle cut gets released on the inimitable Kay Dee recs. 'Blood Vibes' (Demo Version) is a desirous gemstone whose best facets reflect reggae, hip-hop and party breaks, though each side can only partially bend the unmissable light that is Kenny Dope" Gonzalez's production touch. Built around elements of Junior Reid's reggae classic 'One Blood', 'Blood Vibes' came about amid the pose-striking ballroom craze in New York in 1991, and even now we can hardly prepare ourselves for the riot that ensues on the following B-side, 'The Madd Cry'.

Review: A cornerstone of East Coast hip-hop's golden era, Naughty By Nature's 'Feel Me Flow' gets a 2025 reissue on limited edition black 7" vinyl. Originally released in 1995, it stands as one of the trio's most commercially successful and artistically sharp singles, built around a shimmering summer-ready groove and driven by Treach's blistering yet effortless flow. It was the third single taken from the group's Grammy-winning Poverty's Paradise album and quickly became a chart success, peaking at number three on the Billboard Hot Rap Singles chart. The track also picked up a Grammy nomination and reached a new generation when it was used in the Eminem-starring film 8 Mile. With this reissue, the iconic original is backed with its instrumentalihighlighting the warm production and razor-sharp drum work that often gets overshadowed by Treach's commanding vocal presence. A must for collectors of classic hip-hop and mid-90s boom bap history.

Review: Longtime disco editor Smoove played his first cards right with Wack Records in 2007, and now he returns to the imprint after decades with another raw-cut, redone diamond; a synth-driven slab of filth-funk reflecting the talents of 80s soul mogul Bobby on vocals. On the flip, things speed up as Smoove flips Mrs Jackson's vocals into a razor-sharp electro funk rework, loaded with punchy edits, Mantronix-inspired stutters, and warped stabs that twist the track into club-ready territory.

Review: TNT Rap Classics are a ghostly rap reissues outfit, operating in the shadows, but they've churned out a truly solid ream of stadium/megastar rap reissues on 7" for several years now. After lookbacks on Nelly and Beyonce they now pay due deference to Eminem, placing special attention on the rapper's early-noughts Slim Shady era. 'Without Me' was the whimsical, cheekily intoned lead single from The Eminem Show, finding Eminem lampooning pop culture, the media, and his critics. 'The Real Slim Shady', meanwhile, came before, with biting critique of the pop cultural fascination with authenticity: "Will the real Slim Shady please stand up?"

Review: In 1985, rapper Tricky Tee (Edward Yates) pinned an unlikely staple to the great door of hip electro, decreeing that all those to follow him would take a bow whenever he sashayed into the room. 'Johnny The Fox' was his first release for Sleeping Bag Records, who now release it in fullest restored glory - this was the label founded by none other than indie cello superstar Arthur Russell and music mogul William Socolov, crossing between disco, stylistically crossing between avant-garde songwriting and paradise-garage house - and served to indent his name on the map in highly visible, permanent ink. Containing samples of The Kay-Gees and Thin Lizzy, Tee's voice is steeped in a short delay, a timeless technique lending the human voice a smeared-out, mechanoid feel.

Review: The third volume in the Insense Music compilation series, Insense Music for Dining Room, deepens its exploration of ambient, jazz, chill-out and Balearic sounds, all of which are perfect for serene dining moments. Curated by Tohru Hashimoto with artwork by Jiro Fujita and mastering by Calm, who a key figure in Japan's music scene as well as a renowned Balearic boss, this 7" release shines from the off: side A features Yakenohara's subtle, exclusive take on Bill Evans's 'Peace Piece' which blends his genre-fluid skills as rapper, DJ and producer. Side B offers Noa Noa's warm tribute to Bobby Hutcherson's 'Montara,' a hip-hop sampling favourite. The release precedes a full compilation dropping this May.