Rhythm Al Ism (reissue) vinyl

While it's a bit of a surprise to see Be With Records, a dusty-fingered imprint better known for soul, disco and Balearic beats, reissuing DJ Quik's fourth album, Rhythm-Al-Ism, in some ways it makes a lot of sense. For starters, the double LP, which first hit stores in 1998, is a masterpiece: a gloriously kaleidoscopic fusion of golden era hip-hop, boom-bap, R&B, swing, jazz and G-funk stacked to the rafters with killer samples and on-point flows from the now veteran DJ/producer. The album was not quite the commercial success first time round that it should have been, but it deserves to be as lauded as earlier albums from the likes of De La Soul, EPMD and a Tribe Called Quest. In a word: essential!