Roots Manuva
Alternately Deep
Big Dada Recordings
One year on from releasing one of the best hip-hop albums of 2005, Brit MC Roots Manuva releases a companion set of tracks, all recorded around the same time as last year's excellent Awfully Deep. On that record, Roots took listeners down some dark alleys of his experience, from nervous breakdowns to anger and depraved fetishes, all backed by beats ranging from dirty London grime to Snoop-inspired G-funk bounce. Roots showed that his passport means nothing, that he can rap with the best in the U.S. or anywhere else.
Alternately Deep splashes those dark corners with some water and cologne, then walks 'em back to the club where they belong. Some of these tracks, previously offered as B-sides or downloads, pulse with abdominal basslines and thick drums and seem crafted with one intention: making the ladies strip down to something more comfortable on the dance floor.
A Tribe Called Quest - The Best Of, Vol. 1
Smokin' Needles
www.smokinneedles.com
Mixdiscs are a dime a dozen these days, but few will ever make a lasting home in your collection. But if you're a fan of ATCQ, make some space in that CD rack. Younger readers who didn't experience Tribe the first time around can be excused for not getting the hype, but for awhile there back in the day, these guys were the most talented rhymesmiths in the game.
De La Soul cracked opened the door with its Daisy Age vibes, but Tribe broke it off the hinges with their acrobatic rhymes and dank New York jazz swagger. You can trace a direct line from Tribe to current and recent hitters like the Roots, Common and the Fugees. DJ Rasta Root, the man who rocks the wheels behind Tribe MC Phife Dawg's solo outings, blends Tribe classics with interviews and anecdotes from the principals (Q-Tip, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Phife Dawg and Jarobi) and their running partners. It's probably the best "Best Of" disc on Tribe out there, woven with history and insider perspectives.