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DJ Quik is a giant of West Coast hip-hop. With 1995’s Safe + Sound, he scaled new levels of musical magnificence with his signature new age P-Funk/laconic G-Funk. A quintessential, sun-scorched LA album, this is pretty much essential. Typical for mid-90s albums the original vinyl copies are now rare so here’s the Be With re-issue, complete with “Tanqueray”, the hidden track from the original CD release. A preternaturally gifted producer/rapper, DJ Quik has produced scores of LA gangsta rap classics. He’s released platinum and gold records of his own, as well as helped craft them for the likes of Tupac, Snoop Dogg, and Dr Dre. Quik has always been quirkier and more interesting than his gangsta rap peers, both musically and lyrically. An old-school funk producer at heart, he’s also incredibly nice on the mic. His raps often deal in boasts, jokes and good times but also cover his beefs, his trials and his trauma. Partying and pain, all mixed up. DJing and producing hype beat tapes from age 14, Quik’s tracks blended the languid funk and rubbery synths of Zapp and George Clinton with a gangsta aesthetic, creating a more danceable foil to Compton’s more typical nihilistic hedonism.

Da Best Riddim Eternal Action Krew ! Here is the mission that DA BREAK has given itself for this 3rd album : To drop a new opus of great quality, which will remain eternally engraved in the memories of Soul Music.

The music of Soul Supreme moves, grooves, throbs, and hits more than ever before. But the colorful sonic palette of Poetic Justice actually sprouted from a dark place: an ongoing battle with an independent label to reclaim his master rights—even today, "Industry Rule #4080" is still in full effect.So copping this record doesn't only support his cause—it's also well worth it for the listener. Poetic Justice features Soul Supreme's biggest line-up of guest musicians to date: including drummer J-Zone, bass player Glenn Gaddum Jr., Gallowstreet's Jeroen Verberne, and Radiohop's Johnny Biner and Euan Jenkins. With Soul Supreme himself on his trusted set-up and a newly added Clavinet, his melting pot of jazz-funk, hip-hop grooves, soulful cuts, and library funk sounds richer than ever before."I have decided to create a positive outlet for what is a very negative event in my life," he writes in the announcement of Poetic Justice. "I wrote music that reflected how I feel going through this process. No matter what the legal battle results in—I know I have made something beautiful and honest from this terrible experience. At least for myself but hopefully for others to enjoy it as well."Rest assured, Poetic Justice is a record to fully enjoy; from the first heartfelt notes on "Intro (Pullin' Back The Curtain)" to the last thumping drum hits of "I Rest My Case."

One thing hip-hop has never been great at – and certainly something for which it has zero reputation – is nuanced emotion. Enter Large Professor and ‘Looking at the Front Door’, the group’s first single on Wild Pitch Records and the lead out for their stunning ‘Breaking Atoms’ album.Wrapped around a loop from Donald Byrd’s Blue Note classic ‘Think Twice’, bolstered by the infectious chorus of ‘Chick A Boom’ by The Pazant Brothers and Beaufort Express, it’s a melancholy tale of love gone wrong. It was a brave choice of lead single in the 1990 hip-hop landscape, plucked from an album full of genuine head-nodders and standout tracks. It was also the right choice – a piece of production perfection laced with romantic honesty.The B-side also strikes a different tack, a tale of a brother who “doesn’t fight, his brain is his left and right.” Using a solid foundation of drums from Funkadelic’s ‘You’ll Like It Too’ (most famously used on Eric B & Rakim’s ‘I Know You Got Soul’), Large Pro weaves his tale of an ambitious, studious man over an original organ line (by JD Drumsticks) that wouldn’t sound out of place at a hockey rink. The theme is sledgehammer subtle – don’t sell drugs, stay in school – but delivered with the lightness of touch that would be Main Source’s signature.This is the first official UK release, and the first time both sides have been together on a 7”