VMP Magazine

The drummer Art Blakey was, without doubt, one of the most brilliant and influential rhythmic architects in jazz history. He was also, weirdly, both iconic and unsung. Other drummers, like Max Roach and Kenny Clarke, often obscure Blakey in discussions about the birth of modern jazz, but he was there too, tuning up the language of the swing era until it became a strange and ferocious music called bebop. Elvin Jones has been broadcast as the owner of the cerebral and acrobatic approach to jazz drumming referred to as polyrhythmic, but no less an authority than Roach argued that Blakey got to four-limbed independence first. When it came to the gospel- and R&B-fueled gait that defined hard bop, Blakey received his just due as the music’s avatar.

Back in April 2018, our Essentials members got a special edition of Clipse’s 2002 debut LP, Lord Willin’. And now, to celebrate the 15th anniversary of their sophomore album, Hell Hath No Fury is our November Hip-Hop Record of the Month. In case you’re new to Clipse — or an old fan using this excuse to remember the group’s other releases — here’s a primer on the best releases from the Thornton brothers.

From a side project to a full-time, prolific force into an indefinite hiatus and then back around for another go at it together, the last 25 years have undoubtedly been a winding journey for Sleater-Kinney. Always led by the big-voiced and guitar-wielding combo of Corin Tucker & Carrie Brownstein and largely supported by drummer Janet Weiss, the riot grrrl-inspired band has released eight full-length albums, all of which are noteworthy.

Sleater-Kinney (pronounced SLAY-ter, not SLEET-er) got its start in 1994 in Olympia, Washington. Named after a street near the space where Tucker and Brownstein used to rehearse, S-K started as an offshoot of the duo’s respective mainstays at the time — Tucker’s Heavens to Betsy and Brownstein’s Excuse 17 — but would eventually turn into their main affair. In ’95 the band released their debut effort, and then proceeded to follow it up with another six albums before deciding to take a break in 2006. During the stretch before the hiatus, they found their longest tenured drummer, Janet Weiss, and became one of the most critically adored rock acts around.

After a number of years away, in which Brownstein played with Wild Flag and co-created (with Fred Armisen) the show Portlandia, Tucker released two solo albums and Weiss toured with Quasi, Stephen Malkmus and others, S-K rallied back together and crafted 2015’s No Cities To Love. Now, here in 2019, they’re set to release a St. Vincent-produced album, The Center Won’t Hold, the Vinyl Me, Please Essentials album for August 2019 (learn more here), and the ever-diligent band is standing on the edge of new and exciting territory.

To get a sense of how they got here, let’s take a look back at each of their LPs.

In June, our members will get a special new edition of TV on the Radio’s 2006 LP, Return to Cookie Mountain. In case you’re new to TV on the Radio — or an old fan using this excuse to remember the group’s other releases — here’s a Primer on the best releases from the best New York art rock band of the 21st century.

In May, members of Vinyl Me, Please Rap & Hip Hop will receive an exclusive 25th anniversary pressing of Snoop Doggy Dogg's landmark debut, Doggystyle. A classic in G-funk, it's a timeless album that features hits that can still rock a party in 2018 ("Gin and Juice" and "Who Am I (What's My Name)" chief among them). The first vinyl reissue in the states since the early '00s, this 25th anniversary edition comes on brown and mint splattered vinyl, a heavyweight tip-on jacket, and newly mastered for vinyl from the original analog reels by Chris Doremus at Penguin Recording. This is a must-own for rap fans. For the first time, you can sign up for just Vinyl Me, Please Rap & Hip-Hop which you can do right here.

Here, we give you a primer for going deeper into Snoop’s catalog, from the Death Row albums, to the No Limit albums, to his commercial comeback thanks to Pharrell, we break down his essential releases. Snoop's got a deep catalog full of albums stretching the limit of a CD's length, so we make it easy for where to go next.

If the name Gil Scott-Heron isn’t immediately familiar to you, his poetry undoubtedly will be. Scott-Heron, a blues and jazz poet who came to prominence in the 1970s through his soulful and incredibly biting social and political commentary, made one of the most famous poems of all time: “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.” An ingenious take on the mass consumerism and capitalist greed that ignored the very real anguish and uprisings happening in the fringes of society. A poem that has played a major influence in hip-hop/rap and, ironically, has been used in commercials and movie trailers as recently as this year (like the Black Panther trailer.

The music and poetry of Gil Scott-Heron is a snapshot into a country in turmoil: still shellshocked from the murders of MLK, Malcolm X and JFK, the Vietnam war and the universal trauma of inner city life. Heron’s work glides wildly between anger, condescension, sarcasm, sadness, gloom, vitriol and discomfort. Heron paints a vision of a lower class that has been pushed around too long and on the verge of erupting and it’s hard not to draw parallels to the struggles of 2017, as the country continues to tear itself apart.