VMP Magazine

With hindsight, time has a way of collapsing — off the top of your head, what’s the difference between 1933 and 1935? When we’re dealing with years closer to the present, the sheer number of threads that can come unspooled in 24 months becomes clearer. The beginning of 2007, for example, bears virtually no resemblance to the fall of 2009. With music, though, sea changes rarely come that quickly, and almost never happen at a pace where things that might sound fresh in 1986 are made to sound drab and dated in ’88. But that’s exactly what happened to Run-D.M.C. with Tougher Than Leather, the group’s misguided fourth album, which turned 30 this week and which, in most ways, signaled the end their dominance over rap, and confirmed the status of a new, younger guard.

“You know when you hear M.O.P.’s Ante Up and you wanna punch somebody in the face? Well, this is the song that makes you want to put on your Gucci socks.”

This month, Vinyl Me, Please Rap & Hip Hop is featuring Nasty, Rico Nasty’s 2018 breakthrough album. You can sign up to receive our exclusive edition of the album right here.

Below, you can read an interview with Rico Nasty. We sent our staff writer, Michael Penn II, to interview her in a studio in Los Angeles in between tour dates and recording sessions. Here she talks football, being herself and how she got the Rico Nasty nom-de-rap.

In August, members of Vinyl Me, Please Rap & Hip Hop will receive an exclusive reissue of Hud Dreems, the seminal instrumental hip-hop and Stones Throw release from legendary producer Knxwledge. This new edition comes with an alternate cover colorway, and comes on black smoke marbled vinyl. Read our rare Q&A with Knxwledge here, and sign up to receive it here.

What’s in a hud dreem? Is it the lifelong stride toward superstar status? Is it survival ’til a backyard and two-car garage? Can one ball out ’til the phone’s ringing off the hook? Ask Knxwledge, and he’s already in it: Three years after the Stones Throw release of his most coveted LP, Hud Dreems, he never deviates far from the routine. He doesn’t have time to think, and he’s not focused on the world… it’s these chops and this guap that’s kept him afloat through the noise.

To call him mysterious is both an understatement and a misnomer; he continues to release volumes of tapes, he’s worked with some of the most coveted MCs in the game, and he rarely does press at all. It’s a choice on how to manifest his presence via the work, rather than the dialogue around it. The Knxwledge ethos embodies an attitude of answering only to himself; no interference from anyone who’d compromise the vision that’s given him life and allowed him to thrive from a beat machine. Let him tell it, most of his good fortune has come from that unrelenting self-assurance, matched by a timing neither he, nor we, can control. Otherwise, if it ain’t good health, God, or music… no time for the extra shit. Much like his sounds, he wears minimalism like a crown.

As stated above, Knxwledge doesn’t do interviews, for real. He made the exception for me, a longtime believer in his wizardry. The following transmission happened via e-mail, straight from Knx’s keyboard to us. Enjoy.

DJ Abilities has spent the 20 years since the release of his seminal collaboration with Eyedea, First Born, simultaneously honoring its legacy and trying to move forward. While Abilities, born Gregory Keltgen, rose to prominence in the Minnesota rap scene with Eyedea, he’s been living outside of the state for 15 years, and hasn’t helmed a rap LP since Eyedea & Abilities released By The Throat in 2009, just a year before Eyedea passed away. The MC born Michael Larsen, died tragically in 2010, at the age of 28.

It’s impossible to view First Born, or much of Abilities’ career, through a lens outside of what Eyedea brought to the Minneapolis rap community, but in re-examining the duo’s legacy, Abilities’ work as a producer and DJ has only grown. Despite his relative quiet output over the last decade, Abilities has stayed busy behind the scenes: “A lot of people might think I stopped or got a different job because I seemingly haven't really done much, but on the contrary, I've been doing huge amounts of music.”

Like we do at this time, we’re here with the announcement of the next three Records of the Month for VMP Hip-Hop. If you sign up now, you’ll receive all three of these albums as your next three Records of the Month.

In August, members of VMP Rap & Hip-Hop will receive the first vinyl reissue of Lord Finesse’s The Awakening. The album comes on black and gold splatter over clear vinyl, and comes with an exclusive stencil. Read below for why we picked this album for this month.

In September, members of VMP Hip-Hop will receive the first vinyl reissue of Ghostface Killah’s Fishscale. The album comes on gold and black vinyl, and comes with an exclusive stencil. Read below for why we picked this album for this month.

In May, members of Vinyl Me, Please Rap & Hip-Hop will receive Salt-N-Pepa's Very Necessary, their fourth LP, and the one that garnered them the first Rap Grammy for any woman. It features smash hits like "Shoop" and "Whatta Man" and comes on clear with black marble vinyl, and is appearing on vinyl for the first time since 1993. You can read below for why we picked it as our Rap Record of the Month.

In June, members of Vinyl Me, Please Rap & Hip-Hop will receive the first ever vinyl pressing of Future’s sophomore album, Honest. The album comes on black vinyl with red and white splatter, and comes with an exclusive stencil and with a spot-embossed cover. You can read two of our writers debating the album here, and read below for why we picked this album for this month.

Considering gangsta rap as a social contract, the speakers we elevate are granted conditional entry based on the perceived authenticity of their stories. In the context of U.S. rap music, the process takes root in the ongoing commodification of Black trauma as the lifeblood of entertainment. One’s authenticity is measured by their involvement in illicit activities, proximity to the struggles of poverty, and their abilities to articulate these conditions in a palatable fashion. Time and again, survivors of traumatic conditions parlay artful renditions of their experiences into the soundtrack of the American Dream; to the victor goes the spoils, while the memories remain. The most premium trauma lingers everywhere we fraternize: the car subwoofer, the regular club, the strip club, the schoolyard. These efforts come in many fashions, tempos, and accents. Nevertheless, it’s either real, true, trill… or fake, fugazi, cap. As time elapsed, the boundaries of this spectrum became far more fluid and conditional on their own.

In April, members of Vinyl Me, Please Rap & Hip-Hop will receive the first-ever vinyl edition of Rick Ross’ Teflon Don, the Miami rapper’s breakthrough LP, which is still considered his masterpiece. You can learn why we picked this album below.

In February, members of Vinyl Me, Please Rap & Hip-Hop will receive I'll Sleep When You're Dead, the thrilling sophomore album from legendary underground MC, El-P. Our edition of the album serves as the deluxe edition for a wider reissue of El-P's catalog on vinyl this year, and ours comes in a heavyweight gatefold jacket, on 2LP black and red marbled vinyl, with a stencil insert. You can read below for why we picked this record, and sign up here.

In December, members of Vinyl Me, Please Rap & Hip-Hop will receive Raising Hell, the landmark third album from the legendary rap group Run-DMC. Remastered from the original tape and pressed on neon-green vinyl, it can’t be missed. You can read below for why we picked this record, and sign up here.

Thirty-three years after the release of Raising Hell, Darryl McDaniels, 55, still speaks with the flair and conviction of the man he was back in Hollis. They’re decades apart, yet never far from home; he’s a King of Rock, a recovering addict, and a tireless advocate for mental wellness and anti-whatever hell the system’s up to tomorrow. He speaks of the past with such an unflinching clarity: He’ll be the first to tell which Run-D.M.C. albums were trash, how many 40s he could throw back, how he walked the brink of suicide, and what hip-hop is and isn’t. We recently caught up with McDaniels for an interview; this is an extremely truncated version of our talk with him: In a couple weeks, our talk with McDaniels will be an episode of Good Convo, our podcast interview series.

In November, members of Vinyl Me, Please Rap & Hip-Hop will receive the first U.S. pressing of slowthai's Nothing Great About Britain, the debut LP from the U.K. rapper. Pressed at QRP on multi-color vinyl, it's one of the year's best rap albums. You can read below for why we picked this record, and sign up here.

“This is a weird dynamic:

y’all are up there,

and I’m down here…

I feel a bit intimidated.”

Who you know from ’94 that came outta Illinois with the G-funk swagger and the braids to match? Matter fact, who you know that ended up the first woman in history to go Platinum as a solo MC? Da Brat did all that with Funkdafied: a prime half-hour of Jermaine Dupri in the key of gangsta lean, Brat breezing through the West Coast flavor with a bark and bite that demanded her respect. She repeatedly calls out for her competition because she knew she had none, casting aside the stigma of a woman-identified MC as an unsafe bet with a Gold ceiling. Da Brat came here to kick shit: a Midwest head doing California standards, without biting or rehashing! With a simple call of Brat-tat-tat-tat! — baggy fit, scalp swaying to the rhythm — Brat could start a party, roll a blunt and buss a head with the best of her idols.

In October, members of Vinyl Me, Please Rap & Hip-Hop will receive a 25th-anniversary edition of Funkdafied, the debut LP from Atlanta rapper Da Brat. On exclusive neon red vinyl, and coming with an exclusive stencil, the album is back on vinyl for the first time since 1994. You can read below for why we picked this record, and sign up here.

In September, members of Vinyl Me, Please Rap & Hip Hop will receive an exclusive reissue of How I Got Over, the ninth studio album from the legendary Roots crew. This LP comes on a clear/silver pinwheel vinyl in a glossy, single-pocket jacket. Read on to see why we picked this record, and more details of our pressing. Sign up to receive it here.

In July, members of Vinyl Me, Please Rap & Hip Hop will receive an exclusive new edition of Method Man’s solo debut, Tical (you can sign up here). The album was the first solo LP from a member of the Wu-Tang Clan, and as our staff writer writes here, it cemented the group in the mainstream, where they’d stay for the rest of the 1990s.

In July, members of Vinyl Me, Please Rap & Hip Hop will receive an exclusive reissue of Tical, the debut LP from Wu-Tang swordsman Method Man. Our new edition has a mirror-board cover, and comes on 180-gram bronze and black galaxy vinyl. You can read our essay about how important the album was in the arc of Wu-Tang over here, and sign up to receive it here.

In May, members of Vinyl Me, Please Rap & Hip Hop will receive an exclusive reissue of Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, the debut LP from legendary Atlanta rap duo OutKast. Our exclusive version of the album is on 2 LPs, meaning the album is here in its entirety on vinyl for the first time ever.

You can read an interview with Big Boi on the album here, and sign up to receive it here.

Below, read why we picked Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik and the details of our reissue.

There’s a certain bewilderment in Antwan “Big Boi” Patton’s voice when I tell him I was approaching three months of life when OutKast’s debut album Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik dropped on April 26, 1994. And to hear such a thing on the album’s 25th birthday, no less? His pride beamed through the phone. A quarter-century ago, two East Point boys made an introduction, and a ripple in the course of hip-hop as we know it. The South was on the way, through White Owl smoke and Martell courage. The swagger hit more like long socks in flip-flops, the lingo bore a twang and a country kick, and the struggle hit different in the Atlanta heat. These were tales of survival, of perseverance, by any means necessary and some means legendary.

But as Big Boi recalls it, being legendary was neither the intent nor the expectation. As he called in from the Dungeon Family tour bus, on the eve of the 10th and final show of their reunion run, his vocal demeanor was as warm and slick as one would expect an uncle to be at a family reunion. He speaks matter-of-factly, sometimes leaning into the extremes of his character before reeling back like a quick jab to keep you focused. He’s quite secure in his legacy and the joy of creating, but the prospect of longevity is still a trip to an elder statesman like himself. He pays no nevermind to the trappings of today… the Hall of Fame is more on his mind.

In May, members of Vinyl Me, Please Rap & Hip Hop will receive an exclusive reissue of Uptown Saturday Night, the debut LP from legendary Bronx rap duo Camp Lo. On blue and yellow vinyl, this is the first color vinyl reissue of the album.

You can read an essay on the album here, and sign up to receive it here.

Below, read why we picked Uptown Saturday Night and the details of our reissue.

In May, members of Vinyl Me, Please Rap & Hip Hop will receive an exclusive reissue of Uptown Saturday Night, the debut LP from legendary Bronx rap duo Camp Lo. On blue and yellow vinyl, this is the first color vinyl reissue of the album.

You can read details about our reissue here, and sign up to receive it here.

Below, read an essay on Uptown Saturday Night by our rap staff writer.

In April, members of Vinyl Me, Please Rap & Hip Hop will receive the first vinyl pressing of Ivy Sole’s 2018 breakthrough LP, Overgrown. One of our most unfairly overlooked LPs of 2018, Overgrown is an amazing LP of rhymes about tough times. Ivy recently played our SXSW showcase, and you can read an interview with her here. You can sign up to receive Overgrown here.

Below, read why we picked Overgrown and the details of our reissue.

We’re approaching six months since the release of her second album, Overgrown, and Taylor McLendon (aka Ivy Sole), 25, is already a different person. In music industry time — add the eight months between recording and release on top of the six months since — she’s likely grown beyond several different versions of herself. (It’s something she’s quick to admit, even when the growth bombards her with stress.) Luckily, the admissions and revelations Ivy left in the 14-day session spree in Germany have yet to age as much as she has. Gone are the Ivy Sole songs of yesteryear where she tiptoed around her truth… welcome to the next evolution of refreshing vulnerability tuned to the frequencies of neo-soul before her. Ivy roots herself in this transparency, her tales and tribulations unearthing the spirit of a Black woman who came up in Charlotte with Jesus in her heart and hit her stride in Philadelphia with an Ivy League backdrop, earning her Bachelor’s from the Wharton School at UPenn.

In March, members of Vinyl Me, Please Rap & Hip Hop will receive an exclusive reissue of Handsome Boy Modeling School’s So… How’s Your Girl, the debut LP from the collaboration between Dan The Automator (Deltron, Gorillaz) and Prince Paul, the producer for De La Soul and others. A concept album painting modern rap as a modeling agency, Your Girl feels like a precursor to multimedia collaboration albums like Gorillaz and beyond. You can read an interview with Prince Paul and Dan the Automator about the album here, and sign up to receive it here.

Below, read why we picked So… How’s Your Girl, and the details of our reissue.

In February, members of Vinyl Me, Please Rap & Hip Hop will receive the first-ever reissue of T.I.’s King, on split black and white vinyl. You can sign up to receive it here.

Below, read about how a random lunch overseas led to us being able to select it for Rap & Hip-Hop.

In February, members of Vinyl Me, Please Rap & Hip Hop will receive the first-ever reissue of T.I.’s King, on split black and white vinyl. You can sign up to receive it here.

Below, our staff writer reflects on when the album first came out and how T.I. became a superstar.

In January, members of Vinyl Me, Please Rap & Hip Hop will receive the first-ever official vinyl release of Juvenile’s masterpiece, 400 Degreez. The album comes on transparent yellow vinyl, with an embossed jacket and other Easter eggs. You can sign up to receive it here.

Below, read about why we picked 400 Degreez.

In January, members of Vinyl Me, Please Rap & Hip Hop will receive the first-ever official vinyl release of Juvenile’s masterpiece, 400 Degreez. The album comes on transparent yellow vinyl, with an embossed jacket and other Easter eggs. You can sign up to receive it here.

Below, our staff writer writes about what it was like to encounter 400 Degreez as turn-up music at various points in his life.

In December, members of Vinyl Me, Please Rap & Hip Hop will receive an exclusive colored vinyl, remastered reissue of Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter III. The album comes on red and black galaxy vinyl, and in a deluxe new package. You can sign up to receive it here.

Below, read about why we picked Tha Carter III, and the details of our reissue.

In January, members of Vinyl Me, Please Rap & Hip-Hop will receive the first ever vinyl pressing of Juvenile's 400 Degreez. It comes on yellow vinyl and with a deluxe jacket. You can sign up here.

To celebrate our second month of Cash Money in our Rap & Hip-Hop subscription, here's a primer on which Cash Money albums to listen to next.

This month, Vinyl Me, Please Rap & Hip Hop is featuring CARE FOR ME, Saba’s early 2018 album. You can sign up to receive our exclusive edition of the album right here.

Below, you can read an interview with Saba. We sent our staff writer, Michael Penn II, to interview him in his studio space in Chicago the day after he played a triumphant set at Pitchfork Festival, and they covered everything from chicken spots to the death that inspired the album, to how he stopped caring and made one of the year’s best albums.

A hotbed for partying, beautiful people and debaucherous decadence, Miami has produced numerous hip-hop stars over the past three decades. Spearheaded by the 305’s unofficial mayor Luther Campbell (aka Uncle Luke) and the 2 Live Crew, Campbell ushered in the career of Trick Daddy whose label Slip-N-Slide Records was the catalyst for the city’s present lynchpin figure Rick Ross.

This month, Vinyl Me, Please Rap & Hip Hop is featuring TA13OO, the new album from Denzel Curry. You can sign up to receive our exclusive edition of the album right here.

Below, you can read an interview with Curry. We sent our staff writer, Michael Penn II, to interview him in his studio space in California, and got him to open up about everything from SpaceGhostPurrp, XXXTentacion and how people didn’t catch on to him till he started singing.