Hip-Hop

Greetings from Amazon.com Delivers Hip-Hop

Editor, Tod Nelson

FEATURED IN THIS E-MAIL:
* Word: Chuck D Redux
* Choice Cuts: RZA, Mary J. Blige, Tricky, G. Love, Pete Rock
* Source Awards
* Digital Downloads: Speech

WORD: CHUCK D REDUX
*******************
"I don't think it's ever been done, especially in rap and
hip-hop, to actually--for the lack of better words--revive
yourself from the dead. We don't like to say we were dead,
but we like to say the heart was beating really slowly. We
were preserved in ice, and all of a sudden we're a mammoth!
--Public Enemy's Chuck D, on PE's new album, "There's a
Poison Goin' On"

Read more of Amazon.com's interview with Chuck D at
Rap & Hip-Hop

CHOICE CUTS
***********
"The RZA Hits"
RZA
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00000JCGB/entertainmentsit
For those who aren't really into the gangsta-hardcore side
of hip-hop, it's always been tough to understand the
phenomenon of the Wu-Tang Clan. Fear not: The Wu's legacy is
made clear on "The RZA Hits," a collection that pulls
together the best tracks from an assortment of extended Clan
releases. Presented side by side, they cement RZA's
reputation as one of the best producers around.

"Mary"
Mary J. Blige
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00000JWQH/entertainmentsit
After a three-year break, the stone-cold Queen of Hip-Hop
Soul is back in the fray with a new set of musical grooves.
From the slow-burn slink of the opening "All That I Can Say"
to the riffed-over "Bennie and the Jets" sample on "Deep
Inside," these tracks are perfect matches for Blige's update
of classic R&B values.

"Juxtapose"
Tricky
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00000JWNY/entertainmentsit
Trip-hop's grandmaster brings his ravished basso rumbling
and spacious mixes to another slab of wax. Only 10 cuts
here, but his collaboration with DJ Muggs and Grease adds
new color to his dark-hued musical palette.

"Philadelphonic"
G. Love and Special Sauce
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00000JQFU/entertainmentsit
G. Love lays it low on "Philadelphonic," a sprawling
panorama of laid-back beats, slinky urban vibes, sexy sparse
grooves, and G.'s nonstop patter of self-deprecating jibes
and wry observations. Can you dance to it? Kinda--but do it
horizontally.

Pete Rock and CL Smooth
The Main Ingredient
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000002HFW/entertainmentsit
Long before RZA introduced pianos and string sections into
hip-hop, Pete Rock was digging deeper in the crates than
anyone around him. On "The Main Ingredient," Rock's second
album with smooth-pattered partner C.L. Smooth, he mines
grooves from Cannonball Adderly, Earth Wind and Fire, Donald
Byrd, Stan Getz, and Chef... er, Isaac Hayes to sublime
effect.

SOURCE AWARDS
*************
Source magazine nominates the best hip-hop, rap, and R&B of
the year and awards the winners on August 18th. The music
editors at Amazon.com take you to center stage and nominate
their own favorite artists, albums, and tracks of the year.

Check out Amazon.com's article on the Source awards at
Rap & Hip-Hop

DIGITAL DOWNLOADS: SPEECH
*************************
Speech, center of the early-'90s favorites Arrested
Development, makes a funky return to the hip-hop arena with
"Hoopla," his first album in more than three years. You can
download the track "Clocks in Sync with Mine" exclusively at
Amazon.com.

Download "Clocks in Sync With Mine" at
Rap & Hip-Hop

You can find "Hoopla" at
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00000JJIP/entertainmentsit

******

You'll find more great music, articles, and interviews in
Amazon.com's Rap & Hip-Hop Music section at
Rap & Hip-Hop

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