Recommended
"Music is medicine to the people" – Common A Beautiful Revolution finds Common returning to his hip-hop roots. A full length continuous listening experience, the EP features 2 interludes and 7 new songs that Common refers to as “Movement Music”; music to uplift, heal, and inspire listeners dealing with racial and social injustices. It’s recognition. It’s elevation. It’s music to go with a movement. To help channel pain and outrage into something productive, inspirational and good. Includes the song, “Don’t Forget Who You Are,” which was written and recorded by Common for Bookmarks, an impactful new children’s show produced by the Obamas for Netflix. Lead single and performance video "Say Peace" featuring Black Thought is set to air on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon in late 2020. Limited Indie Red/White/Blue Marble LP
Double 180gm vinyl LP pressing in gatefold jacket. 2018 release. On the 50th anniversary of the band's inception, influential spoken word artists, poets and commentators The Last Poets have made a glorious and relevant return with their first album in over 20 years. Understand What Black Is speaks of a revolutionary struggle defined by both race and identity, that has never sounded more relevant. The group secured a legacy with seminal early records that came to be regarded as important influences on early hip hop, helping to pave the way for many socially committed emcees. Into the '90s, their tracks were sampled by Biggie, NWA, A Tribe Called Quest, Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. While they remained largely on hiatus, original members Umar bin Hassan and Abiodun Oyewole committed to recording new material in 2016. The strong and contemporized voices of The Last Poets is aided by the UK production duo of Ben Lamdin (Nostaglia 77) and Prince Fatty, known for their work in acid jazz, reggae and dub productions.
In honor of the 70th anniversary of its original singles in 1949, The Complete Birth of the Cool by Miles Davis is being released on 2LP. The record features Miles Davis’ classic Birth of the Cool as well as a second LP of live material from 1948, previously unreleased on vinyl. The package features a wrapped gatefold jacket with laminated coating, as well as a brand new retrospective essay by Ashley Kahn, the author of Kind of Blue: The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece. Legendary Jazz saxophonist Gerry Mulligan and Jazz historian Phil Schaap provide liner notes on the project, which were originally published in 1998. The first LP is mastered from analog tape of the original singles for the first time since the original Birth of the Cool release in 1957.