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Joshua

@unsleeved_

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23 year old record collector from Ireland 🇮🇪
Logo by @zuphioh 🦓
Current Vinyl Count: 487 💿

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Nas, live in Dublin

As stated in the previous post, I got to see Nas perform live in Dublin last Wednesday night, and to say I finally be able to say I saw my favourite artist of all time is a great feeling, I had an amazing time, Nas put on a great show, DJ Green Lantern killed it up there on the wheels of steel, and Haze was NUTS on the drums, all around it’s easily gonna stay up there as one of my favourite concerts I’ve even been to.
The crowd was perfect, the energy was off the charts and the atmosphere was just unreal, it felt great to be among so many likeminded individuals, all collectively losing our shit while Nas dropped classic after classic, performing songs from It Was Written, I Am, Stillmatic, God’s Son, the King’s Disease and Magic trilogies, his classic 1995 feature verses on Verbal Intercourse for Raekwon and Eye For A Eye for Mobb Deep — as a long time Nas fan I was in my element (as you’ll probably hear in the background of these videos).
Nas, you’ve only just left but imma need another show my guy, that was everything I expected and more.

@nas @djgreenlantern @haze_amaze_ @3olympiatheatre @qb_nyc

#nas #nasirjones #illmatic #itwaswritten #iam #nastradamus #stillmatic #godsson #hiphop #hiphopmusic #hiphophead #hiphopculture #newyorkhiphop taken in 3Olympia Theatre by @unsleeved_

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2 years ago

Illmatic, by Nas

“Illmatic” is the debut studio album by Hip Hop legend Nas, released this day 30 years ago on April 19th 1994.
What defines the term “classic”? Is there a single definition? Does something have to contain certain criteria to qualify? Who knows, because music like all art is subjective. What I do know though, is that Illmatic embodies everything that the term “classic” stands for.
In 1991 a 17 year old Nasir Jones featured on Main Source’s song “Live At The Barbecue”, then in 1992 he featured on MC Serch’s “Back To The Grill”, and with two flawless features under his belt Nas had begun drawing attention to himself and dropped his debut single “Halftime”. After a year and a half wait period it came time for him to drop his debut LP “Illmatic” in April of 1994.
The album has production from a Hip-Hop all star lineup, DJ Premier, Large Professor, Pete Rock, Q-Tip, L.E.S. and Nas himself.
The albums sole feature verse is from Brooklyn Emcee AZ, longtime friend and collaborator of Nas, and his verse on “Life’s A Bitch” has gone down as one of the best in history, constantly being quoted and sampled throughout hip hop in the years since. This song also features a Cornet solo from Nas’ father Olu Dara.
The only other feature on the album is on “One Love”, Q-Tip takes the hook on the track he produced, while Nas delivers immaculate storytelling in the form of a letter he’s writing to his friends in prison.
The impact and legacy of Illmatic is hard to measure, but it is absolutely impossible to overlook it, not only when talking about East Coast Hip Hop, but Hip Hop as a whole!
This album played a major part in the East Coast renaissance at a time when West Coast Gangsta Rap was the new mainstream, and 30 years on it’s still in GOAT conversations, backed up by Nas’ consistency with the 19 albums he’s dropped since!
@nas
#nas #nasirjones #illmatic #1994 #hiphop #hiphopmusic #hiphophead #hiphopvinyl #vinyl #vinylcollection #vinylcommunity #vinylcollector #vinylrecords #queensbridge taken in New York, New York by @unsleeved_

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2 years ago

NYC, The Birthplace Of Hip-Hop. taken in New York, New York by @unsleeved_

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3 years ago

Burden Of Proof, by Benny The Butcher

5 years ago today, Buffalo’s own Benny The Butcher teamed up with legendary producer Hit-Boy to drop his second studio album “Burden Of Proof” on October 16th 2021 via Griselda Records and Empire.

Coming off of Benny’s last few albums with notable releases like Butcher On Steroids, Tana Talk 3 and The Plugs I Met, a lot of critics and fans didn’t know how to take Burden Of Proof at first, with Hit-Boy giving Benny a more polished and “mainstream” soundscape as opposed to his signature grimey Griselda sound, however Burden Of Proof has been one of my favourite Benny albums from the jump, and I think it’s only aged gracefully in the years since, and upon relistening today for its anniversary I stand by my opinion that Hit made Benny sound very ahead of his time, now knowing that Benny would go on to work with Def Jam, and how many of the songs sounded like pure success and triumph.

“Burden Of Proof” was also the first Griselda record I ever got my hands on, HHV had this exclusive white marble variant back in summer 2021 and safe to say it was ordered within minutes of spotting it 😂 and back in 2024 I saw Benny live at The Button Factory here in Dublin and he signed it for me.

Happy Anniversary to one of my fav albums of the 2020s 🤍🔥

@getbenny @griseldarecords @hitboy @blacksopranofamilyrecords @hhvrecords taken in Buffalo, New York by @unsleeved_

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9 hours ago

New World Order, by Poor Righteous Teachers

30 years ago today, the legendary Poor Righteous Teachers dropped what would be their 4th and final studio album “New World Order” on October 15th 1996.

The Poor Righteous Teachers were a Hip-Hop group hailing from Trenton, New Jersey, comprised of lead MC Wise Intelligent, while producer Culture Freedom added additional vocals, backed up by their DJ the late great Father Shaheed who also provided production on a lot of their work.
The group was known to be very politically and social conscious, with a lot of their lyrical and musical content being highly inspired by the teachings of the Nation of Gods and Earths, also known as The Five-Percent Nation.
“New World Order” is a bittersweet last breath from the group, because it was a breath of fresh air in the rap game in ‘96.
In an era where designer clothes, expensive cars, and an all around materialistic view was the norm in order for bragging rights on record- the Poor Righteous Teachers remained true to what had always been their core values, with songs like “Miss Ghetto”, my personal favourite from the album, personifying the things they see in their day to day lives growing up and living in these areas, and how they “ain’t marrying Miss Ghetto” or in other words, making a great effort to ensure they’re not dedicating their life to a life of crime and poverty like so many around them have done and will continue to do.

This album was long overdue a repress and when I saw it on the Record Store Day list I knew I had to jump on it right away, and the green vinyl looks absolutely beautiful and it sounds incredible.
RIP Father Shaheed ❤️
Happy 30 Years of “New World Order” 💚🔥
@thepoorrighteousteachers @wiseintelligent @culturefreedomprt_ taken in Trenton, New Jersey by @unsleeved_

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a day ago

At The Speed Of Life, by Xzibit

30 years ago today West-Coast heavy hitter Xzibit dropped his debut album “At The Speed Of Life” through LOUD / RCA Records on October 15th 1996.

Before X-to-the-Z was gettin his walk on and hanging with Dr Dre, Snoop and Em, Xzibit made his presence known in ‘95 on “Hit And Run” by Tha Alkaholiks” and a little over a year later Xzibit was gearing up to drop his debut LP and with the waves made by his single ‘Paparazzi’ calling out mainstream artists and Hip-Hop sellouts, a lot of eyes were on Xzibit including those of the late great 2Pac.

Xzibit’s first line on the album; “it took a long time coming but we waited, Xzibit went from underrated- to now most anticipated”. In the span of a year, 1 feature and 1 single, Xzibit had garnered the attention of the West Coast, and despite the album not topping charts or going platinum like later releases, “At The Speed Of Life” stays true as an underground classic and a staple of 90s West-Coast Hip-Hop, and would be my personal favourite Xzibit album. Sure 40 Dayz & 40 Nightz has some gems, Restless is arguably his magnum opus and Man Vs Machine marked a career high debuting at 3 on the Billboard 200 and 1 on the R&B/Hip-Hop charts… but there’s just something special about his debut for me that draws me back every time.
I was hunting for this for years. I needed it in my collection and one day last summer I walked into All City and made a trade of some records I hadn’t spun in a while for this 1996 US OG Pressing they had listed on their site. A deal was made and a dream came true, this is undoubtedly one of those records in the collection that is a true prized possession and I’m so happy to have my hands on it.

Happy 30th Anniversary to “At The Speed Of Life” 💙🔥

@xzibit @loudmusicgrp @allcityrecordstore taken in Los Angeles, California by @unsleeved_

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a day ago

The Realness II, by Cormega

4 years ago today, the legendary Queens NY native Cormega dropped his 6th studio album “The Realness II”, the long awaited sequel to his 2001 debut album.

“The Realness II” symbolises a full circle moment for Cormega in many ways, the sequel to his classic debut album 20 years later, a celebration of a successful 25+ year career, collaborations with the likes of Havoc and The Alchemist who were producers on the original The Realness, but what was most notable of all for me personally was the continuation of certain songs; a fairly self explanatory example would be The Saga Begins and The Saga Resumes, but a better example is how “Her Name” is the continuation of the classic “American Beauty”. At the end of “American Beauty” Cormega begs the question ‘what’s her name dun?’ after a cleverly written scheme about Hip-Hop in the form of a female, where she came from, where she’s been and what’s influenced her style over the years, continuing on “Her Name” Mega speaks on the current state of Hip-Hop this time in the form of someone who changed and forgot where she came from, someone who has dismissed her origins in favour of new trends. White Roses picks up somewhere between where American Beauty and Fallen Soldiers left off, with 2 masterfully written verses dedicated to Biggie and The Wu Tang Clan, intricately weaving name drops and song / album title references throughout the verses.

The Realness II is a modern day classic, a worthy sequel to its predecessor and an album I’d have a lot more to say about if not for Instagram’s character limit.

Happy Anniversary to The Realness II, one love to Mega for signing this 🫡🔥

@cormega taken in Queensbridge by @unsleeved_

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10 days ago

We Buy Diabetic Test Strips, by Armand Hammer

3 years ago today, the duo billy woods and E L U C I D came together once again as Armand Hammer to drop their 6th studio album “We Buy Diabetic Test Strips” on September 29th 2023 via Fat Possum.

“We Buy Diabetic Test Strips” is the first Armand Hammer album not to be released on the Backwoodz Studioz label, but this record isn’t an entire reinvention, it’s more of an amalgamation of everything great about all their previous records, the verses from both woods and E L U C I D are incredible all throughout the album, there’s features from JPEGMAFIA, Moor Mother, El-P, Pierce Jordan, Pink Siifu, Junglepussy, Curly Castro and Cavalier, and the list of producers on here is even more extensive, with names like Sebb Bash, DJ Haram, Steel Tipped Dove, Preservation, Kenny Segal, August Fanon to name a few as well as some production from E L U C I D himself.

The production is otherworldly, as is usually the case when it comes to an Armand Hammer record, but there’s just something so uniquely atmospheric and unnerving about some of the tracks on here, “Blocked Call” genuinely sounds like a horror movie, the sample can only be compared to a dark room with an old creaky metal gate / door, truly like nothing I’ve ever heard, and then followed by “The Gods Must Be Crazy” which sounds like a climactic chase scene?! Incredible. The instrumentals alone can evoke so much emotion and ideas before either woods or E L U C I D put a pen to paper and add whole new levels to it.

It admittedly took me a while to get around to this one, but last year after the releases of woods’ “GOLLIWOG” and the duo’s “Mercy” I did a real deep dive on the discographies and managed to grab a copy of this from TheRecordHub @the.record.hub 💚🫡

Happy Anniversary to “We Buy Diabetic Test Strips” 💜

@armandhammernyc @cobratoof by @unsleeved_

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17 days ago

This is how we chill from ‘93 til…

Happy 33rd Anniversary to “93 Til Infinity” by Souls Of Mischief! Enjoy this video I took at their 30th anniversary show in Dublin a couple years ago at The Sugar Club 🔥

@soulsofmischief @opiohierosom @phestohierosoul @rapnoir @hieroaplus @djlazyboy @thesugarclub taken in The Sugar Club by @unsleeved_

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18 days ago

‘93 Til Infinity, by Souls Of Mischief

33 years ago today the mighty Souls Of Mischief crew, hailing all the way from East Oakland California, dropped their debut studio album “‘93 Til Infinity” on September 28th 1993 via Jive Records.

The Souls’ style, sound, where the come from and the time they popped out is all very important to how they impacted Hip-Hop in the early 90s. At a time when Gangsta-Rap was at its peak, especially the synth-loaded G-Funk style that was EVERYWHERE on the West Coast, with braggadocio raps about how much money people were making from their crime ridden lifestyles- the Souls Of Mischief shed new light on West Coast Hip-Hop and what it had to offer.
The beats were structured like jazz compositions around a live bass, with various soul, jazz and funk samples layered on top, all the while each of the four members passed the mic around with chemistry comparable to that of Run-DMC, albeit a much more laid back West Coast version.
Souls Of Mischief were so important to reshaping the landscape of Hip-Hop, not only letting everyone know that the West had more to offer, but they dropped a classic album which has gone on to inspire countless jazz-rap enthusiasts in the 3 decades since its release.
I was lucky enough to see these guys back in 2024 on their 30th anniversary tour, and they were incredible, their stage presence and chemistry is still through the roof.
Huge thank you to A-Plus, Phesto, Opio, Tajai and DJ Lazy Boy for taking the time to sign this for me and for being the coolest guys ever!!

Happy Anniversary to 93 Til Infinity ❤️
@soulsofmischief @rapnoir @opiohierosom @phestohierosoul @hieroaplus @djlazyboy taken in Oakland, California by @unsleeved_

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18 days ago

The Low End Theory, by A Tribe Called Quest

35 years ago today, the legendary Queens Hip-Hop group A Tribe Called Quest dropped their sophomore album “The Low End Theory”, on September 24th 1991.

What began as a slight tweak to their formula from the previous album, “The Low End Theory” became an album that has spent the last three and a half decades standing as a core pillar of the genre and soundscape of Hip-Hop as we know it, and played major parts in ushering in and introducing the Jazz-Rap subgenre, which would go on to have a major butterfly effect on the East Coast style for years to come.

With Jarobi White on a hiatus, strained relationships with The Native Tongues, Phife considering leaving the group and Tribe altogether just being in a strange place, they decided to lock in and work on their sophomore album as the trio of Q-Tip, Phife Dawg and Ali Shaheed Muhammad, and take a more stripped back approach to production having just 3 key elements; jazz samples, drum breaks, and arguably most importantly to this project- bass. A whole lotta low end, thus giving the album its title, “The Low End Theory”, even having Jazz legend Ron Carter play Upright Bass on the album.

The result: one of the greatest albums of all time and a staple in East-Coast Hip-Hop.

Today is the perfect excuse to break out my 7” boxset released for the 30th anniversary of The Low End Theory by GetOnDown.

Happy anniversary to The Low End Theory ❤️🖤💚
@atcq @qtiptheabstract @alishaheed @phifeforever taken in Queens, New York by @unsleeved_

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22 days ago

Endtroducing….., by DJ Shadow

“Endtroducing…..” is the debut studio album by legendary DJ and producer DJ Shadow, released 30 years ago today on September 16th 1996.

DJ Shadow has always had a knack for sampling, having experimented with four-track recorders in his high school days, influenced by people like Public Enemy and their sample-based music, eventually garnering the attention of English producer and label owner James Lavelle in 1993, who signed DJ Shadow to his label Mo’Wax.
DJ Shadow began production shortly after, with 3 main pieces of equipment; a Technics SL-1200, an Akai MPC60 MKII sampler, and an Alesis ADAT tape recorder, using the MPC60 for almost all of the composition of the entire album.
Shadow would spend several hours in his local Rare Records, the record store in Sacramento where the album cover photo was taken, where he would dig and collect countless records to be sampled for this monster task ahead of him; create an entire album comprised only of samples.

DJ Shadow sampled, chopped, layered and programmed samples from a number of genres like funk, jazz, rock, psychedelia and various movies / interviews for vox samples, creating an hour+ of a musical labyrinth in terms of samples overlapping and accenting each other, all playing together seamlessly song after song.

At the end of this process, DJ Shadow dropped a classic album, one that would go on to reshape the art of sampling and Instrumental Hip-Hop for years to come, by pushing the boundaries of what was truly possible with an MPC and the art of sampling.

Happy 30th Anniversary to Endtroducing! by @unsleeved_

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a month ago