Rolling Stone (2/18/99, p.58) - "...Less a scratchmaster...than a pure party mover....With its seamless club-style mixes, THE PROFESSIONAL comes off like a greatest-hits collection, except that these 'hits' haven't been released before."The Source (3/99, p.210) - "...THE PROFESSIONAL is another phat-ass Clue tape, more polished and with less shouts....And as a DJ, Clue's goals are unmistakable..."18.96381
$7.96
25.50731
$8.95
25.47285
$12.95
25.47285
$17.69
25.47285
$11.78
23.82124
$17.72
Rolling Stone (p.70) - 3 stars out of 5 - "The Philly MC's flow is still among the best - it recalls the smooth delivery of his mentor, Jay-Z, mixed with a young Ice Cube's growl..."Entertainment Weekly (No. 815, p.85) - "[S]igel's latest finds him at his most vunerable--and his best." - Grade: B+16.32606
$12.77
14.6604
$12.25
JazzTimes (12/99, p.173) - "...While Anger's fiddle and Marshall's guitar frequently intertwine with great precision, they are equally articulate in free soaring solo flight."Dirty Linen (8-9/99, p.48) - "...showcases Anger and Marshall's eclectic musical palattes in a smooth contemporary electric jazz format that recalls the work of both the Flecktones and their labelmate...Alison Brown..."14.12817
$18.96
12.5555
$8.86
12.34018
$6.91
Rolling Stone (p.62) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[F]or a teenager's debut, JAKE BUGG shows an artist who is crazy fully formed, stepping into a journey that should be worth following."Mojo (Publisher) (p.90) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[His] debut single 'Trouble Town' sees the Nottingham teen deliver poetic social realism..."12.34018
$14.81
Rolling Stone (p.98) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he burning rock guitar of 'Kisses Don't Lie' and haunted strings of 'Unfaithful' help make A GIRL LIKE ME much more likable."Entertainment Weekly (p.135) - "[With] effortlessly cool reggae-lite confections like 'Dem Haters' and 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love'." -- Grade: B-11.26019
$14.03
11.00088
$7.70
Rolling Stone (p.106) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Best of all is 'In the A,' an old-school, ego-fueled lyrical jag..."Entertainment Weekly (p.71) - "On LIES, he makes like the great funk weirdos of yesteryear, plunging his purple psychedelic prose beneath creamy seas of keyboard, two-stepping funk, and indie flotsam."Billboard (p.48) - "Big Boi defines himself through creative risk, enlisting the most eyebrow-raising roster of collaborators one will likely see on a rap album this year."10.57791
$13.93
Rolling Stone (p.106) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Best of all is 'In the A,' an old-school, ego-fueled lyrical jag..."Entertainment Weekly (p.71) - "On LIES, he makes like the great funk weirdos of yesteryear, plunging his purple psychedelic prose beneath creamy seas of keyboard, two-stepping funk, and indie flotsam."Billboard (p.48) - "Big Boi defines himself through creative risk, enlisting the most eyebrow-raising roster of collaborators one will likely see on a rap album this year."10.57791
$12.96
Rolling Stone (p.106) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "Best of all is 'In the A,' an old-school, ego-fueled lyrical jag..."Entertainment Weekly (p.71) - "On LIES, he makes like the great funk weirdos of yesteryear, plunging his purple psychedelic prose beneath creamy seas of keyboard, two-stepping funk, and indie flotsam."CMJ - "It's the work of a confident artist, a grown man who's paid his dues, earned his place in history and now has time to play with his toys."Billboard (p.48) - "Big Boi defines himself through creative risk, enlisting the most eyebrow-raising roster of collaborators one will likely see on a rap album this year."Q (Magazine) (p.102) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[H]is crooned duet with Little Dragon's Yukimi Nagano on 'Descending' is a narcoleptic beauty..."10.57162
$12.20
10.56426
$19.38
10.56426
$12.65
Entertainment Weekly (p.72) - "[T]he Roots have always been at their best expressing quiet desperation and spinning old-school tales of struggling upward." -- Grade: A-Alternative Press (p.104) - "The 10-song disc documents the crime-riddled life of fictional character Redford Stephens....It's some of their best work to date."Paste (magazine) - "UNDUN is a brilliant reminder of the power of the emcee as storyteller, the possibility of 40 minutes of music lending itself to a thoughtful character and plot."10.54649
$9.42
Entertainment Weekly (p.72) - "[T]he Roots have always been at their best expressing quiet desperation and spinning old-school tales of struggling upward." -- Grade: A-10.54649
$14.52
10.54649
$7.78
10.54649
$6.96
10.54649
$7.32
10.54649
$21.51
10.54649
$17.08
10.54649
$19.45
10.54649
$17.15
10.54649
$9.16
10.47984
$10.88
Rolling Stone (p.70) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "UNAPOLOGETIC's stark, shadowy R&B is confrontationally honest and sung within an inch of its life..."10.30228
$12.86
Entertainment Weekly (6/14/96, p.61) - "...it covers every shade of the urban pop spectrum....this set might have a longer box office run than the movie that spawned it." - Rating: B+The Source (8/96, p.102) - "...The songs on NUTTY PROFESSOR may not belong together, but then again, neither do you and your summer love. THE NUTTY PROFESSOR sountrack is what a good summer fling should be: full of the memorable moments but without the messy complications."Melody Maker (8/3/96, p.49) - "...a mouth-watering preview of this autumn's Def Jam releases..."10.17962
$8.05
Rolling Stone - Ranked #69 in Rolling Stone's "100 Best Albums Of The Eighties" survey.Q (9/95, p.134) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...This is elemental rap... [with] a now obvious debt to rock dynamics..."Melody Maker (7/22/95, p.35) - "...As a classic of Def Jam's Rubinned-up metallic phase...`Rock The Bells' is up there with `Walk This Way', `She Watch Channel Zero' and `Rhymin & Stealin'..."10.15818
$5.55
10.15452
$14.77
Q (9/95, p.132) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...a stunning opening...just the first, in retrospect almost shy, step on a remarkable journey...a hard, droning extension of the basic drum`n'scratch Def Jam template that had served LL Cool J and the Beastie Boys so well..."Melody Maker (7/22/95, p.35) - Recommended - "...It wasn't just a new sound, a discovery. It was like being struck by a meteor..."NME (Magazine) (9/25/93, p.19) - Ranked #49 in NME's list of The 50 Greatest Albums Of The '80s.NME (Magazine) (7/15/95, p.47) - 9 (out of 10) - "...YO! BUM RUSH THE SHOW announced a hip-hop group who smouldered beneath dark, sparse beats like no other, introduced us to the coolest vocal double act ever...and featured as striking a statement of intent as you could wish for in `Public Enemy Number 1'....brilliant..."10.14182
$5.48
Entertainment Weekly (p.161) - "[T]he hip-hop heartthrob sounds freshest on the slow jams..." -- Grade: BVibe (p.142) - "Still a nimble rapper, he's copped his best beats in years -- courtesy of RZA and Sermon and Scott Storch."10.13071
$10.47
Entertainment Weekly (p.161) - "[T]he hip-hop heartthrob sounds freshest on the slow jams..." -- Grade: BVibe (p.142) - "Still a nimble rapper, he's copped his best beats in years -- courtesy of RZA and Sermon and Scott Storch."10.13071
$7.96
Q (9/95, p.134) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...[WALKING WITH A PANTHER] stretched the minimalist production style on cannily hooky tunes like `I'm That Type of Guy' and `Goin Back To Cali'..."10.12175
$5.81
Rolling Stone (p.66) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "RISING DOWN is the Roots' most political album....Rapper Black Thought is in his comfort zone playing the firebrand..."Spin (p.50) - Ranked #17 in Spin's "40 Best Albums Of 2008" -- "As hip-hop's anxious elders, the Philly crew hum with a riveting focus..."Entertainment Weekly (p.117) - "[T]he listener is rewarded with 'Rising Up,' in which the Fender Rhodes jazzmatazz of earlier records segues into bell-rocking go-go."The Wire (p.66) - "MC Black Thought and drummer ?uestlove sound sonically aware and full of righteous anger....RISING DOWN's most immediate qualities are the raw aesthetic and the burning importance of its messages."Vibe (p.65) - "[T]he Roots rise above on this album, bravely pushing themselves at every turn, proving, in an era full of froth and fancy, that sometimes nightmares are the most important kind of dreams."Paste (magazine) (p.63) - "[The songs] deliver an honest and abrasive diatribe within The Roots' legacy of civil commentary and inspired musicianship."10.10675
$10.25
10.10508
$9.11
10.10508
$20.15
10.10229
$10.46
Rolling Stone (11/22/01, p.90) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...Most of the album follows the same pattern as his current Number One 'I'm Real': fluffy keyboards, R&B choruses sung by anonymous hook girls and Ja Rule's gritty raps..."Entertainment Weekly (10/12/01, p.86) - "...Songs about expecting to die at any moment have rarely been conveyed with such blunt precision..." - Rating: B+Entertainment Weekly (10/12/01, p.86) - "...Songs about expecting to die at any moment have rarely been conveyed with such blunt precision..." - Rating: B+10.08228
$7.16
"If I Have My Way" was nominated for the 2008 Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance.10.08098
$10.32
Rolling Stone (2/6/97, p.49) - "...ranks as one of the most consistent MCs in rap....Erick Sermon's beats are stripped down but tight--designed both to make you move and to give Redman plenty of room to let loose his nasty tongue....choppy, offbeat verses and memorable call-and-response choruses..."Q (4/97, p.128) - 3 Stars (out of 5) - "...Packed with blunted melodies, spattered with skits, MUDDY WATERS is impressively self-possessed....Redman remains unshakable, hardcore to the bone."Muzik (2/97, p.111) - 8 out of 10 - "...raggedy, head-top rhyming. The Screamin' Jay Hawkins of hip hop."Vibe (2/97, p.106) - "...MUDDY WATERS slides in and finds Redman crashing back to Earth--equally intense, funny....The best moments on MUDDY WATERS come on the songs Redman produced himself....boundless energy and raging fire."The Source (2/97, p.79) - 4 Mics - Slammin' - "Def Squad lion Redman has no problem blazing up the path between mainstream and the underground....The sonic approach creates a dance-floor friendly vibe which seems perfectly appropriate for the Funk Dr. Spock's return to dry land..."Rap Pages (2/97, p.59) - "...expect to excavate the usual Funkadelic relic remains, namely hard hittin' funk tracks frequently anchored by hooks utilizing snippets of other Hip-Hop tunes....MUDDY WATERS greatest strength is in its flow..."10.07946
$9.42
XXL (Magazine) (p.107) - "The self-explanatory Faith Evans duet 'Letter to B.I.G.,' paints a poignant portrait of the current state of hip-hop....The album's true gem, though, is the Jazmine Sullivan-guested 'Smoking Gun'..."10.07508
$6.85
Rolling Stone (p.100) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "For every head-nodding beat, GAME THEORY has a head-turning treat, from the 'om' chant intro on the gospel-style 'Baby' to the melancholy Radiohead sample of 'Atonement'."Rolling Stone (p.104) - Ranked #18 in Rolling Stone's "The Top 50 Albums Of 2006" -- "GAME THEORY is classic studio Roots, full of invention and left turns."Spin (p.114) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "GAME THEORY is The Roots at their heaviest. Keyboards that once draped a gauzy texture over their funk excursions now elbow their way into the mix."Spin (p.59) - Ranked #23 in Spin's "The 40 Best Albums of 2006" -- "[A] suite of intensely glowering songs..."Entertainment Weekly (p.p.77) - "GAME THEORY is their toughest, weightiest, and most uncommercial effort yet....This is the rare hip-hop release that's both gripping and touching." -- Grade: A-Uncut (p.123) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[A] focused, intelligent record....The reshuffle yields some of their best material with assaults like 'In The Music' and the J Dilla tribute 'Can't Stop This'..."Vibe (p.212) - "THEORY is a masterfully crafted, sobering wake-up call....GAME THEORY boasts top-notch craftsmanship -- mixing and sequencing do count....but it's continuity that makes this album unique."XXL (Magazine) (p.173) - "[T]he Roots have continued to evolve and experiment with their sound. With tracks ranging from high velocity boast fests to spacey jams..."Mojo (Publisher) (p.100) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "This ferociously politicized record recalls the urgency of Public Enemy's NATION OF MILLIONS....A focused tour de force..."10.0748
$7.44
Entertainment Weekly (7/13/01, p.86) - "...Smarter-than-average gangsta lyrics and eclectic hip-hop beats..." - Rating: B+Q (9/01, p.117) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...Sigel backs his braggadocio with crisp funk beats and expertly-judged samples of Funkadelic, James Brown and sundry blaxploitation..."CMJ (8/13/01, p.20) - "...Street anthems and gangster confessionals...that will sound good booming in your ride..."NME (Magazine) (12/29/01, p.59) - Ranked #36 in NME's 50 "Albums Of the Year 2001".NME (Magazine) (6/30/01, p.40) - 8 out of 10 - "...One of the best hardcore rap records of the year 2001..."10.07395
$12.70
