It’s Friday, in July, which means it’s just about our favorite time of the year here at LIAS. July is pretty much the best, cos you still have all of summer to look forward to while things keep heating up. DJ Jazzy Jeff and MICK, aka Mick Boogie, understand this. So they’ve assembled the fourth […]

It’s been a long time since Ghostdini, aka Ghostface Killah aka Pretty Toney, put out his debut — the all time classic Ironman (which is being re-issued) — and now he’s coming back with his tenth studio album, Twelve Reasons to Die. Produced and composed by Adrian Young, Twelve Reasons to Die is a concept album based […]

In the early and mid-90s there simply wasn’t a better hip-hop clique than the Wu. Hell, there still hasn’t been anyone close to Wu Tang Clan in rap or rock or gospel or yodeling or damn well anything else since then. But in those halcyon years RZA helmed some all time classics, and Ghostface Killah’s […]

Sure Action Bronson borrows more than a little from the legendary Ghostface Killah, but he puts an original enough twist on that Ghostdini shit to create his own world. Here the Queens emcee teams up with The Alchemist who produced all the tracks on his brand new mixtape, Rare Chandeliers. The 13-track set features collaborations with […]

After GZA’s watershed Liquid Swords (which already received the ultimate boxset treatment here), Raekwon the Chef”s Only Built 4 Cuban Linx is widely considered the best solo Wu Tang record of the 90s. And just like Liquid Swords, it’s Get On Down that gives Only Built 4 Cuban Linx the deluxe treatment. Known in uderground […]

DJ Soul assembles a veritable Who’s Who of hip-hop both old and new for his latest mixtape celebrating the 8-year anniversary of Japanese label Lafayette. The 1-hour 10-minute megamix blends everyone from Ghostface & MF Doom, Reflection Eternal, Nas, Mobb Deep, Raekwon and Common to Kanye, Prince Paul, Jay-Z, Tyler The Creator, Pusha T and Cam’ron. Plus many […]

This short and winsome tale tells the story of one Nikolai Tesla vs. the Douchebaggery of Thomas Edison. Now I know Edison did a lot of crazy shit himself, like invent the lightbulb, record player and film camera, but the man held many things to be desired — such as his respect for onetime employee-soon-to-be-nemesis  […]

When interviewing Mark Ronson about 5 or so years ago I remember he was all excited cos he’d just found a “new sound” that he was really jazzed about, and played us a Radiohead cover which he recorded in his Amy Winehouse/Big Band sound. As much as I loved it, I remember thinking there’s no […]