hip-hop

Raw Poetic – Laminated Skies (Def Pressé)

Raw Poetic’s Laminated Skies is a future-tilting conscious rap record where the rhymes flow fast and the beats don’t stand still

Concrete Islands Albums of the Year 2021

These are the seventy-five albums of 2021 that have meant the most to us, alongside our compilations & archives of the year

Music from the Concrete Bunker: May 2021

A roundup of short reviews from Concrete Islands HQ, with jaimie branch, Amanda Whiting, DJ Format, Georgia Anne Muldrow and Ziad Rahbani

Joining the Dots with Bedroom Beats & B-Sides Author Laurent Fintoni

We asked Laurent Fintoni about the musical foundations behind his Bedroom Beats book, including mid 90s hip-hop, Mo’ Wax, Dilla and Madlib

Music from the Concrete Bunker: March 2021

A collection of short reviews inspired by music magazines and DJ charts, including Altın Gün, Soul Jazz, UNKLE, Weatherall and more

Concrete Islands Albums of the Year 2020

These are the seventy-five albums of 2020 that have meant the most to us at Concrete Islands, alongside our archive releases of the year

As Long as You’re Dope: Bless the Mad Interview

Chicago’s Bless the Mad discuss updating 90s hip-hop, incorporating spiritual jazz and paying homage to ancestors on their miraculous debut

Just Turning the Instruments Up: Surprise Chef Interview

Surprise Chef’s Lachlan Stuckey tells Stewart Gardiner about cinematic soul, naming their HQ after a prison and making a deeper second LP

The Twilite Tone – The Clearing (Stones Throw)

Enter The Twilite Tone’s instrumental hip-hop world with The Clearing, his wonderful debut long player on Stones Throw

Lines of Connection: An Interview with Bass, Mids, Tops Author Joe Muggs

Joe Muggs talks to Stewart Gardiner about his essential collection of extended interviews on soundsystem culture

The Space Between: May 2020

A bumper bunker report featuring reviews of Dalham, 24-Carat Black, Spirit Fest and the Minna Miteru compilation, plus a Martin Jensen hip hop mix

The Space Between: February 2020

Stewart Gardiner pulls together reviews of The Soulless Party, Fat Tony and Taydex, Strut’s Cadence Revolution compilation and Freddie Gibbs & Madlib beats

Find the Abstract: Tracks Played and a Hip Hop Introduction

Stewart Gardiner shares the records he played out at the end of January and discusses bringing hip hop into the world of Concrete Islands

Unmoored from the Flow of Time: Roy Christopher’s Dead Precedents

Roy Christopher’s study of how hip-hop defines the future for Repeater Books is intellectually daring crate digging and a fresh take on the genre