Rating:
Genre:
Rap
Release Date: 01/23/2007
The ten-year anniversary of
Stones Throw is an opportunity to re-air some of the best independent
rap produced between the mid-'90s and mid-2000s, including what has to be called the best
underground rap record of the time (
Madvillain's
Madvillainy), as well as plenty of other touchstones along the way (
Jay Dilla,
Madlib,
Lootpack,
Jaylib). There's a good balance between album tracks and new exclusives, the set travels back and forth between
rap and unearthed
soul-jazz/
funk with relative ease, and the set even resurrects one of the best obscure tracks in the
Stones Throw catalog,
"In Your Area" by
Peanut Butter Wolf and
Planet Asia (although, since
PBW put this together, it's no surprise). Although this is the second label retrospective in just a few years (
Stones Throw 101 was the other), it's a cavalcade of impressive
hip-hop and, even better, on the second disc is a ten-year-anniversary mix of
Stones Throw highlights by
J-Rocc.
~John Bush, All Music Guide