Earth, Wind & Fire pictures from Artist Direct

"Undeniable" by AZ

With classy production and a smooth-as-silk flow, AZ wakes up New York hip hop on Undeniable. Not since Nas's Illmatic has an East Coast rapper had this much swagger, class and grit all at once. In some ways, it's fitting that the Brooklyn MC served as the only guest on Nas's masterpiece. However, now, AZ mixes Superfly-style beats and a methodical delivery for rap that's undeniably infectious. "Life on the Line" builds with a funky bass line and AZ's signature, cinematic rhymes. The chorus has some catchy crooning that could serve as the perfect backdrop for Shaft cruising the city in search of bad buys. In fact, the album oozes a '70s aesthetic that’s both sexy and palpably tense. A collaboration with Koch label mate Ray J, "Go Getta," slows everything down to a late-night, club crawl as the sultry groove builds, and the veteran MCs trade rhymes. "The Hardest," the record's final track with Styles-P, rocks to a synth and horns reminiscent of Earth Wind and Fire, as AZ spits

Published: 2008-03-31 Provider: Artist Direct

"Fabriclive 38" by DJ Craze

DJ Craze is a far, far bigger name at the club than at the record store. That hasn't always been the case with the Fabric Live serious, which is probably why this latest installment feels more like a plausible night you could spend out dancing than any in recent memory. The mix starts with a run of strong hip hop tracks by the likes of Cool Kids and Bangers and Cash—acid bass underpinning most of them—before a classic funk break leads into the Miami Vice theme. Craze only hangs there briefly, after which he moves onto the Miami Jam Crew, the vibe gets dirtier and the beats more imperative, while electro sounds rule the next fifteen minutes or so, lingering especially on cheeky Vice Records darling Chromeo's "Bonafied Lovin'" and a Switch remix of Coldcut's "True Skool," featuring Roots Manuva caught in a very short loop and some kind of bent horn sample. Craze fades out after that, coming back with Earth, Wind, and Fire, in a ballsy change of pace, and what could have

Published: 2008-03-19 Provider: Artist Direct