While You Were Sleeping: Top 10 Underground Hip-Hop Albums Of June 2013 (Part 1)

June is Black Music Month, and for good reason. This is the month that Summer begins and labels rush out to have the album that defines the hottest months of the year on stores shelves once school lets out. This year, it seemed like the entire Rap music industry decided to turn June 18th into the day they felt brave enough to release some records.

The indie Hip-Hop community doesn’t need to pick a particular day to release quality music other than a Tuesday (although let the record show that Statik Selektah announced his album Extended Play was dropping on June 18th first). In Yeezus’ name. AMEN.

“While You Were Sleeping” comes in handy as we inform you of all the quality indie and underground Rap projects that tend to go unheralded and under promoted without a huge marketing and promotions budget at their disposals. The first three Tuesdays of June featured 10 quality projects; among them are new releases from the likes of producers Madlib (as Quasimoto) House Shoes, Alchemist (with Prodigy of Mobb Deep), Statik Selektah, Harry Fraud (with Action Bronson), Knxwledge, Lord Finesse, K-Def (with DaCapo as The Article), Ka$h (of The Soul Council and JAMLA Records) and The White Mandingos (Daryl Jennifer of Bad Brains, Sacha Jenkins SHR & MURS).

Feel free to go back and review my previous picks for the first five months of Hip-Hop releases in 2013. We are now halfway through 2013. Time sure flies, doesn’t it?  It never stands still. There’s no Superman to make time go into reverse, either. Which reminds, me. I STILL haven’t seen Man Of Steel yet.

Here’s what you all may have missed, while you were sleeping…

House Shoes – Let It Go (The Beat Tape Version) (Insect Records) 6.4.2013

House Shoes dropped his debut album Let It Go on Tres Records in 2012 along with the instrumentals. Now he’s back with extra instrumentals all mixed into a continuous beat tape. You can find Let It Go (The Beat Tape Version) on Fat Beats where it sold out in under 3 days or you can hit up both Insect Records and Fat Beats and request it until they print more and release it digitally both on Bandcamp and iTunes. If the people request it, it will be made available. Just look at what happened with Apollo Brown x Ghostface Killah’s cassette only remix project The Brown Tape. Demand it and they will supply…

Lord Finesse – Funky Man: The Prequel (Slice-Of-Spice/Underboss) 6.4.2013

This project was released last year as a limited edition Japan only double LP limited to 1000 copies. Very few of them were made available for purchase due to pre-orders and overwhelming demand meaning we never even smelled it stateside. Slice-Of-Spice in association with Lord Finesse’s Underboss Entertainment teamed together to release Funky Man: The Prequel in North America. It contains rare demos and unreleased versions of tracks that would later comprise the classic Return Of The Funky Man LP. Cop it from Fat Beats, UGHH or HHV.de. This particular release is limited to only 600 copies so don’t sleep…

Knxwledge- Anthology (Leaving Records/Stones Throw) 6.11.2013

Unless you haven’t been paying ANY attention to the burgeoning beat culture over the past 5 or so years then you’d be familiar with Philadelphia’s Knxwledge. He’s released several projects in the past (Klouds, Skrawberries & Buttrskotch) and provided production for MCs such as Shawn Jackson, Co$$ & Blu . He’s also released a ton of projects on Bandcamp leading to this compilation loaded with 53 of his best slaps called Anthology. You can cop it either on double cassette or digitally directly from Stones Throw. Knxwledge reigns supreme over nearly everyone.

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Photo: Terry Richardson

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Action Bronson x Harry Fraud – SAAAB Stories (VICE/Atlantic) 6.11.2013

Action Bronson and frequent collaborator Harry Fraud (Blue Chips) got together to release Action Bronson’s debut release on VICE/Atlantic titled SAAAB Stories. This EP is a continuation of Action Bronson’s impressive run of top notch material from 2011 to now (Dr. Lecter, Well-Done, Blue Chips & Rare Chandeliers). A well constructed EP with guest appearances from Wiz Khalifa, Prodigy & Raekwon. The project was released for free download and also for purchase simultaneously. You can cop it from iTunes or stream it for free. I’d prefer that you support him and buy it, if you haven’t caught on yet it’s the key reason I do this feature.

Alchemist x Prodigy – Albert Einstein (Infamous Records) 6.11.2o13

Alchemist and Prodigy of Mobb Deep have been working on this project for quite a while now. When I went to see Prodigy’s solo show in Boston back in January he made two announcements, first that he and Prodigy were still Mobb Deep and they’d be in Boston soon. Secondly, he told the crowd to look forward to this album. Albert Einstein is without a doubt the sharpest and hungriest we’ve heard Havoc on record since the Return Of The Mac days and Alchemist picks up where he left off last year when he and Apollo Brown shared Producer Of The Year honors. Cop Albert Einstein via iTunes, Amazon, Fat Beats, UGHH & Sandbox Automatic.

The Program (K-Def x DaCapo) The Article EP: Expanded Version (Slice-Of-Spice) 6.11/18.2013

K-Def has been everywhere in 2013! Back in 2008, The Program (K-Def x DaCapo) were set to release a highly anticipated EP titled The Article following K-Def’s well received instrumental releases Willie Boo Boo The Fool & Beats From The 90’s Vols. 1 & 2. The project was never released as it was originally intended to be back then but it’s been improved upon greatly, had several extra tracks added to it and has finally found a home on Slice-Of-Spice Records. After 5 years of waiting, fans can finally get their hands on this. Cop The Article EP: Expanded Version from Fat Beats & UGHH. Don’t sleep…

The White Mandingos – The Ghetto Is Tryna Kill Me (Fat Beats) 6.11.2013

What happens when the legendary Darryl Jenifer of Bad Brains teams up with music journalist and musician Sacha Jenkins SHR and create a band fronted by Living Legend MURS? The end result is one of the most memorable albums of the year thus far, The White Mandingos The Ghetto Is Tryna Kill Me.

The project is a concept album based around the exploits of Tyrone White, a Black man from Harlem who fronts a Rock band and all of the grief, turmoil and crises of identity that occur because of it. It’s Rock, Punk and Hip-Hop all fused together to tell a story that parallels the current identity issues going on inside the music and the culture of Hip-Hop at large. Hip-Hop was the new Rock and Punk was it’s slightly younger cousin he met through mutual friends in Club Negril one night in the 80’s. The Ghetto Is Tryna Kill Me is every bit as revolutionary as folks thought Yeezus was going to be before they finally heard it. Cop it from iTunes, Amazon, Fat Beats, UGHH & Sandbox Automatic.

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Ka$h – Loops & Dupes (JAMLA) 6.11.2013

Ka$h AKA Kash Don’t Make Beats of JAMLA’s Soul Council just released a brand new collection of 10 slaps as a sequel to last year’s eyebrow raising instrumental release The JAMLA Files . Last week, 1/7th of 9th Wonder’s vaunted in-house production team dropped some ill beats and many cats slept on them. That’s why I this feature exists, people. You can acquire Loops & Dupes from iTunes, Amazon & Beatport. Get you some…

Statik Selektah – Extended Play (Duck Down/ShowOff) 6.18.2013

Statik Selektah (Spell My Name Right (The Album), Stick 2 The Script, All In A Day’s Work, 100 Proof (The Hangover), Well-Done, Population Control, Stereo Type, etc.) continues to be one of the torch bearers of East coast Hip-Hop with his production work and his radio show ShowOff Radio Shade 45 SiriusXM.  Statik continues to bring the goods, hard beats punctuated by bars from the best MCs around including Black Thought, Sean Price, Posdnous (De La Soul), Raekwon, Talib Kweli, Prodigy, Bun B, Styles P, Joell Ortiz, Lil’ Fame (M.O.P.), N.O.R.E., Blu, Slaine, Action Bronson, Freddie Gibbs, etc.

Statik Selektah also gives opportunities to both the younger generation and MCs people typically wouldn’t expect to hear on his tracks like Pro Era, Flatbush Zombies, Hit-Boy, Mac Miller and Lecrae in addition to his own ShowOff/ST Da Squad fam (Termanology, Easy Money, REKS & JFK). If you crave that authentic beats & rhymes based Hip-Hop then you need this album in your life.  Extended Play can be acquired via the following digital & physical music markets: iTunes, Amazon, UGHH & Sandbox Automatic.

Quasimoto (Madlib) – Yessir Whatever (Stones Throw) 6.18.2013

Quasimoto AKA The Bad Character is back. Madlib  dropped quite a few loose tracks, B sides and alternate versions spread out over the past decade and they’ve been collected in this new Stones Throw release titled Yessir Whatever. If you aren’t a Quasimoto fanatic that already has all of these then you should pick this up. If you’re a Stones Throw head or a completist then there’s no question you’re copping this. I’d also like to add that if you’ve been looking your a way to get started with Madlib’s favorite alter ego’s catalog this makes an excellent introduction as well. You can enrich your life with Yessir Whatever buy purchasing it from iTunes, Amazon, Fat Beats, UGHH, Sandbox Automatic or directly from Stones Throw.