The Big Nine

The Big Payback is a 4CD box set of rare soul and funk released in 1998 by Clubmasters. It consists of 10 songs on each disc, featuring the works of Syl Johnson, Eddie Bo, Chuck Carbo, and Nu Sound Express, a few of which have been sampled over the years in hip-hop. Many of these recordings are sourced from vinyl.

The only guide you need to nourishing yourself and your baby from the first through fourth trimesters, from the bestselling author of The Big Book of Organic Baby Food

When Kendrick Lamar popped up on two tracks from Baby Keem’s The Melodic Blue (“range brothers” and “family ties”), it felt like one of hip-hop’s prophets had descended a mountain to deliver scripture. His verses were stellar, to be sure, but it also just felt like way too much time had passed since we’d heard his voice. He’d helmed 2018’s Black Panther compilation/soundtrack, but his last proper release was 2017’s DAMN. That kind of scarcity in hip-hop can only serve to deify an artist as beloved as Lamar. But if the Compton MC is broadcasting anything across his fifth proper album Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, it’s that he’s only human.