Style 43

I came across a new collaborative project the other day featuring the impressive talents of Aesop Rock, Rob Sonic and ...

Def Jux giving away free shit is becoming a regular occurrence nowadays. For a while they even had a section on their website called "Free Shit", where you could cop stuff like the photo lyrics book for "None Shall Pass". That disappeared, but the goodness lives on through the free EPs and singles they keep leaking out for us humble followers.

We love finding free stuff to share with you lot. We're getting pretty good at it too, you know with all the competitions and download links and whatnot. Well we've been scouring the net for more premium music at everyone's favourite price and this time we've found a whole album from those lovely folks at Def Jux. It's called a sampler but don't let the name fool you. Most samplers I've come across in the past have been little snippets of stuff that's due to be released or from the label's back catalogue; the tracks on offer here are all full length and they're also individual downloads so you can pick and choose what you want.

"Gee, thanks MTV!" It's been a while since I said that. If I ever did say it. Regardless, my point is that MTV went wack where once they were maybe okay. Well at some points at least (see Yo! MTV Raps). Now though, they've finally realised that there is actually music out there that has become popular without their help and so naturally they want a piece. Hence things like Cage's new EP being given away for free on their uber-cool Subterranean blog (See, it's like another way to say 'Underground'. They're so cutting edge).

What is seen by many as the album that truly kicked off the independent hip hop movement, Company Flow's "Funcrusher Plus", is going to be reissued by Definitive Jux this month. It's almost 12 years since El-P, Bigg Jus and Mr Len dropped their debut, and ultimately their only full album. It provided a fresh alternative to the heavily jazz and funk influenced sounds that were being thrust to the forefront of the scene at the time, and it also struck a cord with many people who knew that a new direction was needed for hip hop as a whole.