{"title":"Below System Records","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"empire-state","title":"Empire State","description":"\u003cp\u003eMighty Joseph is the combination of emcees Vast Aire (Cannibal Ox) with his long-time rhyme ally Karniege. The duo's sole album, \u003cem\u003eEmpire State\u003c\/em\u003e (2008) was released during the tail-end of the last great non-commercial Hip-Hop period.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRooted in the concrete streets but lyrically abstract, features and beats are provided by equal musical foils including Madlib, Camu Tao, Murs, J-Zone, Poison Pen and Vordul Mega (Cannibal Ox) among others.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFan and critical attention were positive with All Hip Hop summing the album as \"solid post-millennium product that bridges the gap between gritty street tales and a paranoid view of the future.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePlug One Magazine added that \"Empire State\" \"unravels a unique perspective, documenting not only much personal change between the two emcees but also the changes in the streets of New York City. From poverty, to the September 11 attacks, to the abuse of Hip Hop culture in general, \"Empire State\" stands strong as a snapshot of the city.\"\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Below System Records","offers":[{"title":"2LP - Black","offer_id":56104763195723,"sku":"R9093-2858","price":39.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/cover.ki-2_6b6346af-4b17-4375-96f1-375f51bd752d.jpg?v=1765571007"},{"product_id":"the-element-of-surprise","title":"The Element Of Surprise","description":"\u003cp\u003eRashad and Confidence announce the vinyl reissue of their debut album \u003cem\u003eThe Element Of Surprise\u003c\/em\u003e. Though originally released in 2011, the melange of soul samples, classic breaks and favoring of lyrical storytelling \/ conceptual joints could easily have been released in the 90’s.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe 2xLP vinyl edition includes the 2019’s single “Desires” as well as two never before heard tracks from the 2011 sessions entitled “Non Stop” and “Feel It.” All tracks on the 2026 vinyl version are remastered!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRashad, a Brooklyn NY emcee who sports a nimble and rapid flow excels at making anthemic choruses interspersed with highly detailed bars. Examples of album topics include a vivid picture of the hood while making a cautionary tale of its pitfalls (“The City”), his personal emcee origin story (“Days Of My Youth”), and the results of low motivation (“Pass Me By”) among others.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBoston based producer Confidence has made a career of sample chopping and analog warm heaters. He also tends to favor the one emcee\/one producer line-up of the golden years. This extends to his recent collaborative LP's on Below System Records including “Library Of Sound” with M-Dot and “Kool Moe Dese” with Big Dese.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Below System Records","offers":[{"title":"2LP - Black","offer_id":57095997292875,"sku":"R9701-4447","price":39.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/cover.ki-5_6106694a-5c69-40d8-a3fd-6248ba970a7e.jpg?v=1776888475"},{"product_id":"moorthodox-psyence","title":"Moorthodox Psyence","description":"\u003cp\u003eLondon based producer Akhavelli’s debut (instrumental) album \u003cem\u003eMoorthodox Psyence\u003c\/em\u003e, operates like a recovered transmission from a fractured timeline. The project is built around a fictional rupture in 1996 where memory, signal and culture begin drifting out of phase, framing the music as something intercepted rather than composed. Drawing on the dense collage tradition of sample-based production, the record blends experimental trip-hop, turntablism and psychedelic rhythm with the hypnotic repetition of krautrock and the tactile grit of analogue hip-hop. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIts palette pulls from Japanese soul and funk, ex-Soviet Psychedelia, Turkish and North African sources, Arabic textures and classic 90s vocal cuts and scratches. Beneath the surface sits a subtle Sufi influence, positioning the producer less as author than as receiver: sampling as remembrance, sound as a way of piercing the veil between timelines. The result is what Akhavelli calls Breakbeat Psyence: a hypnotic, transportive body of work that feels less like a conventional album and more like a lost artefact recovered from inside a loop in time.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Below System Records","offers":[{"title":"LP - Black","offer_id":57505151648075,"sku":"R5049-1882","price":36.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/2000x2000bb_75167758-6278-4727-a62c-5fe76cea9e64.jpg?v=1780519646"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/de\/collections\/below-system-records.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}