2026 repress

Territories: Worldwide no restrictions

Format Notes:
2024 first time double vinyl reissue with exclusive bonus track, 140g double vinyl, remastered audio with restored artwork


Track List:

A1 Intro 0:50
A2 WordPlay 3:17
A3 Spontaneity 4:08
A4 Rugged Ruff 3:08
A5 Interlude 0:29

B1 I Confess 4:06
B2 UKNOWHOWWEDU 3:35
B3 Interlude 1:09
B4 Total Wreck 3:26
B5 Innovation 3:23

C1 Da Jawn 5:19
C2 Interlude 1:05
C3 True Honey Buns (Dat Freak Sh*t) 3:41

D1 3 Tha Hard Way 4:12
D2 Biggest Part Of Me 4:51
D3 Path To Rhythm 3:24

Release Notes:

Bahamadia’s 1996 debut album Kollage is rightly regarded as one of the greatest rap albums of the 1990s. For the first time ever, Be With present the definitive double LP version of this eternal hip-hop classic, including the legendary "Path To Rhythm" which never appeared on the original LP or on vinyl, anywhere. An indelible VIBE from start-to-finish, Kollage presents Bahamadia's swirling rhymes delivered with an irresistibly butter flow and razor-sharp assuredness over a steady slew of smoothed-out, jazzed-up, blunted beats. Achingly cool and effortlessly funky throughout, it's an absolute must for true 90s hip-hop fanatics.

The entire Kollage project was recorded at D&D Studios and the ties to Gang Starr are keenly felt, with DJ Premier producing five tracks in addition to the killer songs Guru had already produced with her. Working with the cream of the mid-90s East Coast sound, Kollage is, accordingly, a record that demonstrates a varied musical taste with disparate influences, as Bahamadia has previously stated: “The title Kollage was a reflection of my state of mind. I first got interested in music from playing my parents’ and grandparents’ records, as well what I heard on the radio. I wanted Kollage to reflect that diversity both lyrically and sonically."

With intelligent, poetic lyricism and a laconic verbal style bursting with both warm texture and deceptive energy, Bahamadia’s flow was as inspired by Aretha and Nancy Wilson as it was Q-Tip, Schoolly D and Lady B. Swaggering out the gate, "WordPlay" finds Bahamadia confidently showcasing her considerable old-school battle-rhyme skills over a Guru beat that utilises an infectiously bouncy bassline with splashes of sultry jazz horns and a Jeru vocal snatch for the hook. Up next, the quietly shimmering and ruggedly beautiful "Spontaneity" is one of the most alluring on the record, Da Beatminerz crafting a brilliantly soulful and jazzy soundscape for Bahamadia's effortless vocals to float across. It's followed by "Rugged Ruff", where the rapper carefully constructs a swift off-beat flow over Premier's raw jazzy fire.

With smooth spacey synth vibes overseen by former Geto Boys producer N.O. Joe, "I Confess" is, without question, a fly love song and soothing (p)-funk groove. "UKNOWHOWWEDU" is an airy, chilled tribute to her hometown. Produced by Ski Beatz & DJ Redhanded, it rides a gloriously mellow break. It's a true Philly anthem, shouting out a who’s who of the entire city’s scene. Early banger "Total Wreck" follows, presenting a murky Guru instrumental elevated by jazzy horns. Bahamadia invokes the title's suggestion, firing her brilliant bars more aggressively than we’re accustomed to. More Beatminerz-brilliance comes in the way of "Innovation", an opportunity for the MC to invoke Freestyle Fellowship in her forward-thinking and literary verses. "Da Jawn" features hometown buddies The Roots, with Black Thought gliding into a back-and-forth with Bahamadia over ?uestlove’s warm, snapping percussion. With the strut club banger "True Honey Buns (Dat Freak Sh*t)", DJ Premier provides some laidback vibrant boom bap for Bahamadia to share a wild, cautionary tale about a night out with her girl, Kia.

Fan favourite "3 Tha Hard Way" is a hypnotically sinister cut, with Bahamadia, K-Swift and Mecca Star taking star turns to coast over DJ Premier’s raw beat whilst the tender "Biggest Part Of Me" is a heartfelt stunner dedicated to her son. Incredibly, only the European and Japanese CD versions of Kollage was released with the brilliantly breezy “Path To Rhythm”, featuring Ursula Rucker. Whilst ostensibly a "bonus track", it's anything but, to our ears. Very much in sonic conversation with KRS-One's stretched-out sleeper classic "Higher Level", it's absolutely essential so we had to include it, appearing on wax for the first time here, exclusively. Quite a coup.

Somewhat predictably, whilst Kollage was released to significant critical acclaim, it suffered from disappointing sales. In the intervening years - and for far too long - it was a criminally underrated record, an increasingly hidden gem. We hope this double LP reissue - which looks and sounds amazing - will go some way to correct this. This 2024 Be With double LP re-issue has been mastered for vinyl by Simon Francis, cut by Cicely Balston and pressed at Record Industry. It's too bold and beautiful to remain overlooked and underserved.


Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: [email protected]More

Format Notes: 2024 repress, First-time 7" vinyl single release, remastered by Simon Francis, full colour printed sleeve

Track List:

A I Used To Love H.E.R.
B Communism

Release Notes:

The best twist in music lyric history?

On 7" for the first time ever, one of the most important rap records ever.

It's timeless, it's genius, it's just pure beautiful brilliance. It's Common's masterpiece.

One of the best songs in all hip-hop history, “I Used To Love H.E.R.” was the first single from Common's eternal 1994 LP, Resurrection. He personifies hip-hop as an ode to the art form he once loved, lamenting how the genre became too commercialised and, due to a mass influx of mainstream rap in the 90s, some of the purity and freshness of the culture was being lost.

Common uses a first-person romance narrative to detail the history of hip-hop, resulting in an extended metaphor that's sophisticated, clever, and delivers a moral message that touched millions of people and still absolutely blows minds at the song's conclusion: "'Cause who we're talkin' about, y'all, is hip-hop"

Perfectly produced by No ID and incorporating a gorgeous, melancholic sample of George Benson’s “The Changing World”, the plaintive sonic landscape provided the ideal foundation for Common’s innovative storytelling. Almost 30 years later, “I Used To Love H.E.R.” remains one the most significant moments in hip-hop: a classic in every sense of the word.

Common did discuss the true meaning of the track in a 1995 interview on “Yo! MTV Raps”, stating: “H.E.R. stands for Hip-Hop in its Essence is Real. And all I’m talking about his how I first came into contact with hip-hop music and how it evolved into where it is now. And it’s like all these gimmicks going on, all the phoniness, ain’t nobody being real with it. Everybody’s stressing that it’s real but ain’t nobody being true to it. I think that came about because — once it started becoming a business, then people started losing their soul and they started looking at it, taking it more as a business than an artform.”

On the flip, we've stayed faithful to the track used for the original 12" release. And what a track it is. Destined to be overshadowed by the behemoth on the A-Side, the frenetic neck-snapping jazz-rap "Communism" has it all - those horns at the start, the lyrical dexterity, the beat. Oh my.

So, one of the greatest pieces of music ever, in any genre. This is not merely music. It's high art. Speaking of which, we've recreated the striking original artwork from the 12" and shrunk it down to the 7" format. It looks and sounds stunning. The most important song in rap history, if you really think about it. We all miss her. We all miss hip-hop...

Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: [email protected]More

Territories: World excl. UK + North America

FORMAT 12" 180g vinyl, generic sleeve, dl card

TRACKLIST
1. / A1 Woodpecker 05:27
2. / A2 Wavehall 06:56
3. / B1 Backlash 05:27
4. / B2 GUM 07:25
5. Pilot (Digital Bonus) 06:24

RELEASE INFO:
In April 2023, Tresor Records will unveil a new EP from DALO entitled "GUM". DALO, aka Nadia D'Alo, is one of the founders of the
R.i.O label and half of the duo INIT. After several years of performing as INIT with Benedikt Frey, she had her solo live debut in
Berlin in 2022. This record follows releases on labels such as ESP Institute and Warning. "GUM" showcases DALO's expert
mastery of rising tension through analogue sound sources, as it swings in and remains with minimal changes and accentuation.
"Woodpecker" enters a tunnel of reverberant claps, moving in a potent exercise of deftly manipulated acid. "Wavehall" draws
vocal smears across expansive, droning basses and 140bpm techno rhythms. In "Bachlash", she takes inspiration from events
of Iranian and Afghan women revolting for their rights, expressing hope for the rebound of control after long political oppression. Electro beats are introduced underneath the full-frontal melodic acid, while processed spoken word samples bring a new
focus.
DALO takes the rebounding control and strives forward into the unknown with "GUM", its segmented vocal samples playing a
captivating partnership with acidic slides. The EP closes with "Pilot," a digital bonus track that releases some of the tension
built up throughout and propels the dancer towards transcendent shapes.

Sicherheits- und Herstellerinformationen / safety and manufacturer info (GPSR)
WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: [email protected]More

Backstock - shipping from Feb 9

Tracklisting:
A1. Triangle Days (Davy Kehoe Vocal Mix)
A2. Triangle Days (Davy Kehoe Remix)
B1. L Inconscient Rebel
B2. Super Spreader (Ruutu Poiss Remix)

3 remixes and 1 new track here.

Davy Kehoe, from Dublin's Wah Wah Wino delivers 2 remixes of Triangle Days, a highlight from Gilb'R's LP On danse comme des fous. While the instrumental remix drives us into a melancholic vibe, where Davy uses harmonica in a subtle way as he did for his latest live show, the vocal mix is an unusual approach to remixing. Davy decided to add his own vocals on top of his mix, and arranged it in a different way. The result is that the track is brought into a total pop territory.
Ruutu Poiss, an Amsterdam based Estonian producer has deconstructed Super Spreader, to rebuild it into a complex yet driving form of club music.
And last but not least, Gilb'R offers an unreleased jam recorded live during the Triangle studio days in Amsterdam. Some latin electronics? Digital guaguancó? A weird groover at 120 bpm to drop in the mix for fearless DJ's.






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WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
Liebigstrasse 2-20
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Germany
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Backstock - shipping from Feb 9

A. Rex Ilusivii, Goran Vejvoda and Milan Mladeno - Untitled
B. CHBB - NBKE

UPROOTED, the sound of here and there.
Uprooted is a project curated by Vidal Benjamin. The concept behind the project comes from his
own personal experience of being uprooted. Under the wing of Versatile Records, he has
decided to launch a collection of double-sided limited edition, vinyl only, celebrating the duality
of people who take their roots from a place and embrace another culture.
The idea is to ask an appreciated music activist with a double cultural pedigree to choose two
tracks. One track that incarnates the place where he or she comes from (the sound of there,
side A) and another

No digital for this série.
Vinyl only.


#1-Vladimir Ivkovic


From Belgrade to Düsseldorf, uprooted or not, I compiled 2 tracks from my 2 cities.
Tracks that were always meant to be released on one 7".

On the Belgrade side there are Rex, Vejvoda, Milan. Rex Ilusivii, Goran Vejvoda and Milan Mladenovi?.
Summer of 1984, a short nighttime session on an improvised 4 track 1/4¨ tape studio setup in Goran's parents small living room in Belgrade, Yugoslavia.
Three young men getting away from their dry intellectual framework at the tail end of the influence of "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts". Maybe. Maybe not. A recording that should not exist, from the city that does not exist, from the country that could have shown the world how a melting pot can blend and stick together, no matter how countless obstacles lay ahead.

On the Düsseldorf side there is CHBB. Chrislo Haas and Beate Bartel. One track from the first of their four tapes, recorded and self-released in Düsseldorf in 1981. Rough powerful electronics with attitude, the future that happened more than 40 years ago and that is yet to come.

Untitled licensed courtesy of Ruža Suboti?, Goran Vejvoda and Zadužbina Milana Mladenovi?a.
NbkE licensed courtesy of Beate Bartel CHBB-Musik.

14.9.2022
Vladimir Ivkovic


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WAS - Word and Sound Medien GmbH
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DE - 22113 Hamburg
Germany
Contact: [email protected]More