PUT THIS IN YOUR DEN for one of our favorite hip hop records of the year. Throwback, yet sounding fresh, this double album is chock full of fantastic rhymes and wordplay. Unmistakably from the Bay Area, you can hear influences from Hieroglyphics, J5 and the Quannum Projects crew throughout. Homages abound, yet this duo is pushing the sound forward. If you get down with any of the aforementioned groups, you're going to want to pick this up.

Available on 2xLP baby blue & baby pink wax

Bay Area MC/producer duo Nord1kone & LMT Break pay homage and pave a new way forward with their new album "Respect The Skills", dropping on Black Buffalo Records. The 21-track epic features Cyph4, Dierek, El Da Sensei (Artifacts), IQ, Lee Ricks and fellow Outsiders Syndicate members DJ MROK, The I.M.F. and Jimmy Beatz.

Nord1kone grew up just south of San Francisco and received a thorough indoctrination in Hip Hop from his two older brothers - he was a fixture at local record stores at the tender age of five. Collecting cutty Bay-area rap tapes put the finishing touches on his own range of influences, and music from Hiero (Oakland), Bored Stiff (San Francisco), Jedi Knight Circle (Santa Cruz), Constylations (San Jose), and Araknophobix (Half Moon Bay) made it clear just what kind of music he wanted to make, hardcore underground Hip Hop, with flavor from the Bay but influence from both east and west coasts.

San Francisco Native, producer and DJ LMT. Break is a traditional, sample-driven beat maker with a small army of drum machines at his disposal. As a young listener he soaked up the production styles of GOATs like Pete Rock & Premier and less-heralded but equally influential creators like D-Styles, El-P and Broadcast. His production style is grounded in the Golden Age but continues to reach out in myriad directions.

Their first recording together yielded their foundational song "Respect The Skills", which appears on this album in remix form. In subsequent sessions, the chemistry between Nord1kone, LMT. Break and The I.M.F. was obvious, and soon afterwards the three of them made the partnership official with the foundation of Outsiders Syndicate.

One of the signatures of OS is a genuine appreciation for each other's talents, and over the years this philosophy led more heads to join the fray; emcee Jimmy Beatz, producers MROK and Chef Mike, and recent additions AO Lyrical and Dee-Forth. The "Respect The Skills" project echoes this same spirit, and powerful features from El Da Sensei, Cyph4 and more carry the same ethos. Nord1kone holds it down throughout the 21 tracks, showing range and command as he navigates topics and landscapes. Sonically, the project covers plenty of ground, from the bright and bouncy "Knock Knock" to the dramatic and washed-out "The Concept", and LMT. Break continually finds new ways to complement Nord1kone's variety of styles on the mic.

The two-man unit and their close collaborators have continually expressed what an honor it is to be releasing music through Black Buffalo Records and Fat Beats, and are keeping their noses to the grind to get this album in everyone's ears.