An underground icon who hit the scene in 1991, Godfather Don is a Brooklyn emcee/producer who's worked extensively with Kool Keith, Ayatollah, and Screwball and recorded for much-loved independent labels like Select, Fondle 'Em, and Hydra. Known for rugged yet always-clever wordplay and neck-bending, jazz-enriched beats, Godfather Don made relatively little solo work—just two official albums (Hazardous and Diabolique), plus the revered Cenobites project with Keith. Since the late '00s, he's been raiding the vaults and dropping an impressive backlog of rare and unreleased material culled from his golden-era heyday. The Ill Funk Freaker gives us eight high-quality tracks (with vocal and instrumental versions of each), all recorded between '93 and '95. Boisterous bass lines, finely chopped samples, and punchy drums dominate; it's the perfect antidote to today's ultra-slick IDM and Auto-Tuned vibes. Check out "Ain't None Left," "Shoot the Two," and "Slaves."

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