Best New Hip-Hop Vinyl Releases, September 2026

Erykah Badu & The Alchemist

Before the World Blows is Erykah Badu’s first studio album in 16 years, a collaboration with legendary hip-hop producer The Alchemist. It moves between soul, funk, blues, and hip-hop, pairing Badu’s vocals with The Alchemist’s sample-heavy production. The album finds both artists returning to their roots, with Badu tapping into the underground hip-hop of the ’90s.

Hieroglyphics

All Said and Done marks the return of Oakland hip-hop collective Hieroglyphics for their first album since 2013’s The Kitchen. Featuring the full crew, including Del the Funky Homosapien, Casual, Pep Love, and all four members of Souls of Mischief, the album brings the group back together more than 30 years into their run. It’s a long-overdue return that feels right at home alongside their landmark 1998 debut, 3rd Eye Vision.

Skyzoo

Brooklyn rapper Skyzoo is one of hip-hop’s most underrated lyricists, carrying on the tradition of New York greats like Nas, Jay-Z, and The Notorious B.I.G. Originally released in 2017, Peddler Themes is an eight-track EP built around classic boom-bap production, dense samples, and Skyzoo’s sharp storytelling. It’s an old-school New York hip-hop record through and through, with plenty of nods to the artists and sounds that influenced him.

Sweeps

Los Angeles producer Sweeps blends ’90s hip-hop beats, ’70s funk, and melodic lo-fi into a sound that feels both nostalgic and futuristic. Space Blues Vol. 1 takes that retro-futuristic sound into space, framed as transmissions from a reconnaissance team stranded somewhere in the Virgo Supercluster.

Mike D

Thank You is Mike D’s first solo album and his first appearance on a record since the Beastie Boys’ final album in 2011. Backed by 5D, which features his sons Skyler and Davis on drums and guitar, the album brings back the frantic, funky, sample-heavy energy of the Beastie Boys while jumping between hip-hop, punk, and electronic sounds. This time around, though, Mike D is rapping about middle age, starting fresh, and figuring out what comes next.

El Michels Affair

Limited Edition · Yellow & Black w/ Red Splatter (Crlmson Strike Variant)

El Michels Affair is the brainchild of Brooklyn musician and producer Leon Michels, blending funk, soul, jazz, and hip-hop with a sound rooted in the ’60s and ’70s. After touring with Raekwon and other members of the Wu-Tang Clan, the group released Enter the 37th Chamber in 2009, reimagining RZA’s classic productions as live instrumentals.

Cargo Cults

Cargo Cults is an underground hip-hop duo made up of veteran rapper Alaska and rapper-producer Zilla Rocca. Six years after their debut, Nihilist Millennial, Kingdom Music for the Hard Rocks finds the pair turning their sharp writing and dark humor toward getting older. Backed by gritty boom-bap production, they tackle mortality, losing friends, and finding some freedom and perspective in middle age.

Geto Boys

2×Vinyl, Limited Edition, Numbered, Reissue, Remastered · Multicolored, Obi, 35th Anniversary

Recently reissued, We Can’t Be Stopped is the landmark 1991 album from Houston’s Geto Boys, featuring Scarface, Willie D, and Bushwick Bill. Its infamous cover shows Bill in the hospital after being shot in the eye, while the album itself gives each member three solo tracks. It’s best known for “Mind Playing Tricks on Me,” an all-time hip-hop classic that helped establish Houston and Southern rap as a major force.

MF Doom

2×Vinyl, Reissue

The late MF DOOM was one of hip-hop’s most distinctive figures, known for his metal mask, dense wordplay, and countless collaborations and alter egos. Released in 2004, MM..FOOD is a concept album built almost entirely around food, packed with samples, oddball humor, and some of DOOM’s sharpest rhymes. Along with Madvillainy, it’s widely considered one of his best records and an essential piece of any hip-hop vinyl collection.

De La Soul

2×Vinyl, Limited Edition · Marvel Variant Edition, Orange & Yellow Splatter

Cabin in the Sky is the ninth studio album from Long Island legends De La Soul, pioneers of alternative hip-hop known for their playful lyrics, adventurous sampling, and jazz-infused sound. It’s their first album since the 2023 death of founding member Trugoy the Dove, whose absence and legacy run throughout the record. The album also reunites De La with original producer Prince Paul and was widely regarded as one of the best hip-hop releases of 2025.