Artist DJ Mike Swoop

On his debut release, New Love, Mike Swoop's downtempo grooves recall the jazz-influenced rap output of the Native Tongues posse in the late '80s and early '90s, blending jazz, dub, and funk with a hip-hop mentality. The largely instrumental album—which touts performances by Big Quarters, Toki Wright, Kavorkian, and All Purpose—fuses samples with live instrumentation to create a lush aesthetic that manages to sound both complex and stripped-down. 

Updated 01/26/2010