Looptone regular Lack of Afro pulls out all the stops to bring you the ultimate crate digging session.

With four albums released on Freestyle Records, two more on his own LOA Records imprint (including a BBC 6 Music Album Of The Year nomination for 2016’s ‘Hello Baby’) and numerous remixes and sample libraries to his name, UK-based musician and producer Lack of Afro – aka Adam Gibbons – is a creative force to be reckoned with. An accomplished multi-instrumentalist (drums, guitar, bass, piano, saxophones, percussion), his music is in constant high demand in film and TV by networks including ABC, Fox, NBC, Sony Pictures and the BBC. And particularly notable among his supporters are hip-hop legends Madlib and Pete Rock, who regularly play his tracks out.

Weighing in at 966MB, Hip Hop Digger is a lovingly crafted collection of seven complete classic-style funk and soul audio construction kits, each comprising up to 54 loops, and all performed 100% live by Lack of Afro and his crack team of musicians. Instrumentation includes acoustic and electric guitar, electric and synth bass, electric piano, organ, horns, drum kit and percussion; and the parts for every instrument within each track are divided into multiple sections – intro, main groove, bridge, etc – for ease of reconstruction and remixing, and sampling variation.

Everything in Hip Hop Digger has been recorded to tape through a fully analogue signal chain – vintage preamps and EQs, Urei 1176 compressors and EQs, spring reverbs, Alice 1228 mixing desk, 1911 Bechstein uprght piano, 1950s Premier drum kit and more – for an authentic, beautifully saturated retro sound. And there’s plenty of variety in the tracks themselves, from the tight pocket of Balcony and virtuosic bass work of Messin’, to Cumbia’s laid-back Latin flavour and the funk-rock fusion of Church.

Whether you’re after a gritty one-bar drum break or full-band groove for the basis of a golden era hip-hop track, a tasty electric piano lick to work into your latest nu soul number, or just a single bass or guitar note for throwing into your MPC or Maschine, Hip Hop Digger is like having the stems of seven privately pressed soul and funk classics at your fingertips.

Starring:

Adam Gibbons - Bass, Guitars, Keys, Drums, Percussion, Saxophones, Production

George Cooper - Keys

Matt Carter - Keys

Steve Down - Guitars

Rory Simmons - Trumpets

Lukas Drinkwater - Bass

In detail, Hip Hop Digger comprises 966MB of loops at 90-107bpm, in 24-bit stereo WAV format.