Vinyl is Back
June is Black Music Month, a time to honor the rhythm, soul, and legacy of Black artists who have shaped music history. One of the best ways to celebrate? By building or upgrading your vinyl collection with collector’s edition box sets that showcase some of the most iconic albums in hip-hop, soul, and R&B.
From the storytelling of Nas’s Illmatic and the Southern dominance of Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter series, and Mary J. Blige’s soulful reign, these Black music vinyl box sets aren’t just nostalgic they’re collectible artifacts of music history. Whether you’re crate-digging for display-worthy packaging, exclusive unreleased tracks, or simply the joy of analog sound, this list has something for every level of music lover. Show off for your friends, or just showcase these for yourself. While all of these are great options, be aware that because they are collector’s editions in many cases, you might have to go digging and looking to find these. You can get started at your local record stores like these here, check out their discogs online stores, or try ebay to find these must haves for your collection.
Celebrate the past, honor the culture, and support the legacy one spin at a time.
This collection was created to celebrate the classic A Tribe Called Quest album, the Low End Theory. The collection has 8 records each that has imagery that fits right in with the art style on the album cover. The case itself has wrap around album art work and a custom inner wrapped with the group’s logo and a picture.
Ready to Die 25th Anniversary
When this collection first dropped it was just under a hundred bucks on Get on Down. Today, the 9 disc box set can be found on ebay and possibly at other local resellers. Limited to 3500 individually numbered sets, each comes with an exclusive book featuring never before seen photos and stories from producers Chucky Thompson and Easy Mo Bee.
Life After Death 25th Anniversary Box Set
The 25th Anniversary Super Deluxe Box Set of Notorious BIG’s second album is a great collector’s piece for the Millennial Rap fan. It has 8 LP’s and a booklet with photos from the album photo shoot and reflections from the team who worked on the album.
For a Hip Hop loving millennial, one of the seminal releases would have to be Raekwon’s debut album. The Purple Tape was legendary for both the content, and because of the color of the tape itself. Add one to your collection with this special edition that comes in a collector’s watch box for displaying it and a 118 page hardcover book that includes lyrics and liner notes for every song as well as photos and more from that time. You can rest assured because every aspect of this drop was approved by the Chef himself.
The Great Adventures of Slick Rick 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition
This box set was created to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Slick Rick’s debut album. Of course your vinyl includes the album that was released, but it also has 4 previously unreleased demos for some of the hits on the album. It also comes with copies of the lyrics sheets as well as photos of course.
Illmatic is one of the greatest albums of all time and it is one of the early heralds the the rap explosion of the early 90’s. This 30th anniversary box set features seven LP’s to encompass the album and 2 remix tracks. Special features in this box set include a 64 page book of extended liner notes with lyrics and photos.
Hip-Hop aficionados love the Roots and with good reason. The Philadelphia group is the unofficial, official band of hip-hop and this limited edition copy of their second album is a great addition to your collection. The included booklet has rare photos and essays from Questlove and Black Thought as well as a track by track commentary.
The Wu Tang Clan is currently on their last full North American tour as a collective. If you can’t make that you can look online for the 36 Chambers box set to celebrate. This has 7 records that are all split between Yellow and Black like the OG Wu Tang Logo. It features liner notes book titled The Shaolinothology featuring RZA input/interviews, extensive research by journalist Chris Faraone, album lyrics, rarely-seen photos, and other rare images from the Enter The Wu-Tang era, plus new additional photos by Wu-Tang album cover photographer Danny Hastings and a set of Wu Tang trading cards.
The Queen of hip hop soul has had an incredible career and this box set is a nice part of her legacy. The 8 LP’s in this collection feature singles and remixes from her early career including “You Remind Me”, and the “All I Need Remix”. The 2019 release also comes in a very unique box display with a 90’s period styled New York City skyline on it.
Nicki Minaj is one of the top female rappers in both skills and success. To celebrate one of her most successful commercial albums, Pink Friday, there is this special pink edition vinyl release. This 3LP deluxe edition also has a distinctive tri-gatefold jacket perfect for being displayed.
P.E. is one of the foundational acts in rap history. This 35th anniversary edition of their second album is one that is great for the hip-hop aficionado in your life. This reissue is on 4 black lp’s and has an informational book along with it.
Homecoming was a superb project from Beyonce and the live performance version was a great showcase of all of her skills. This vinyl is a pressing from that concert. You get the music on four LP’s along with a 54 page booklet with pictures and more.
Lil Wayne went on one of the hottest runs in history and it all began when he dropped the Carter. This box set is a great way to honor the Southern Hip Hop Icon which comes in a box that has recreations of his tattoos on the outside. Inside you will get 7 Lp’s with the hits from the series of albums from 1-4 as well as exclusive photos.
Eric B. and Rakim Complete Collection
The Eric B. and Rakim complete collection is a set that is bound in 80’s New York City Glory. Not only do you get some of the best hip-hop of the late 80’s and early 90’s but the outer case itself is classy, simple, yet fresh. This collection holds all four albums on 8 lp’s along with a collector’s booklet, liner notes and 2 cd’s as well.
This Boxed set from the Wu Tang Clan’s Old Dirty Bastard was limited to 3000 copies. Featuring the classic cover art, the album’s 17 tracks are on 9 blue, yellow, and white discs. You also get a larger copy of the original cd artwork plus stickers of Dirt McGirt himself.
Make sure your records play right every time with a slipmat and cleaning supplies for your vinyl. Off Beat Jackson is a Black Owned record store in Mississippi that has supplies for you as well as a collection of records just waiting to be ordered. No matter if your favorite genre is hip-hop or rock, Off Beat has selections available for you.
