Record Store Day Black Friday 2025 preview: Hip-hop, R&B, funk, soul & Latin
Welcome back to our preview series for Record Store Day’s Black Friday event. Today we’re looking at the hip-hop, R&B, funk, soul, and Latin releases that’ll be at independent record stores on Friday, November 28. It’s a wildly mixed array of stuff, of course, including titles by Prince, Curtis Mayfield, Dr. Dre, Little Brother, WITCH, and more. Some of these are among our most anticipated releases of the year, while others are ignorable fluff. Read on to find which is which!
Meanwhile, if you missed the first two installments of our RSD Black Friday preview, you can check them out here:
Ned Lannamann
Ned Lannamann
And for a look at the complete US list, visit the Record Store Day website here.
We’ve got plenty more to come in this RSD preview series—we haven’t even touched upon any of the rock stuff yet—so be sure to sign up for a subscription to The Vinyl Cut if you haven’t already. And if you already are a subscriber currently reading this in your email inbox (how convenient!), we thank you from the bottoms of our vinyl-loving hearts.
Let's get into it!
Ray Barretto: Together [Craft Recordings]
Craft Recordings’ continued efforts to repress titles from the catalog of Fania Records—the label co-founded in the early ’60s by musician Johnny Pacheco that focused on Latin artists and sounds—has been one of the few things helping this writer get through the past few years with a sliver of my sanity intact. For this year’s Black Friday, Craft is gifting us with a repress of Ray Barretto’s 1970 album Together. Coming on the heels of his appropriately trippy Acid from the previous year, this record finds the percussionist and bandleader dipping into his various musical interests of the time: boogaloo, salsa, cumbia, and, on the title track, Latin funk. “Together” is worth the price of admission alone, but do stick around for the band’s gloriously zonked take on Dizzy Gillespie’s “Tin Tin Deo.” Craft is promising an all-analog cut, so this release will surely deliver the sonic goods. RH
Eric Burdon & War: The Very Best of Eric Burdon & War [Rhino]
Following a busy 2025 for War reissues that’s seen an archival live album from 1974, an expanded 50th anniversary 3-CD of Why Can’t We Be Friends?, and a 4-CD box set of the Eric Burdon and War material that kicked off the Long Beach band’s recording career, here comes a 2-LP compiling the best of that early era. It might have seemed strange that the Newcastle-bred singer of the Animals paired up with a bunch of cats schooled in funk, R&B and Latin music, but that was the genius of Eric Burdon and War. This double disc provides a good opportunity to dive deeper into some pretty ripping music, although it’s not all that much more of a commitment to just throw down for copies of their two 1970 albums Eric Burdon Declares War and The Black-Man’s Burdon. However, this comp also includes tunes from the 1976 posthumous odd-and-sods album Love Is All Around, plus two previously unreleased tracks and an “unedited remix” of the unkillable “Spill the Wine.” NL
Curren$y: Pilot Talk II [Jet Life]
Released in 2010 mere months after the first volume of what eventually became a trilogy of albums, Pilot Talk II was another creative leap forward for New Orleans rapper Curren$y after his departure from the mammoth Louisiana labels Cash Money and No Limit. He kept many of the big-name guest stars out of the studio this time around and worked with a group of live musicians who, under the guidance of producer Ski Beatz, played syrupy, heavy-lidded funk. Previously only available on vinyl as part of 2023 box set, PTII gets its solo vinyl bow next month with an “RSD First” pressing on purple, black, and white wax. Supplies will be limited on Black Friday (only 2,000 units!), so unless you want to suffer the long wait for the mass-market version, I’d suggest you step lively to the record shop. RH
Deltron 3030: Deltron 3030 (30th anniversary edition) [Deltron Partners]
Technically, the debut album from hip-hop supergroup Deltron 3030 is only a quarter-century old, but where’s the symmetry in calling this new pressing of their self-titled debut a “25th Anniversary Edition”? That kind of puckishness runs through nearly everything that this group, led by rapper Del Tha Funkee Homosapien, producer Dan the Automator, and turntablist Kid Koala, gets up to either together or separately. The vision of this concept album may be of a dystopian world where two brave souls take on megacorporations, but it is as wickedly funny as it is funky. Joining the trio on this journey are a slew of collaborators, including Gorillaz leader Damon Albarn, producer Prince Paul, rapper MC Paul Barman, and, of all people, Brad Roberts, lead singer of Crash Test Dummies. This album has been reissued multiple times—even as recently as earlier this year, when the band pressed up 500 copies to sell on tour. Therefore, the vinyl edition coming out on Black Friday is for completist collectors only: One disc is on clear, yellow, and black splatter vinyl, and the other is on clear, mint green, and “bluejay” splatter, and includes “a commemorative OBI exclusively for RSD Black Friday.” Cool? RH
Dr. Dre: Compton (Instrumentals) [Interscope]
After many years of waiting for the follow-up to the 1999 album 2001, fans of Dr. Dre were surprised in August 2015 with the announcement of Compton (A Soundtrack by Dr. Dre), an ode to the LA neighborhood that fostered him during his early days as a producer and DJ, inspired by the production of the N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton. Ten years after that album’s release, the good doctor is releasing the instrumental versions of all the songs on the LP for the first time. While that does mean losing the great vocal performances from the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Ice Cube, Jill Scott, and Snoop Dogg, this does allow listeners the chance to better appreciate the work of collaborators like DJ Dahi, Bink, and the mighty DJ Premier, who furthered the seamy evolution of the G-funk sound Dre fomented in the ’90s. An “RSD First” release. RH
En Vogue: Born to Sing [Get On Down]
R&B quartet En Vogue became one of the biggest groups of the early ’90s, but their 1990 debut Born to Sing sounds almost unbearably cheesy today. Kicking off with a dopey skit in which a parade of male suitors strikes out with the four ladies, the album also includes a rap in which they adopt British accents, an Andrew Sisters pastiche updated for the hip-hop era, and of course the monster hit “Hold On,” which incorporates an extended a capella intro but was otherwise massively improved when it was very slightly rewritten as 1992’s “My Lovin’ (You’re Never Gonna Get It).” With blocky, New Jack Swing-era production and some serious over-singing, this one—pressed on red and white wax that marks Born to Sing’s first vinyl outing since its original release—is purely for the nostalgia heads. NL
Ghost-Note: Fortified [Mixto]
The 2015 debut album of percussionist duo Ghost-Note, Fortified is more than just Robert “Sput” Searight and Nate Werth moonlighting during their off hours away from Texas fusion collective Snarky Puppy. It’s a dissection of tones and rhythms across a huge spectrum of musical styles, driven by funk and hip-hop grooves and contributions from more than a dozen collaborators from across the Dallas music scene. Some parts sound like futuristic second lines, while other sections sound like broken machines learning to synchronize with each other, and yet others are pure dance-floor pulse-movers. This is Fortified’s first vinyl release, and it’s unlike anything else you’re going to bring home on Black Friday, guaranteed. NL
Larry June, 2 Chainz & The Alchemist: Life Is Beautiful (Chopped Not Slopped) [Freeminded Record Co.]
Life Is Beautiful, the 2025 meeting of the creative minds by rappers Larry June and 2 Chainz and producer the Alchemist, is near-perfect all on its own. The beats are soulful and twisted with flips of rare funk sides turned inside out and upside down. And both rhymers are as pugnacious as ever, but with a looseness that keeps their bars slippery and lithe. This RSD Black Friday release attempts to improve on a great thing by giving the album the chopped and screwed treatment courtesy of Houston-based underground legends OG Ron C and the Chopstars. That means slowing each track down to a molasses-like flow that sounds especially great when fucked-up on hallucinogens. The promotional copy for this release leans into the detail that there are only 2,000 copies hitting stores next month and insists that it will “likely never [be] pressed again.” Be vigilant, true believers, and grab this if you see it. RH
Little Brother: The Minstrel Show (20th anniversary deluxe edition) [Imagine Nation]
One of the best albums of the ’00s, the second album by the trio Little Brother helped put the North Carolina hip-hop scene on the cultural map. Rappers Big Pooh and Phonte found that sweet spot between desperate and braggadocious in the rhymes and delivered it all with a deceptively intricate flow. Producer 9th Wonder matched them every step of the way, with crackling beats inspired by the sounds of East Coast producers like Premier and Q Tip. The sound of this new vinyl pressing hitting shelves on RSD Black Friday should be interesting. The promo copy states that the audio was “remastered for vinyl from the original ADAT tapes” by Chris Boerner of the Kitchen Mastering in Carrboro, North Carolina. As a mastering engineer, Boerner has worked with a number of artists from the Triangle (Superchunk and Darren Jessee, among them) and I’ve often been pleased with what I’ve heard. But translating a digital source to an analog medium is always a dicey proposition. I will remain leery of what is in store up to and including the moment I elbow some unlucky punter out of the way to ensure that I secure my copy next month. RH
Curtis Mayfield: Curtis [Rhino Reserve]
Initially planned as a concurrent project to his long-running band the Impressions, Curtis Mayfield’s solo career soon took off under its own momentum, and with this 1970 debut, it’s easy to see why. A masterful collection of hard-bitten funk, orchestral soul, and brain-expanding psychedelia, it’s also full of Mayfield’s compassionate social commentary and astute political observations, presaging the turn contemporaries like Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder would make in just a few short months. An album that no self-respecting record collection can be without, Curtis is making a very welcome appearance on Black Friday via the Rhino Reserve line in an all-analog pressing by Chris Bellman of Bernie Grundman Mastering. It’s bound to sound fantastic, which raises some questions. Why the limited Black Friday pressing, instead of a wider release? Will this be made more broadly available once the initial 2,700 copies sell out? Is this identical to the Bellman cut that was in the 2019 box set Keep On Keeping On or is it a new cut altogether? And why on earth did Rhino place the hype sticker directly over Curtis’s name on the cover? Whatever the answers turn out to be, this one is looking like a must. NL
Prince and the Revolution: Around the World in a Day (7-inch box set) [Legacy Recordings]
To accompany their 3-LP expanded reissue of Prince and the Revolution’s Around the World in a Day—the brilliant but inevitably disappointing 1985 follow-up to Purple Rain—Sony Legacy and Warner have teamed up to milk the purple teat a little bit extra, with a 7-inch colored vinyl box set that includes the four singles from Around the World in a Day and a bonus 7-inch with two versions of “The Tears in Your Eyes,” the song Prince contributed to the We Are the World album. “She’s Always in My Hair” was B-side to both “Raspberry Beret” and “Paisley Park,” so it’s here twice—terrific song, but not sure that we needed the double dip. The other very good B-sides “Hello” and “Girl” are included, but since everything on these singles is also on the 3-LP version, this is really only of interest to 7-inch obsessives and format fetishists. Not that we’re judging. NL
WITCH: Fool’s Ride [Now-Again]
It’s no surprise that Zamrock has caught on with Western audiences in recent years—the fusion of African musical tropes with the harder-tinged psychedelic rock of the late ’60s and early ’70s remains both incredibly accessible and full of artistic inventiveness, offering a new vein of discovery for those burned out on classic rock. LA label Now-Again Records has done a commendable job of reissuing the ’70s catalog of Zambian band WITCH, beginning with the comprehensive We Intend to Cause Havoc box set in 2012 and then with individual re-releases of the five albums contained therein. At long last, that box’s sixth disc, a collection of 7-inch singles dating from the mid-’70s, is getting its own stand-alone vinyl release, and its eight tracks are prime examples of why WITCH became the leading lights of the Zamrock revival, with highlights like the riffy title track “Fool’s Ride” and the beat-shifting “Chifundo.” Pressed on “Deep Purple” colored vinyl—WITCH’s favorite band—the collection is a window into Zambia’s thriving artistic scene of the ’70s before it was decimated by politics, economics, and the AIDS epidemic. An “RSD First” release. NL
Bobby Womack: Live in London [Prestige Elite]
This 1991 gig kicks off with an extended vamp from the band before the backup vocalists sing “Bobby Womack...” to herald the legendary singer’s entrance to the stage. If there’s anything cooler than that, I haven’t heard it. What’s substantially less cool are the 1991-era synthesizers that do most of the heavy lifting during this otherwise terrifically performed set. Filling in for horns, pianos, organs, and strings, those crude MIDI sounds push out the contributions of an otherwise top-notch live band, turning what should have been a valedictory gig by an R&B legend into what sounds like a particularly energetic gospel brunch. Initially released on CD as Soul Sensation Live, the show boasts a setlist jam-packed with hits (“Across 110th Street” is missing, sadly) and a truly top-form Womack, so provided you can roll with all of those Korg and Roland timbres, this recording’s first vinyl release should be something to be mildly excited about. NL
