El Michels Affair Enter The 37th Chamber 15th Anniv. Ed.

Featuring reinterpretations of hip hop anthems from the Wu-Tang Clan, the album took stripped-down, raw hip hop bangers and flipped them into richly-arranged instrumentals. Cover versions of tracks such as “C.R.E.A.M.” and “Can It All Be So Simple” instantly sounded as vintage as the records that RZA had sampled to create the originals, with the familiar melodies and driving rhythms elevated by expertly-arranged horns and strings. The gritty and bottom-heavy style of these analog recordings—dubbed “Cinematic Soul”—has been both widely celebrated and often imitated. El Michels Affair namesake Leon Michels has since gone on to produce for and collaborate with artists as diverse as Adele, Black Thought, Lana Del Rey, and The Carters (Beyonce & Jay-Z). Now 15 years from its initial release, “Enter the 37th Chamber” has proven to be one of the true classic instrumental albums of its era, every bit as enduring as the music it had meant to pay homage to.