Like a killer bee mid-swarm, time flies. As of this year it’s been a quarter-century since the release of Enter the 36 Chambers, Wu Tang’s mesmerizing first missive from Shaolin. To celebrate 25 years of Wu, the Staten Island crew have put together the appropriately titled “Gods of Rap” tour, an event so packed with hip-hop heavyweights, it’s difficult to fit them all in one blurb. On top of a nearly full Wu line-up (no Method Man), the night includes legends including Erik B & Rakim, De La Soul and Pharcyde.

Wu-Tang Clan
Sat, 7pm, $35+
Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View

For more than 10 years now, Record Store Day, the annual celebration of locally owned, brick-and-mortar music shops, has stoked the passions of music lovers all over the country. Every year, artists release new and previously unheard music, along with bootlegs and reissues—often in collectable formats, including vinyl and cassette.

Below are some of the choice titles that you might be able to get your hands on if you visit Streetlight or Rasputin. But don’t forget to visit other local shops. Look to On the Corner Music in Campbell for great bargains on used records. Be sure to factor in some serious browsing time in order to comb through the massive selection at The Record Man in Redwood City. And be prepared to tap into your savings account after listening to the high-fi audio equipment at The Analog Room in San Jose.

Neil Young
Tonight’s the Night Live
Revered and reviled in equal measure, Tonight’s The Night is an almost mythical release for Neil Young fans. Though it has some of his best songs and was named one of the 500 best rock albums of all time by Rolling Stone, it is also difficult, obstinate and drunk with grief. This live album (from a two-night stint at the Roxy) was the first performance of the songs that would haunt a generation.

Arcade Fire
Arcade Fire EP
The first release by Win Butler and crew, this self-titled seven-song EP is available on vinyl for the first time ever. Originally appearing in 2003, the album features one song that was later re-recorded for Neon Bible (“No Cars Go”), as well as a few that have been staples of live sets over the years. Perfect for completists, or anyone interested in following the band’s development over the years.

The Dap Kings
A Closer Look At The Dap-Kings
Destined to become a DJ staple, this collection of instrumental tracks by one of the greatest live bands this side of Y2K is sure to go quick. The Dap Kings were the backing band for almost the entire neo-soul movement of the early 21st century, laying down the tracks for Amy Winehouse, Charles Bradley and Sharon Jones—all of whom are sadly gone. Now this release allows listeners to hear the detail in all its glory.

Chicano Batman
Chicano Batman
The long-out-of-print self-titled full length by L.A.’s Chicano Batman gets a limited reissue treatment for Record Store Day, this time with new artwork. Celebrated for their soulful mix of psychy ’60s rock and good ol’ party vibes, they’ve been a singular (and funky) voice in Latin rock since this album dropped in 2009. A testament to their timelessness, it still sounds as fresh today as it did then. Limited to 3,000 copies.

Courtney Barnett
The Double EP: A Sea of Split Peas
On the strength of these two EPs, Courtney Barnett went from playing Melbourne bars to Saturday Night Live. Now reprinted on picture disc for Record Store Day, this edition comes with goodies like a Mom+Pop Records 10-year poster, and a Barnett temporary tattoo. Originally released in 2014 (before she collaborated with Kurt Vile), the record includes the hit “Avant Gardener,” which established Barnett as something of this generation’s Lou Reed and launched her career in the process.

Waxahatchee & Kevin Morby
Dark Don’t Hide It / Farewell Transmission
Jason Molina’s untimely death in 2013 haunted many in the music community. In life, the singer of Songs: Ohia and Magnolia Electric Co. seemed dogged by an incredible pain, following him around like a shadow. This split from Katie Crutchfield (aka Waxahatchee) and Kevin Morby (Woods, The Babies) comprises two covers of beloved Molina songs as a fundraiser for Musicares, a nonprofit that offers mental health services to musicians. Beautiful music for an important, oft-overlooked cause.

Notorious B.I.G.
Juicy 12-inch
Yes, this is only one track and, yes, it was originally released way back in 1994 (and can still be heard regularly today), but “Juicy” is without a doubt one of the best hip-hop songs of all time. From the beat, to the impossibly catchy chorus, to the pitch perfect rags-to-riches lyrics, this is the song every emcee in the game wishes they wrote. A must for every party, DJ set and collector alike. Biggie lives on.

Wu Tang Clan
Enter the Wu Tang (36 Chambers) on Cassette
Why give Enter the Wu Tang a cassette tape release in 2018? Because if you want to hear Wu Tang the way Wu Tang first heard Wu Tang, this is it. When it was released in ’93, the tape was the dominant format for demos and studio bounces. Plus it has a different sound than vinyl—it’s grimier and more boomy, which makes it perfect for this famously gritty record, and one of the best albums in hip-hop.

The Ramones
Sundragon Sessions
One of the rarest items on this list is the Sundragon Sessions by the Ramones. Recorded in ’76, these were demos for the band’s second album, Leave Home, and were only released recently as part of that record’s 40th anniversary box set. If you didn’t get the box set then, or simply want these gems on vinyl, this is the one and only way to do so. Limited to a worldwide run of 10,000.

Czarface & MF Doom
Man’s Worst Enemy 7”
Inspectah Deck often gets forgotten in the rouges gallery that is the Wu Tang Clan, but he’s had a renewed sense of purpose in the hip-hop supergroup Czarface. This new 7” is meant to be played along with the accompanying comic book that serves as the record’s insert. It’s a (graphic) novel usage of media, and one makes the case for the physical record over streaming in a whole new way.

For his 10th studio album, Wu-Tang Clan affiliate Killah Priest went big. Really big. The Psychic World of Walter Reed, is a sprawling two-disc conceptual record that covers everything from rugged street-hardened tales of dope dealing and gun running, as well as cosmic journeys to the ends of the universe. The album features guest verses from Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, and Inspectah Deck, and production credits from RZA and GZA.

But Priest wasn’t done just yet. On Aug. 9, the Brooklyn-born rapper secured Kickstarter funding for his book, The Psychic World of Walter Reed—an accompaniment to the record of the same name. He is bringing his book to San Jose this week.

On Wednesday, Sept. 24, Priest will be at Back Bar SoFA, talking about and signing copies of his new book, which he compares to the type of illuminated manuscripts commissioned by various world religions and rulers over the ages to record histories in large books that paired hand-written text and highly ornate illustrations—usually with gold and silver leafing.

Speaking with Metro, Priest says the book will contain lyrics from the album, as well as verses and poetry that have never appeared on any Killah Priest recording.

Reading the book, fans will get an inside look at how Priest works, he explains. “They’re going to get the process of how I create,” he says. “They’re gonna get the writing process.”

Priest says that it made sense to make the book to accompany Walter Reed, an album that examines the entirety of his life and career. “This album is more of a mystic journey,” he says, explaining that the book and the album are meant to be taken and considered together, as one—like two artifacts recovered from an ancient tomb. “I didn’t have the crystal ball, but I had the missing book.”

“I’m excited,” he says, noting that he has always been interested in the metaphysical, and the concept of time. He recalls that he was blown away the first time he learned about different time zones. “Ever since I was small, I always had a fascination with how things are created. In science class I was kinda good. In math class I was kinda good.”

Killah Priest will also perform some songs during his appearance at Back Bar SoFA on Sept. 24 at 9pm. More info.

Thousands of hip hop fans showed up to Shoreline Amphitheatre for two days of Rock the Bells music festival, headlined by Wu-Tang Clan and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony performing alongside holograms of deceased rappers Ol’ Dirty Bastard and Eazy-E, respectively.

A$AP Mob, KRS One, Kid Cudi, Rakim, Common and Kendrick Lamar were among other highlights at the festival. Metro photographer Orrian Willis was there to capture the action.

“Obviously, people are going to make assumptions based on who my father is,” says Salvador Santana. To put it another way, they’re not expecting the son of Latin-rock superstar Carlos Santana to be collaborating with Del the Funky Homosapien, GZA from Wu-Tang Clan, or Mellow Man Ace, younger brother of Cypress Hill’s Sen Dog.

But that’s because they don’t know how hip-hop shaped Salvador Santana’s world.

“I was a high school kid bumping Wu-Tang. I grew up listening to Cypress Hill,” says Santana.

Those are the influences that shaped his own music, a party-ready mix of rock grooves, rap beats and electro overlay. The 28-year-old Santana—who plays Friday’s “Last Days of Avalon” show with El Chicano, saluting the Santa Clara club as it plans to close its doors June 30—has definitely found his own way.

“My father wanted me to learn drums at a very young age. I started playing at 2 or 3,” he says. “You have to have what we call ‘pocket’—a sense of rhythm, a sense of tempo.”

Around five or six he was encouraged to pick up a guitar, but he naturally gravitated to piano.

“The piano just made sense to me. It’s like an orchestra at my fingertips,” he says.