Adrian Younge, Ali Shaheed Muhammad - The Midnight Hour: Lost Tapes JID028 (2026)

If the name The Midnight Hour isn't immediately familiar, the music almost certainly is. Ali Shaheed Muhammad is a founding member of A Tribe Called Quest, one of the most beloved groups in hip hop history. Adrian Younge is the Los Angeles-based composer, multi-instrumentalist, and producer who has shaped the sound of some of the most critically admired records of the past two decades. Together, they have been architects of the sound that serious listeners point to when they try to describe what great music feels like.

The music they had been making together had a life of its own. By 2018 it had become The Midnight Hour: their self-titled debut, recorded to tape with a live rhythm section and a full orchestra, and released to widespread acclaim. By 2020 the duo were deep into sessions for a second album — until Jazz Is Dead took over. The first albums in the series asked for everything they had, and The Midnight Hour was set aside, unfinished and unheard. Now those tapes have been unearthed. The album that stepped aside for Jazz Is Dead arrives to close its third series. Full circle.