Mo Moshiri - Can I Tell You Something?

Mo Moshiri is an emcee you probably know best as Mos Eisley from the Vancouver group known as Sweatshop Union. That group went strong, starting in the early ‘00s, all they way through 2013, when they released their last album, Infinite. Since that time, they’ve been on hiatus, with everyone taking their time to rejuvenate. Well, Moshiri seems plenty refueled and ready to go as he releases a solo album, Can I Tell You Something?

Happy Tooth & Dug - All In Your Head

The Columbus artists known as Dug and Happy Tooth have been making music together and separately for years. Both released excellent solo albums last year, with Dug giving us Dog and Happy Tooth giving us I’ve Been Meaning to Write the Meaning of Life. Now they’ve come back together as Happy Tooth & Dug, which not only implies the two of them, but four other instrumentalists to form a full live band.

Cyesm - The Sinner and the Priest

Cyesm is a producer from France who has been making music for over twenty years. Over the course of those twenty years, he hasn’t done just one thing musically, but many, many different things. Because his catalogue has been so varied over the years, when each new release comes along, I literally have no idea what it might sound like. It could be some trip hop, it could be classical, or it could be some experimental electronic music, just to name a few.

D-FAZ - OneNationUnderDog

D-FAZ is a new group featuring emcee BRZOWSKI and the “Studio Pirate” team from Lyon, France. They met up about 4 years ago while BRZOWSKI was on tour. After this initial meeting, they stayed in touch and kept seriously pursuing this project. Recently, the three-person “Studio Pirate” team brought in one more member, whom they call NoizeMaker. That seemed to be the missing ingredient, because we now have their finished debut album, OneNationUnderDog.

Kognitif - SOUL FOOD II

Kognitif is a producer from Poitiers, France who has been releasing music for about seven years. Three years ago, he released an instrumental project by the name of SOUL FOOD. Now he comes back with the sequel, simply titled SOUL FOOD II. If you just listened to the opening track of SOUL FOOD II, “The Soul,” you might think you have an idea of what the album is about, with it’s chilled out downtempo vibes.

Ruby Yacht - 37 Gems

Ruby Yacht is a collective/record label that was formed a few years back by R.A.P. Ferreira (fka Milo). After grinding for a few years and trying to catch on with some other indie labels, he essentially said, “fuck it,” and assembled a bunch of people he was working with on a fairly consistent basis anyway, which included Pink Navel, Randal Bravery, Kenny Segal, Safari Al, SB The Moor, Nostrum Grocers, and Christopher Misch-Bloxdorf.

Skyzoo & Pete Rock - Retropolitan

Skyzoo is an emcee from Brooklyn who has been going strong since 2006, when he released his 9th Wonder-produced debut, Cloud 9: The 3 Day High. Since that time, he’s released music on Duck Down Records and Mello Music Group, and worked with producers such as Illmind and Apollo Brown. His style has always been a classic New York sound that had it’s roots in the early ‘90s, so it only seems appropriate that he would finally pair up with a producer from that era.

Lucy Camp - Campfire [Mixtape]

Lucy Camp is a young emcee from San Jose who has been releasing music for about the past five years. Over that time, she’s garnered some attention through some EPs and mixtapes, and has worked with artists such as Fjer and Hectic Zeniths. Her most recent release came about a year ago, when she dropped her Summer Camp EP. Everything seemed like it was moving along well for Camp, with her popularity growing with each release and crushing appearances at The Cypher Effect.

Joe Armon-Jones - Turn to Clear View

Joe Armon-Jones is a jazz keyboardist from London who is part of The Ezra Collective, but he has recently been establishing himself as a solo artist as well. His first album, Starting Today, came out in May of last year. He’s now ready for round two, as he releases his sophomore album, Turn To Clear View. There are a few interesting things about this album, but the first things that struck me is that for being a jazz keyboardist, Turn To Clear View doesn’t feel like a keyboard album.

Sampa The Great - The Return

Sampa The Great is an emcee, poet, and singer from Sydney, although she was born in Zambia, raised in Botswana, and had spent a few years studying in California before making her home in Australia. She initially made a splash in 2015 when she released her first mixtape, and she’s continued to build on the momentum from there. This led to her releasing what was officially called a “mixtape,” Birds and the BEE9, in 2017 on Big Dada Records.