Nobody - All Too Familiar

Nobody is a producer from Los Angeles that has been making music for almost two decades. Over the course of his career, he’s released some absolutely classic albums, including one of my all-time personal favorites, Pacific Drift. Throughout the course of his career, he’s created his own path by blending all sorts of music and influences into his own gorgeous soundscape. His last project came out three years ago, when he dropped his EP, Prodigal Son.

Walter Gross - Rippers Only

Baltimore producer Walter Gross has been putting out his own unique brand of industrial and noisy hip hop and electronic music for several years now. His most frequent full-length album, Vestige, came out two years ago. Now he’s ready to follow that up with a slightly different album in Rippers Only. The interesting thing about Rippers Only is that Walter Gross challenged himself on this album to not only produce forty minutes worth of music, but to record each song in one take.

Onewerd - Timeless

Onewerd is a Bay Area emcee and producer who has been releasing music for over a decade. Most recently, he dropped his album, Alive, as part of Fake Four’s Freecember series in December of 2017. Now he comes back with one of his most ambitious full-length albums to date, Timeless. Onewerd has carved out a unique path for himself over the years by combining lyrical skills that were influenced by the likes of Living Legends and Heiroglyphics, and then combining them with an EDM-hyphy-boom bap style of production that really stood out from the pack.

Third Root - Trill Pedagogy: Spring Semester

San Antonio group Third Root has been making music for years, but they started their most current project, Trill Pedagogy, back in July of last year. Since that time, they’ve released a new EP for each semester. So now, after Summer, Fall, and Winter, we finally bring the project to a close with Spring Semester. As with the previous installments of the project, Third Root once again works with producer Adrian Quesada, but this time they also enlist some extra help from nu-cumbia artist El Dusty, who helps bring that Tex-Mex flavor to their hip hop.

Amerigo Gazaway - Endless Summer

Amerigo Gazaway is a producer originally from Nashville, now based in Berkeley. Over the years, he’s become best known for his mashup projects, putting artists into imaginary jam sessions, such as Lauryn Hill and Nina Simone, or Yasiin Bey and Marvin Gaye. However, this entire time, Gazaway has also been producing original material as well, such as No Free Beats: An Original Soundtrack, released last October. He now comes out with an original instrumental release just in time for the warmer weather, Endless Summer.

Swordplay - Malista

Swordplay is the stagename of one Isaac Ramsey, originally from Richmond, Virginia, but now residing in the Bay Area. He first started putting out music in 2005, but he’s been on an extended hiatus for the last few years. Now, with new music on the horizon, he and Milled Pavement Records have gone back and re-released his underrated 2009 album, Malista, for its ten-year anniversary. For the re-issue, C$ Burns went back and remastered everything, and the album was given new artwork done by Bill van Cutten, and two new bonus tracks are included with the limited edition cassette tape.

ePP - There's a Place for People Like You

ePP is an emcee from Portland, Oregon who has been making music for over a decade, in groups like TxE with Calvin Valentine, and as a solo artist. Just about a year ago, ePP paired back up with Calvin Valentine to make the Chrome Seats mixtape. Now ePP comes back with his latest solo album, There’s a Place for People Like You. There’s something to be said for not resting on one’s laurels, and for continuing to expand your sound and trying something new.

Mndsgn. - Snaxx

Mndsgn. has emerged over this decade as one of the more sought out and respected producers, between some solo instrumental releases and working with artists such as Ivan Ave and Prophet, just to name a couple. Just last year, he released a collection of remixes called Snax. Now, while we still wait on him to have a proper album finished, he tides us over again with a collection that is something of a beat tape, appropriately titled Snaxx.

Moka Only - Patina

Moka Only is the prolific emcee/producer from Vancouver who has been releasing music since the mid ‘90s. We last heard from him back in December, when he released Martian XMAS 2018, an annual tradition. Now he comes back with another new full-length, Patina. Moka Only has made a lot of albums over the course of his career, and apparently one of the things he likes to do to get his creative juices flowing is to go out into the woods with a thermos of coffee and take in the evolution and the nostalgia at the same time.

Bag of Tricks Cat - Felix Chevrolet

Bag of Tricks Cat is an emcee from Glendale, Arizona who has been putting out music since 2012. Most recently, he worked with Mega Ran to release the album Emerald Knights 2 in June of last year. Now he comes back with his third solo album, Felix Chevrolet. In case you’re wondering about the name, Bag of Tricks Cat has a grandmother named Ann Bennett, who sang the Felix the Cat theme song back in 1959.