In Those Shoes is latest work from musician Mark Dowdell, who began releasing self-produced EPs under the name Ark Arsenal last summer. In the course of a little over a year, he has shown noticeable growth. With more of a rock background, his first EP found a territory somewhere in the prog-rock/post-rock area. It showed promise, but wasn’t especially interesting or unique. Fast forward sixteen months, and the leap forward in quality is noteworthy.

Last year, Detroit emcee Boog Brown teamed up with producer Apollo Brown to create the full length album, The Brown Study. She had released a few mixtapes previously, but this served as her first proper album and an introduction to a larger fan base. While her notoriety has grown, a lot of people still haven’t realized her talent yet. To re-introduce herself before her next album is ready, we get a full length remix album of The Brown Study.

Rounding out a year that has seen him touring, protesting, releasing mix tapes, and joining the Skyrider Band to make one of the strongest and most unique albums of the year, Sole comes back one more time with the Skyrider Band to give us this four-song EP. Most artists would use this as an opportunity to release something fun at the end of the year, just something to say thanks to their fans.

Small Professor is a producer from Philadelphia who has been slowly building a following over the course of this year with his “Jawn” series of EPs. This is the fourth installment in the series, and as you can guess from the title, it’s a collection of songs without homes. The second installment, Elderly Jawns, was the most fully formed and far reaching effort, but that isn’t to say that Leftover Jawns doesn’t have it’s moments.

Emcee Mikal kHill from the North Carolina nerdcore group Thoughtcriminals first approached Pennsylvania producer Romero Shaw (Sage Francis, Sadistik) about working together on an EP seven years ago. It took longer than expected to make the project finally come together, but when it did, they realized that they would have enough material for a full length album. If you’re expecting fun songs about video games or comics, though, this isn’t the release for you.

Christopher Cajigas spends his days teaching social studies to kids in the Bronx and Brooklyn, and that commitment to his community shines through when he performs as the emcee Chilo. The Irish-Puerto Rican American is a student of classic New York hip hop, dropping a fair mix of socially aware lyrics and battle rhymes over a steady serving of boom bap. With his booming low voice, he can drop lines with authority.

A Loud Heart is the pairing of Minneapolis emcee Guante with singer-songwriter Claire Taubenhaus. They also bring in upright bass and cello on a couple of their songs. When done well, a project in this style can be really moving, but when done poorly can come across as the most ridiculously pretentious and self-righteous coffee house music. Unfortunately, A Loud Heart is the latter. Taubenhaus is a good singer-songwriter, and she’s got a strong voice, but she doesn’t really get the chance to shine or do anything interesting on this EP.

Do you hate hip hop but love irony? Then Lakutis is for you! Of course this should come as no surprise from an emcee coming out of the Das Racist camp. It should also come as no surprise that the press releases regarding his debut EP is just as steeped in everything you learn to hate about PR, where idiots try to convince you that because he has a look and you can put all sorts of labels on him, that he should be enjoyed.

2011 has been a year of building blocks for Zero Star. The Columbus emcee started of the year with a three song EP, followed it up in the summer with a longer EP, and is now closing out the year with a full length album. With only one album to his name prior to this year released in 2006, it certainly signifies a step up in commitment to his music. Everything he’s released up until this point hinted that something special is coming.

D.C. emcee/producer and Diamond District member yU emerged as a solo artist last year with his debut release Before Taxes. A lot of people slept on it (including this publication), but it was a very strong debut from a mature artist with clear vision. In case you still haven’t caught up with him yet, yU came right back with a sophomore effort that’s even stronger than his first. the EARN is an incredibly complex album that features a top tier emcee painting a stark portrait of a struggling artist in a period of nationwide economic strife.