Ben Buck and BoomBaptist have been staples of the Austin hip hop scene for a few years, with both artists delivering a wide variety of projects and killer live shows. Since releasing Speaker Bump Deluxe in October of 2020, Buck has released some singles and instrumentals, but now that he teamed up with BoomBaptist, he’s ready to step back on the mic and deliver some killer raps with The Marquee.

DJ Harrison is a producer/multi-instrumentalist from Richmond, Virginia. He is known to a lot of people as the keyboard player in Butcher Brown, but he’s also been doing his thing as a solo artist for nearly ten years. In 2017, he made his debut on Stones Throw with the album, HazyMoods. Now he’s back with an ambitious follow up, Tales From the Old Dominion. For this album, Harrison wanted to make an album that reflected his Black Southern heritage, as well as just reflect how he moves through the world and hears different influences.

One of the best traditions in independent hip hop is Fake Four’s Freecember, in which the label releases one EP per week in the month of December from lesser known artists for free on their Bandcamp page. Last year included releases from Chief and the Doomsday Device, Anthony Maintain, Virgil Wolfe, and Two Weeks Notice. This year they are starting off the series with an EP from SB The Moor & Progeny, Sleeping in Seattle.

Foolish Immortals is the duo consisting of Toronto artist Birdapres and Vancouver artist Jeff Spec. Both have been releasing music for over twenty years, with Spec splitting time between a solo career and working with groups like City Planners and Soviets. The two have now joined forces to drop their first album together, Illustration. If you’ve spent the time with these artists, you know that it wasn’t that much of a stretch to imagine what they might sound like together as a duo.

TINO is an emcee born and raised in Cleveland, but now based in Dayton. He’s been releasing music for the last ten years, with various side projects along the way including Sidekick and Safe Money. His last solo release came out in 2020, when he dropped the Past Due (Deluxe) EP. Now he’s back with a new full-length album, Never Worried About Tomorrow. The majority of the album is produced by Nick Robison, with additional tracks from Blueprint and Rizo.

Just this past March, Birmingham artists Akil Pratt and K1NG ELJAY teamed up for a project called Perfect Timing. In August, Pratt teamed up with another Birmingham artist, OZU8LACK, to release an album called AkileeZ Heal. For most artists, that would have been enough, but Pratt ran it back for a third time, this time getting them all on the same project to make an album called Flags on Saturn.

NDN Collective is an organization with a home base in South Dakota, but they are a national organization built around the idea of spreading collective power amongst the Native American populations to exercise their inherent right to self-determination. With the idea that “Every revolution needs a soundtrack,” NDN Collective is now presenting a compilation album led by Nataani Means and Antoine called Landback, giving you a look at the current state of Native American hip hop and shining a light on the issues they face.

Teeth Agency is the collaboration between London producer Jesse Hackett and Chicago artist Mariano Chavez. The experimental duo made their debut on Stones Throw with 2020’s Piano Man Breeds Love, and then followed that up with You Don’t Have To Live in Pain, which came out in March of this year. Now they are switching gears slightly for their latest album, Cherry Blossom Child. On Cherry Blossom Child, the music was recorded by in 2019 when Hackett took a trip to Portugal with his daughter, Wonder.

Career Crooks is the pairing of Philly and Wrecking Crew members Zilla Rocca and Small Professor. While they had been friends and collaborators for years, they didn’t officially make their debut as a duo until 2017, when they released their first LP, Good Luck With That. While they have both kept busy with a myriad of different projects since that time, they have now come back together to release their sophomore album, Never at Peace.

Skipp Whitman is an emcee originally from Brookline, but he’s been based in Los Angeles for a couple of years now. He’s been releasing music for about fifteen years, with his most recent album, Struggle Raps, made with producer ANIMALMILK!, coming out in December of 2020. He’s now back for another round with ANIMALMILK!, now releasing 8K. If Struggle Raps is the album with ANIMALMILK!, 8K feels like the companion mixtape.