Jenna Camille is a singer-songwriter originally from Atlanta, but now based in D.C., who has been releasing music since the mid-2010s. As it so happened, there was a trio called Columbia Nights that were getting started around the same time, making their own brand of neo-soul and jazz. It seemed like it was only a matter of time before these two acts crossed paths, which they did a couple of years ago.

Moor Mother is an artist from Philly that has been releasing music for nearly a decade now. She had an especially busy 2020, releasing a live album with Nicole Mitchell, collaborative projects with Yatta, Olof Melandor, and billy woods, and a concept album, Circuit City. In 2021, she announced that after a strong run on Don Giovanni, she would be embarking on a new phase of her career with Anti- Records.

Occasionally, hip hop artists will make a name change. Sometimes, it’s for legal reasons, other times to mark a distinct change in their career. Other time it can be an alias or reinvention as a new persona. Whatever the reason, when it happens, the precedent is for it to happen relatively early in the artist’s career. However, the idea of hip hop artists having a long enough career to reinvent themselves later in their career is still a relatively new phenomenon.

Stik Figa is an emcee now based in Fort Worth, but he came up in Topeka, Kansas. He’s been releasing music for over a decade, first breaking through with his Mello Music Debut, As Himself, in 2012. His last album came in May of 2020, when he dropped If It’s the Last Thing I Do. Now he’s teamed up with DFW producer DJ Sean P to create a project called East of MacVicor Ave.

Injury Reserve is a group out of Tempe that formed in 2013. They dropped a couple of mix tapes and an EP before finally releasing their self-titled debut full-length album in 2019. While that album was well-received and marked a huge step forward for the group, they suffered a devastating blow when member Stepa J. Groggs passed away at age 32 in 2020 due to unknown causes. For a second, the future of the group seemed up in the air, but the other two members, Ritchie With a T and Parker Corey, regrouped and decided the best way to honor their friend and bandmate was to keep making music.

J’Von is an emcee/producer from Seattle who has worked with artists like Ackryte and Lakim since he started putting out music in the early 2010s. His most recent release came in October of 2020, when he dropped the album Thunderboy. Now he’s back with a new full-length album, King Cheetah. In the not-too-distant past, J’Von accidentally wiped his computer and feared that everything was lost. While the majority of it was gone, he was able to recover the music on this album.

Dimitris Tentinis, aka Mister T, is a producer from Kavala, Greece. Since 2011, when he joined forces with Cold Busted, he has released six LPs, with the most recent, Black Drop, coming in 2019. Now he’s back with album number seven, Soul Shower. The good news about someone like Mister T is that there’s never a wrong time or place to jump into his catalogue. That’s because for all of the subtle innovations and changes to his music over the years, the funk remains constant, and the grooves are undeniable.

Wheelchair Sports Camp is the Denver-based musical project spearheaded by Kalyn, the emcee/producer of the group. They had their breakthrough moment in 2016 when they released their full-length album, No Big Deal. Since that time, there have been a couple of singles, sit-ins, and a mayoral campaign, but no full-length album. Well, as it turns out, they had been busy working on a production of Alice in Wonderland at the Phamaly Theater Company, creating an original soundtrack for the play.

Blockhead is a New York producer who’s been in the game for over two decades, working with everyone from Illogic to billy woods along the way. He started in on his solo instrumental career back in 2004, with Music by Cavelight, and he’s been pretty consistent with his output since then. While he’s released some beat compilations and remixes during quarantine, it’s actually been two years since his last proper solo album, Bubble Bath.

ELUCID and Von Pea have both been fixtures of the New York hip hop scene for over a decade, both as solo artists and as part of groups like Armand Hammer and Tanya Morgan, respectively, and both working as both emcees and producers. As much music as both of them have given us over the years, they had apparently been sitting on a collaborative project for about ten years now. Fortunately for us, they now felt it was finally the right time to put it out into the world, and we now get to enjoy Dirtee Deacon (In T.