Brandon Isaac is an emcee from Cincinnati who has been releasing singles and mixtapes over the past couple of years, working with artists like Devin Burgess along the way. Now he’s finally ready to release his debut album, teaming up with Los Angeles producer Free Mind to drop The North Star. Many times, when an artist is dropping their debut album, they’ll look for big singles or a lot of fun songs or material that goes hard, all in the interest of making a name for themselves and opening up the door.

Julien Mier is a producer from the Netherlands who has been releasing music for over a decade, working with labels like Cascade, Project Mooncircle, and the Lowriders Collective along the way. Since 2019, when he dropped his album, Industries in the Trees, which concluded a run of environmentally inspired projects, he’s been working more and more under his alias, santpoort. The last santpoort release came just about a year ago, when he released the EP Loon Society.

Birmingham emcee/producer Akil Pratt has been on a tear in 2021, having already released collaborative projects with fellow Bham artists K1NG ELJAY and Phrasure. Showing no signs of slowing down, he’s now teamed up with 729 emcee OZU8BLACK to release a new full-length album, AkileeZ Heal. Sometimes you see a title with a clever twist on a word or phrase, and you might smirk or knowingly nod and then move on.

Emapea is a producer from Poland who started releasing music in the mid-2010s, with a great run on Cold Busted Records. Stateside, he’s probably best known for his 2020 collaboration with L.A.’s Kid Abstrakt, Jazzy Vibes. Now he’s back with a solo instrumental album, Bees, Trees and Flowers. If you’re not already familiar with Emapea, don’t worry, because Bees, Trees and Flowers is a great place to dive in and get started.

J. Lately is a Bay Area emcee who has been releasing music for over a decade now, working with people like Deuce Eclipse along the way. His most recent solo project came in March of last year, when he released Winnebago. Now he’s back with a new full-length album, Bodega. The name of the album doesn’t come from the corner store, but from the very small town of Bodega Bay in Sonoma County, California.

Arvo To Me is a Swedish producer who has been releasing music for about the last four years. The last time we heard from him was in 2019, when he dropped a project called Life’s a Party and You’re Not Invited. Now, after taking some time to make some life changes in an effort to grow personally and musically, he’s back with his brand new album, Into Change. After his last project, Arvo To Me was feeling stagnant, so he moved to an island off the mainland of Sweden to study and to let inspiration take hold.

mr. hong is a producer from the Bay Area who has been releasing music since 2015, when he dropped his debut EP, Colors. Just this past year, he teamed up with pastels to release a two-volume project called café a.m./café p.m., which told an instrumental narrative about a couple meeting in a café and spending the day and night together. Now he’s back with a different sort of project, 31, a mixtape for my sister.

Funky DL is a British emcee/producer who has been making music since the ‘90s. Substantial is an emcee/producer from PG County, Maryland who has been making music for just about as long. Years back, both artists found themselves in Tokyo working with the legendary producer Nujabes and eventually connected through him and became friends who collaborated here and there over the years on various projects. In 2015, they reconnected in person in Japan playing a tribute show, which led to a European tour in 2017 that brought Substantial through London, where they decided to work on a more realized project together.

Kiefer is a jazz pianist/producer who first came to prominence as a touring member of mndsgn.’s live band but broke out on his own with the release of his debut solo album, Kickinit Alone, in 2017. His most recent album, Between Days, was released just this past April. Now he’s already back with another project, When There’s Love Around. Going into this album, Kiefer split the project in half. The first half is about feeling small and insignificant and stressed, sweating the small stuff.

Cleo Sol is a singer-songwriter from London who has been working as part of the R&B/hip hop scene for years. After putting in her time on other projects, she finally released her debut solo album, Rose in the Dark, in March of last year. Now she’s gone through some life changes and the music reflects it in her latest full-length album, Mother. As you might have inferred from the title, Cleo Sol did in fact become a mother since we last heard from her.