Funkmammoth - Thanks!
Written by Chi Chi Thalken on February 25, 2021
Funkmammoth is a producer based in Lincoln, Nebraska, previously based in Ames, Iowa. His last release, Retirement Resort, came out last July, a fun escapist collection of instrumental hip hop to take your mind off of the quarantine. Now he’s back with a straightforward EP, simply titled Thanks!
Sometimes you don’t need a project to be anything than what it is in its most basic terms. What I mean by that is that there is no secret formula to enjoying Thanks!

Javier Santiago - Verses Vol. 2
Written by Chi Chi Thalken on February 24, 2021
Javier Santiago is a keyboardist/producer originally from Minneapolis, earning his jazz chops by studying first at the Brubeck Institute in Stockton and then at The New School. Since that time, he’s played with everyone from Greg Grease to Theo Croker, as well as carving out a solo career. Most notably, he released his solo album, Phoenix, on Ropeadope in 2018. Also in 2018, though, came an collaborative EP called Verses. Now he returns to the concept of that project with Verses Vol.

The Damn Straights - The Damn Straights EP
Written by Chi Chi Thalken on February 24, 2021
About four years ago, British producer Lack of Afro traveled to New York and recorded a bunch of tracks with Herbal T. After other projects got in the way, along with having kids, and oh yeah, a global pandemic, they finally got back on track and have their first EP, self-titled, under the name The Damn Straights.
This EP is not for the faint of heart. I say that because even though this EP is only four songs long, it starts at 11, continues at 11, and then finishes up at 11.

Riders Against the Storm - Flowers for the Living
Written by Chi Chi Thalken on February 23, 2021
The husband and wife duo of Chaka and Qi Dada, otherwise known as Riders Against the Storm, have been part of the Austin hip hop scene for about twelve years, going back to a time when there wasn’t as much of a scene to talk about. Since that time, they’ve helped electrify that scene, especially with their wild live shows and organizing events like Body Rock and RAS Day. While they have released some singles and remixes over the past couple of years, it’s been a minute since we got a proper album from them.

Juan Cosby - Quantum Foam
Written by Chi Chi Thalken on February 23, 2021
Juan Cosby is a producer from Cincinnati that is part of the group Counterfeit Money Machine, alongside AP and Kill Bill. He released his first solo album, Inhospitable Planet, back in 2017, and followed that up with Immortal Jellyfish in 2019. Keeping this pace up, he’s now back with his third solo album, Quantum Foam.
As with his previous two albums, Quantum Foam is a vocal compilation album. It’s a tough format to pull off, but Cosby has had a pretty successful go of it the first two times with it, so it should come as no surprise that he does well with the format on Quantum Foam.

Regina N. Bradley - Chronicling Stankonia: The Rise of the Hip-Hop South
Written by Chi Chi Thalken on February 22, 2021
Dr. Regina N. Bradley is an assistant professor of English and African diaspora studies at Kennesaw State University. In 2017, she published a collection of short stories called Boondock Kollage: Stories From the Hip-Hop South. In 2019, she started a podcast for WABE (NPR Atlanta) alongside music journalist Christina Lee called Bottom of the Map. Now she presents a book exploring the far reaches of the impact of Outkast, Chronicling Stankonia: The Rise of the Hip-Hop South.

Ol' Burger Beats & Vuyo - Dialogue.
Written by Chi Chi Thalken on February 22, 2021
Ol’ Burger Beats is a Norwegian producer who has been putting out music for close to the last ten years. Over that time, he’s released some solo material, but also collaborated with artists such as Kjartan Gaulfossen and Side Brok. Back in 2015, he met an emcee by the name of Vuyo at a gig, but it wasn’t until they reconnected three years later that they decided that they should make an album together.

Guohan - Lost Sound Book
Written by Chi Chi Thalken on February 22, 2021
Guohan Zeng, or just Guohan as he goes by professionally, was born in Ningo, China. In 2011, he packed things up and moved to Nottingham, where he quickly fell into the music scene, forming the experimental jazz/hip hop group Three Body alongside Pete Beardsworth and Tom Towle, who released their self-titled album last year. Now he’s back with his debut solo album, Lost Sound Book.
As you begin your journey into Lost Sound Book, you might think that you have the album figured out after a couple of tracks.

The Lasso - 2121
Written by Chi Chi Thalken on February 19, 2021
As Lando Chill established himself as one of the most exciting young voices to emerge in hip hop over the last five years with a brilliant three-album run, another artist emerged right alongside him – a producer who by the name of The Lasso. After they released Black Ego in 2018, they both moved away from Tucson, with Chill headed to L.A. and The Lasso headed back home to Detroit. Since that time, The Lasso has been extremely productive, dropping a solo album, The Sound of Lasso, and then releasing albums with Psyspiritual, Chris Orrick, and ELUCID.

Lava La Rue - Butter-Fly
Written by Chi Chi Thalken on February 19, 2021
Lava La Rue is a musician/visual artist that has been releasing music as a solo artist and as part of the collective NiNE8. While they released a couple of singles last year, it was really 2019, when they released the mixtape STITCHES, when we last got a fully realized project from La Rue. Now we get to hear what La Rue has been working on over the past year with their new EP, Butter-Fly.
