Pep Love is a Bay Area emcee who is best known for his work with Heiroglyphics. Much like the rest of the group, he’s also led a fruitful solo career over the years, with his last solo effort coming with the 2017 EP, Fly Philosophy. Now he joins up with German label Jakarta Records to release a new EP a part of their dubplate series, Magnam Ostium.

For the EP, Pep Love teams up with Oakland producer pAS dOO, a relative newcomer who has in recent years put out music on Hot Record Societe. In listening to Magnam Ostium, though, you’ll hear a duo that sounds like they have been working together for years – their chemistry is just that good. pAS dOO is laying down some really bright and sunny laid back boom bap beats, and Pep Love is just sitting in the pocket spitting his rhymes like he has been for over twenty years. The real key here is that Pep Love has a real knack for balancing verbal acrobatics, self-reflection, and spreading messages of positivity in his lyrics, all without falling into any of the pitfalls of sounding preachy or cheesy. It’s got good hooks and it’s easy to listen to, the kind of release that will sound great in your car as you drive around in sunny weather. It’s the type of release that just feels good and immediately feels familiar, like you’ve been listening to it for years. If you want a crash course on how to be an emcee, listen to Magnam Ostium.

Jakarta could certainly do a lot worse than picking Pep Love to contribute to their dubplate series with Magnam Ostium. Pep Love didn’t overthink anything for this project. He picked a producer he had good chemistry with, trusted his skills on the mic, and then just fired off six really good West Coast hip hop songs that will make your day just a little bit brighter.