Shadee Clarke is an emcee from New Jersey who has been performing under the name MoShadee for most of his career. His first album, Groove Street, came out in 2011, and he followed that up with an EP the same year, and then another album, love & other things, in 2014. Since that time, however, it’s mostly been one or two songs released here and there. That all changes now as he remerges as Shadee Clarke, with a new full-length album, Flowers Bloom, produced by Ohbliv and released on Mutual Intentions.

Some artists might feel like they have to release a “big” album to make a comeback or to mark their return to the spotlight, but not Clarke. Call it confidence, or maybe it’s just the headspace that he was in when it came time to make this album, but this about as personal and lowkey as a hip hop album can get. In saying that, it makes sense to work with a producer like Ohbliv, who works in a complementary soulful and subtle way, cooking up these jazzy downtempo grooves that Clarke can hop on and sit back in the pocket and just start spitting about how he feels and where he is in his life. With a raspy voice and smooth flow, it often feels like Clarke is just having a conversation with you as he raps about his family, his station in life, and his hopes and his dreams. It’s definitely the type of album that sounds great on headphones as you walk around on a cool winter day as you soak in all of the lyricism that Clarke is laying down and you get to know him as an artist and as a person. This is already great, but then as an added bonus, Ohbliv has worked in some key vocal samples as transition points in between a few songs that give you just that much more food for thought and takes the album up a notch.

Whether this is your introduction to Shadee Clarke or your reintroduction, Flowers Bloom is a welcome next chapter for the artist. It’s mature and soulful, understated and beautiful, and just a wonderful way to get to know an artist on a personal level.