Skipp Whitman is an emcee originally from Brookline, Massachusetts, but now residing in Los Angeles. He’s been releasing music for over a decade now, with his last project, Baclava Betty, coming out in summer of last year. Now he’s back with a new project done in collaboration with Atlanta producer Spittzwell, California.

While Spittzwell is from Atlanta, in listening to this EP, he could have fooled me, because the production on here sounds very West Coast. It’s classic boom bap, with a bright and sunny feel and a laid back swagger to it. It’ll sound great blasting out of your car stereo when you cruise around as the weather warms up. This fits Whitman perfectly, who steps to the mic with a delivery that manages to be clear, direct, melodic, and playful all at once. Over the course eight tracks, Whitman is rhyming about everything from navigating Los Angeles without a car to the personal relationships in his life to his complicated relationship with weed, and everything in between. When you combine this with Spittzwell’s production, you get a project that feels very conversational, albeit with great hooks and beats that bump as well. Whitman is also making this feel more like a party by bringing in a lot of guests, including Francois the Great, Jeremy Jones, Jarren Benton, 4IZE, Emmitt James, LicFont Shanton, HMZA, Junior Lledo, and Jamai Fisher. Everybody gets a chance to shine and add some flavor to the project, but no one stands out as much as La Bell on “Love,” who just cuts through the noise with a great combination of charisma, wordplay, and honest poetry that will have you running to learn more about the artist.

California is another solid release from Skipp Whitman. He found a great collaborator in Spittzwell, and he brought along a lot of other talented artists, and together they made some great West Coast hip hop that will have you dreaming of sunnier days.