Alexander IV is the new alias of Dutch producer/muti-instrumentalist Joris Feiertag, who normally produces music under his last name. He first got a break playing drums for Kraak & Smaak, and then started releasing his own music in 2015. Now, after releasing his full-length album, Time to Recover, in 2021, he switches gears to Alexander IV to release Westbound EP. Sometimes different aliases are clearly defined by artists, and other times the lines are bit more blurred.

Fly Anakin is an emcee from Richmond, Virginia who has been releasing music for the last nine years. In that time, he’s collaborated with people like OhBliv and Butcher Brown, but he’s probably best known for his work with Pink Siifu. Last year, he released his breakthrough solo album, Frank. Now he’s back with a new project, Skinemaxx (Side A). Skinemaxxx (Side A) promises to be the first volume of at least two, so it will be curious to see what this develops into, but in the meantime, we can assess this project for what it is on its own.

Konejo is a producer from Paris who is has only started releasing music in the past three years, but he’s been working at a prolific pace since then, with all sorts of different projects to his name. Just this past December, we were given a two-volume set of remixes called The Moodygoer. Now he’s back with a different look, a project called Music to Kook By. For this project, Konejo is drawing upon the idea of a food traveler’s trip, and then interpreting that through a series of short, abstract beats that are meant to be listened to straight through.

Ackryte is a producer from Minneapolis who has been releasing music for over a decade now, collaborating with artists like J’Von and Broke and Repeat Pattern along the way. His most recent album, Spirits Up, came out at the beginning of 2022. Now he’s back with a new album, stillgood. The thing about someone like Ackryte is that he works in such a subtle fashion, it can be easy to take him for granted.

Dregs One is an emcee/producer from The Bay Area who has been releasing music since the mid-2000s. In that time, he’s worked with artists like Equipto, ill sugi, and Professa Gabel, just to name a few. Just this past fall, he released an album called Sucka Repellent. Now he’s back with a new EP done in collaboration with B.C. The Producer, Player Flavors. B.C. The Producer is an artist who has been part of the Bay Area hip hop scene since the late ‘90s, so it was only natural for him to hook up with Dregs One to make a project together like this.

In the fall of 2020, Vermont producer Rico James connected with producer JL of Boomslang. The two wanted to work together on a project, but since they couldn’t work in person, they developed a new challenge for each other, where one producer would select a drum break and send it to the other and encourage them to build out the beat from there. It pushed the two out of their respective comfort zones and got the creative juices flowing.

In fall of 2022, Wisconsin producers Chants and Gator Preserve launched Limited Resources Label. The idea is simple, yet a lot of fun. Producers are given a set of restrictions that are meant to fuel their creativity, and they set off to create an EP given those parameters. The last release came just a month ago from drowt, but now they have come right back with another new release, this time from London producer hmurd.

Backwoodz Studioz is the Brooklyn label co-founded by billy woods back in the 2000s, but it was really in the early 2010s when it hit its stride, with releases from woods and ELUCID, then expanding its roster to include artists like Willie Green, Henry Canyons, Curly Castro, PremRock, and duncecap, just to name a few. They already started off 2023 on a strong note with the release of SKECH185’s He Saved Nothing For the Swim Back.

Budamunk is a producer from Japan who has been releasing music for over a decade, working with everyone from Ill Sugi to Mr. Brady to J.Lamotta in the process. In 2015, he teamed up with fellow Japanese producer Fitz Ambrose to make an album called Budabrose. The two hit it off so well, they came back with Budabrose 2 in 2017. Now, after a hiatus, they have come back with Budabrose 3.

Alaska is an emcee from New York who is part of the great lineage of underground hip hop in the city, as part of both Atoms Family and Hangar 18. He’s been doing the solo thing for a while now, linking up with different artists as he sees fit, such as in 2021 when he and Jason Griff came together to make an album called Human Zoo. Now he’s teamed up with producer Steel Tipped Dove to drop another full-length album, The Structural Dynamics of Flow.