Walz is a producer originally from Rhode Island, but currently residing in Dallas. He’s only been putting out music for a couple of years, but he’s made some big strides in that short amount of time. After pushing himself really hard in one direction over the last two years, Walz decided to take a step back and do something different – namely, producing the type of jazz album he might have sampled from.

Chicago/Minneapolis emcee Psalm One has been one of the baddest to pick up a mic ever since she dropped her debut album, Death of the Frequent Flyer, back in 2006. Since that time, she’s seen some ups and downs in her career, including a very public falling out with Rhymesayers, but while all that happened, she never stopped making dope music. This includes one of the best albums of the decade, Psalm One Loves You (P.

Chris Orrick is the Michigan emcee who first came to prominence as a member of Ugly Heroes, back when he was rapping under the name Red Pill. Starting with his 2018 solo album, Portraits, he decided to start using his given name on his releases. Going back to his 2016 release, Instinctive Drowning, Orrick made a marked shift in tone in his material as he opened up much more about his personal life and mental health.

Wordsworth is a Brooklyn emcee who’s been going strong since the late ‘90s, first as part of the group Punch ‘N’ Words, then as a solo artist. Over the years, he’s collaborated with everyone from A Tribe Called Quest to Masta Ace to JSOUL to Sam Brown. Now, two years after his last album, Our World Today, he’s teamed up with Washington Heights emcee Pearl Gates to release their first LP as a duo, Champion Sounds.

Sometimes musical journey’s can be quite fascinating. Back in 2011, when The Internet was announced as a side project for Odd Future’s Syd, the group certainly had a different sound and style compared to where they are at today. One of the factors that helped shift that style was the addition of young guitarist and producer Steve Lacy, who joined the group for their 2015 album, Ego Death. Since that time, his career has really taken off, and he’s worked with everyone from Kendrick Lamar to Vampire Weekend.

Slugabed is a British producer who has been releasing music for about a decade now. Over the years, he has caught a few ears, releasing projects on labels such as Ninjatune and anticon., and has been associated with a wide variety of hip hop and electronic music. His most recent release came last year, when he dropped an EP by the name of Pandemonium. Now he’s returned with one of his most ambitious and challenging projects to date, any attempt to control the environment or the self by means that are either untested or untestable, such as charms or spells.

Freddie Joachim is a SoCal deejay and producer who has been releasing music since 2008, along with co-running the Mellow Orange label. The last time we heard from him was back in 2017, when he released the beat tape Drifting. Now he’s come back with a more ambitious project on Jakarta Records, Beyond the Sea of Trees. For Beyond the Sea of Trees, Freddie Joachim lays down some of the smoothest, mellow jazz and downtempo hip hop you will hear all year.

Terri Walker is a vocalist from London who has been releasing music for over fifteen years now. Her last release came back in 2015, when she released her album, Entitled. Now she teams up with an old collaborator, Joe Buhdha, to release a new EP, Breakout. Breakout is sweet and to the point as an EP, in the way that only two veterans like Walker and Buhdha can put it together.

s.al, fka Safari Al, is an artist from Kenosha, Wisconsin, and part of the Ruby Yacht crew. He’s been going strong since the beginning of the decade, although most of his output has been of the smaller and abstract variety, as opposed to some big full-length statement albums, so he has flown under the radar for a lot of people. His most recent output came back in 2017, when he released Little Man, You’ve Had a Busy Day.

Libretto is an emcee from Portland, Oregon who dropped his debut album all the way back in 2004, back when Dim Mak was releasing post-punk/indie rock. Unfortunately, despite the signing, things didn’t take off the way they should have amidst a changing musical landscape, and in a few years, Libretto found himself struggling to maintain and found himself in prison. Fortunately, since he got out, Libretto has found support in the way of Liquid Beat Records, also based in Portland, who have already released a couple of singles, EPs, and two volumes of Gangsta Jazz albums with him.