Over the years, there have been a few things that hip hop fans have come to expect every December. None are as longstanding and consistent as Vancouver emcee/producer Moka Only’s Martian XMAS series of albums. After a year of relative quiet from the prolific artist, he has come back once again with Martian XMAS 2018. If you’re unfamiliar with the series, Moka’s not producing straight up Christmas albums, instead opting for a general December/Winter/Holidays theme.

One of the best things that Fat Beats has done is recent years is the launch of their Baker’s Dozen series of releases. The idea behind the series is to get some of the finest instrumental producers across the globe to submit to a pretty simple format – twelve instrumental tracks, with one bonus track to be pressed in limited numbers as a flexi disc, to make it a baker’s dozen.

Mega Ran is an artist who has been making music for a long time now, and at a very steady pace. He’s also an artist who loves to work with other artists, regardless of their renown. If he likes and respects you as an artist, he’s down to trade verses. In fact, just earlier this year he released an album with Bag of Tricks Cat, Emerald Knights 2. To close out the year, Mega Ran has finally decided to release a compilation of some of his favorite collaborations, The Visitor.

Otis Jr. and Dr. Dundiff are a vocalist and producer, respectively, both from Louisville. They only met and started working together in 2016, before releasing their debut EP on Jakarta. Just last year in March, they released their first album as a duo, Hemispheres. Now they are back with their second album, Cool. The reason that people will remark on how shortly Otis and Dundiff have been working together is that it’s remarkable how quickly they hit their stride.

We are into the second week of Freecember, that time of year when Fake Four starts releasing free EPs from acts that need more attention. Last week, we got a collaboration between Iowa R&B artist Soultru and Seattle producer Progeny. This week, we get an EP from MC Homeless called Sex & Death. This is MC Homeless, an artist from Ohio who recently collaborated with BRZOWSKI on a split release, and not the artist from Minneapolis who is best known for his work with Big Cats, just in case there was any confusion.

Five years ago, Philly-by-way-of-New-York emcee Curly Castro hit the scene in a major way when he dropped his solo album, Fidel. Since that time, we’ve gotten some different collaborative projects. While those have been enjoyable, fans have still been patiently waiting for the proper follow-up solo album to Fidel. Now that wait is finally over as Castro now drops Tosh. For Tosh, Castro seeks to bring together his heritage of the West Indies, Brooklyn, and Philly.

Dug is an emcee and producer from Columbus, best known for his work alongside the artist known as Happy Tooth. With Happy Tooth releasing his own solo album, I’ve Been Meaning To Write The Meaning Of Life, in October, it’s only right that Dug release his own solo album now, Dog. The overall sound of Dog is a blend of a lo-fi punk rock, twee, hip hop, and funk, played with the energy of a house party.

It’s that time of year known around these parts as Freecember. Freecember is the yearly tradition of Fake Four releasing EPs of lesser known artists for free, in hopes of getting them more exposure. Previous participants include Dope Knife, Onewerd, and Tommy V. This year, the tradition kicks off with a collaboration between Iowa soul singer Soultru and Seattle producer Progeny, who give us their self-titled EP. Progeny is a producer who has been part of groups such as hERON, Ghost Palace, and Chisme.

Ultra Suede is a new-ish Doomtree-adjacent project from Minneapolis producers DJ Fundo, MAKR, and AJAB. A little over a year ago, they were holding down a showcase series in the Twin Cities area, establishing themselves as a public presence amongst the bustling hip hop scene there. Now they are finally ready to release their first album and take their music nationwide and beyond. DJ Fundo is probably the best known member of the group, since he has served as tour DJ for P.

Last year, Detroit artist Illa J paired up with L.A. producer Calvin Valentine to drop an album in Home that was a bit of a departure for him, pushing him much further in the soul direction than he had gone at any point in his career. It worked so well for him, he and Valentine teamed up for round two, John Yancey. While Valentine helped Illa J find his inner soul artist on Home, leaving his tough rapper persona behind, on John Yancey, they try to split the difference.