Floco Torres is an artist from Akron who has been releasing music at a steady pace since the beginning of the 2010s. Back in 2015, as Torres was working on various projects, he felt the need to get back to basics and just rap, so he dropped a mixtape called Why Aren’t You Famous Yet? He followed that up with two more volumes in a short amount of time, even calling the last one Part 3: The End.

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.

Evil Needle is a producer from Grand Est, France. He’s been releasing music for over a decade now, and in that time he’s worked with everyone form OSHUN to Sivey. His most recent project, L’Emprise, came out in the fall of 2021. Now he’s back with a beat tape for Chillhop done in collaboration with Misha. Misha is a producer with roots in Ukraine, but now based in Helsinki. He put out his debut single, “Feel,” on Chllhop in 2018.

Stik Figa is an emcee originally from Topeka, but now based in Fort Worth. He released his breakthrough solo album, As Himself, on Mello Music back in 2012. In 2019, he returned to this theme of exploring himself and his roots on Not Quite Himself. Now, in 2023, he’s closing this trilogy with Pookey: Stik Figa Finds Himself…. For this particular project, Stik Figa teamed up with Fort Worth producer DJ Sean P, who you might know through his work with Krum (fka Playdough), Cas Metah, or Manchild, just to name a few.

Quiet Dawn is a producer from Paris who has been releasing music since the mid-2010s. His latest release was an EP called Movements which came just about a year ago. Now he is back with a new beat tape, Simple. Of course, Simple is a deceptive title for a project such as this. At first glance, it might seem “simple”n paper, with just fourteen short tracks of instrumental hip hop beats.

Noah23 is an artist from Guelph, Ontario in Canada who got started in his career over twenty years ago. In that time, he’s worked with people like Factor, Brzowski, AWOL One, PremRock, and Fresh Kils, just to name a few. While he’s released a few singles and some unreleased material in the last couple of years, his last proper album came in 2017, when he dropped Supa23 with Supa Sortahuman. Now he’s back with a new album on El Gran E Records, Ikosi Tria.

Allmos is Allan Cole, aka ½ of the Struyvesants. He’s been releasing these solo instrumental projects under this name since 2017, when he dropped Sound Affects, Vol. 1. His most recent project came just last year, when he dropped Sound Affects, Vol. 2. Now he’s back with two companion pieces, Mostly Instrumentals LP and Mostly Remixes LP. Sometimes you don’t need to overthink the title. This is to say that going into both listens, you might have a fair idea as to what to expect based on these titles.

Fatboi Sharif is an emcee form New Jersey who has been releasing music since the mid-2010s, and he’s been doing so at a really steady pace. So much so that just a few months removed from dropping the brilliant album Preaching in Havana, done in collaboration with producer noface, he’s right back with a new EP done with frequent collaborator Roper Williams, Planet Unfaithful. While making a brilliant album like Preaching in Havana is certainly no easy feat, there is something to be said about the challenge of making a short EP like Planet Unfaithful, and still managing to pack a wallop in the process.

Tommy Jordan is an emcee/producer from Bellingham, Washington. He released his debut solo album, Ice Cream, in 2018, and then followed that up with his sophomore album, Old Man Jordan, in 2021. Now he’s back with his third album, making his debut on El Gran E Records, Broke. While his first two albums had a lot more guest features on them, Broke is almost all Jordan, rapping and producing all of the tracks on the album.

J.Rocc is a SoCal legend, a deejay and producer who came to fame as one of the founding members of the Beat Junkies crew. Most recently, he’s been focusing on his solo career, with his last album, A Wonderful Letter, coming out in June of last year. Now he’s back with a new instrumental project, Beatitudes. Sometimes an album title can tell you exactly what a project is all about, and J.