Truth by Design is the Toronto trio of emcee Mizery, producer DTKS, and DJ Lupan. Timeless is their debut EP, and it’s one that shows promise. There’s not a weak leak between the three, and if you went down a checklist, they would receive passing grades. However, the problem with Timeless is one of the simplest to diagnose and one of the hardest to fix - they haven’t found their voice yet.

Sometimes style can be a musical prison. Colonel Red, a British R&B artist, is a prime example. He can build interest within one song, but is so constrained by a particular style in his singing and writing, it’s a struggle to make it from start to finish on Keep Walkin’. On the opening track, “I’m Colonel Red,” we get introduced to his style - tension is created by short, tight melodic lines that keep repeating along with lyrical phrases.

As I’m sorting through tons of new releases, some great, some mediocre, and some unfortunate, it can be a bit overwhelming. Music starts to bleed together in my head. Then I come across the new J-Live album, an artist who has been doing his own thing on his own terms for so long. He’s an artist so comfortable in his own skin and so in tune with my own sensibilities, that I feel like we’ve been friends for a long time, even though we’ve never met.

Of all the interviews I’ve done, Evidence was one of the hardest. The guy couldn’t be nicer, but it’s difficult to think of hard hitting questions for someone who’s been consistently good for so long. With Cats & Dogs, his second solo album, we get yet another solid release from the Dilated Peoples emcee. On the album, there are a variety of producers, from usual suspects like The Alchemist, Sid Roams, and Evidence himself, to newcomers like Rahki, Twiz the Beat Pro, and Charli Brown.

Albums like Charity Starts At Home are the hardest for me to review. If you’ve ever met me, there’s a good chance I was wearing my Get Back Little Brother hoodie. I’ve been a fan for years of how Big Pooh and Phonte came together to make smart hip hop that was relatable and honest. I appreciated Foreign Exchange and how Phonte reinvented himself as an R&B singer that was emotionally vulnerable.

And my love affair with Canadian hip hop continues. The Real Frequency was a radio show that started in 1993 at York University in Toronto. It moved from there to Ryerson University, and then to commercial radio in 2004, becoming Canada’s only underground hip hop show on commercial radio. The show finally ended its run this year with the sale of the station, but this compilation helps preserve the impact that it had.

The Proov is the Netherlands-based group featuring Gumshoe, CeeMajor, L.Geronimo, and DJ Optimus. They’ve been making their own brand of hip hop since the late nineties. Off the Cuff is their first release in three years, and it’s a solid album from start to finish. The real strength of Off the Cuff lies in the production, which drives the album from start to finish. This is where guest producer Colt, and DJ Optimus get to shine.

Qwazaar first appeared on my radar earlier this year when a guest appearance on DJ Cosm’s Time and Space became the stand out track of the album. The emcee from Chicago crew Typical Cats displayed a mix of intelligent lyrics, unique delivery, and charisma on the mic that immediately grabbed my attention. When I heard that he had a new project in the works with producer Batsauce, I was interested. This nine song EP previewing the full length album to come gives quite an introduction to the duo’s sound.

Adam WarRock and Tribe One are both emcees known to nerdcore fans, but on their latest project with producer Joules, we get an EP that steps outside the confines the subgenre. However, WarRock has often blurred the line between nerdcore and other styles of hip hop, so this should come as no surprise. The production of Joules brings a mixtape sensibility to the EP, bringing in some obvious samples of Barry White and The Pixies, but also mixes in some classic early ‘90s soulful hip hop, most notably on “High Fidelity” and “Wayback.

My first taste of Madison hip hop was terrible - I walked in on a show just in time to hear some emcee growling about his AK-47. Maybe there is a neighborhood rough enough in this town to justify the use of an assault rifle, but I haven’t stumbled across it yet. To make matters worse, after that song was over, another guy jumped up on stage to encourage all the women to shake their asses.