Otayo Dubb began his career in the Bay Area group Co-Deez, but went solo a few years ago. On his latest album, Cold Piece of Work, we get a mature artist confident and comfortable in his own skin, able to be completely honest with his audience. It also doesn’t hurt that the album has single after single that bang so hard you’ll want to drive around with the windows down all fall, no matter how cold it gets.

Metermaids is the Brooklyn-based duo of Sentence and Swell. They’ve been getting a lot of attention lately, particularly from Sage Francis, who signed them to Strange Famous Records. On their label debut, they get a couple of guest verses from Francis himself, plus Buck 65. They’ve also got Rob Swift scratching and 9th Wonder producing tracks on the album. With all of this help, the album certainly sounds good, but I’m left wondering who Metermaids are, and what exactly makes them special.

How to Rap is an interesting book. It’s not an instructional text, but instead creates a general outline of all the different aspects of the emcee, then fills each area with commentary from of a pool of over one hundred emcees that were interviewed by Edwards. The result is a book that reads like a talking head documentary. Edwards breaks down the book into four sections: content, flow, writing, and delivery.

2011 has been a good year for Sims. He’s already released album-of-the-year contender Bad Time Zoo, toured relentlessly, and got married. Just in case that wasn’t enough, he’s now giving fans this EP of bonus material he recorded with Lazerbeak. It’s a short five-song collection, but he manages to cover a lot of ground quickly. There aren’t any stop-what-you’re-doing singles like on Bad Time Zoo, but there is no weak spot, and everything rewards upon repeat listens.

As someone who volunteered with the National Hip Hop Political Convention Austin LOC, I obviously believe in the positive change that hip hop can foster, and I have seen it in action, even if it was on a small scale. At the same time, I’m perfectly aware that hip hop can prompt negative behavior such as violence, sexism, and homophobia. In his new book, Lester K. Spence, professor of political science at Johns Hopkins University, tries to examine to what extent hip hop has had an effect on politics in the United States.

I’ve been taking Astronautalis for granted. You see, when I was working at KVRX at UT, he was playing in Austin every weekend. He even played a fundraiser or two for us. After a while, I stopped paying attention. This is entirely my own fault. However, a little less than a year ago, I caught Astronautalis opening for Doomtree on tour, and I was quickly reminded what a talented, dynamic performer he is.

Maggz was recently brought to my attention as producer of Zero Star’s recent EP, Don’t Look Now. On Maggnetic Opposites, he steps in front of the mic and lets Optix handle the production duties. The Rochester-born Columbus-based artist shows that he’s just as talented on the mic as he is with the beats. In an EP that clocks in under twenty five minutes, we get to know him very well.

It’s still not time for the follow up to The Death Of the Frequent Flyer, but once again Psalm One is tiding us over with a mixtape that is better than 90% of hip hop albums out right now. Last summer, we got the stellar Woman @ Work series. This year, we get a continuation of the Get in the Van series. The first two volumes were made over five years ago as a way to get everyone excited about her tour.

Kyle Rapps first appeared on my radar during SXSW earlier this year, when I caught his set and saw him host the Audible Treats show at the Scoot Inn. I was impressed by his skill on the mic and his charisma on stage. His EP Re-Edutainment was a solid collection of songs and held promise of bigger and better things. While it’s still not time for his full length debut, Rapps has dropped a mixtape to tide us over until his full length is ready.

Ever the prolific artist, Oddisee is already back with another album after this spring’s Odd Seasons. It’s another (mostly) instrumental effort, this time inspired by the park for which the album is named. As Oddissee explains, the park has been a mainstay in his life growing up in D.C. It’s meant different things at different points in life, from a little child to a teenager to a grown man. He set out to make an album that reflected these things, and the result is a wonderfully moving tribute.