Casual has been working as an emcee for over 18 years, as a member of Bay Area group Hieroglyphics and as a solo artist. He released his last solo album in 2005, but one listen to The Hierophant and it won’t feel like much time has passed. He keeps it largely in the Hieroglyphics family, entrusting the production to Toure, and features Pep Love and Tajai. That’s not to say that he doesn’t bring a few other Bay Area artists as well.

It feels good to be right. Back in February, in the review of IV the Polymath’s Push IVward EP, I wrote, “‘Days & Nights’ with Jondis of i.deals does feature great chemistry between producer and emcee…I will definitely be checking out some i.deals based on the strength of this song.” Come late June, with the first full length from i.deals, what immediately grabs me upon listening to the album is just how well Jondis and IV work together.

Rocky Rivera is a former journalist (Rolling Stone) turned emcee from the Bay Area. She also performs alongside DJ Roza and emcee Irie Eyez as Pacific Division. After releasing her self-titled album last year on Guerilla Busfare, she’s returned with this mixtape on Beatrock, hopefully giving us a preview of greater things to come. Rivera presents herself as a hard emcee, and she can hold it down on the mic. Occasionally, though, it can be taken too far, such as the opening track, “Pop Killer,” which features a transphobic line about wannabe emcees, where she states, “All you Nicki Minaj knock offs/ Rapping like a tranny ho that just cut his cock off.

Donwill, member of the Brooklyn-based group Tanya Morgan, is back with an EP to follow up his solo debut, High Fidelity. It was recorded about a year ago when he hooked up with German producer Suff Daddy. All of the songs are fairly short, so even though there are ten songs, the whole thing still clocks in at just under twenty minutes. Although Suff Daddy is German, his beats are straight-up New York on this EP, clearly influenced by the likes of Pete Rock.

Stypes is Aaron and Adam, a Chicago-based duo. They’ve been performing together for almost ten years, but the absence of a full length release has kept them from reaching a larger audience. Hopefully they’ve found a good home at Kitchen Dip, because 7 Stories High shows promise. Most production duties on this EP are handled by Toronto-based producer incise. Wax Buzzard from the UK and SoulChef from Auckland each contribute a track as well.

Not much time has gone by since MC Elijah Black’s last mixtape, The Brother From Another Planet, but he is already back with another one before he drops his debut album. This one, entitled Boom Baps & Heartbreak, is pretty much what it sounds like – a breakup record. It’s a nice change of pace, since we don’t get a lot of that in hip hop. The mix begins with a short tribute to Nate Dogg (R.

Posthumous albums are always the most difficult to review. It feels weird to be critical of someone who is no longer with us. You don’t want to over praise someone just because they’ve passed away, but you also never want to be the person who said the last thing someone did before they died was shit. Fortunately, Waste Age Teen Land isn’t bad, so no worries there. Eyedea touched a lot of peoples lives, and Face Candy is not your typical hip hop outfit.

Consensus Opinion isn’t with me when it comes to Pharaohe Monch, but I guess its also fair to give Consensus Opinion a slight edge here, given that they all discovered his debut solo album, Internal Affairs, back in the day, and we all know you can’t ever step to shit that was forged back then. Not that I don’t love Internal Affairs, of course, but I wasn’t introduced to it until after I had already absorbed and adored his second album, Desire.

SoulParlor is the German-based collective of deejay/producers Frank Jensen, Frank Lotz, and Tobias Muller. They have been remixing and releasing original material since 2002. Evoluzion (Noiz U Love backwards) is their second full length album, and their first on Tokyo Dawn. Given how SoulParlor mix together elements of house, R&B, funk, and hip hop, it seems like a good fit for all involved. Their ability to find a groove that will make you want to crank up the stereo and dance is what will hit you from the moment you start the album.

Oddisee is a producer/emcee originally from Prince George’s County, Maryland. After years of being on his grind, recording solo albums, forming the group Diamond District (himself, yU, and X.O.), and producing tracks for others, he seems to finally be getting his dues. He’s been a part of the Mello Music Group family since 2008, and Odd Seasons might be his most ambitious project yet, a 34 track opus of mostly instrumental work, split into four sections to represent the four seasons.