Bad Colours is an artist born in London, raised in Baltimore, and based in Brooklyn. While he had been deejaying and producing for other artists for quite some time, he only released his first album, Pink, just last year. Not wasting any time, he’s now right back with his sophomore album, Always With U. A couple of things become clear very quickly upon listening to Always With U. One is that Bad Colours knows how to throw down on some disco/house beats with smooth bass lines and pulsing rhythms that will get your feet in motion.

Priest Da Nomad is an artist from the DMV that has been doing this hip hop thing since the ‘90s. Over the years, he’s worked with everyone in the scene, from Asheru to Seez Mics to Oddisee, just to name a few. His most recent album, Out Da House, came out just last year. Now he’s back with a new album, Receipts. Sometimes, when you’re dealing with a veteran artist like Priest Da Nomad, you don’t need them to reinvent the wheel with a new album.

Reginald Chapman is a trombonist/producer/composer based in Brooklyn. Over the years, he’s played with groups like NO BS Brass Band, Megafaun, Foxygen, and Butcher Brown. He made his debut as a solo artist in 2018, when he released the album Prototype on Fresh Selects. In 2020, the album got the deluxe remix treatment, a double album full of remixes from Stro Elliot, Drew Dave, HOT16, DJ Harrison, and others. Now Chapman has taken those remixes and a few new compositions and arranged them for his band, Pressure Fit, for a project called East Williamsburg Sessions.

Cristalle Bowen, aka Psalm One, aka Hologram Kizzie, has been at this rap thing for about twenty years now. She’s seen a lot of ups and downs in that time period, and she’s still going strong in 2022. Her latest album, Bigg Perrm, came out just this September, and it might be her best yet. With everything she’s accomplished and all she’s seen, she’s still adding new things to her resume.

Ezra Collective is a London-based group featuring Dylan Jones on trumpet, Femi Koleoso on drums, TJ Koleoso on bass, James Mollison on sax, and Joe Armon-Jones on keyboards. After putting out an EP and working on a few one-off collaborations, the group finally released their debut album in 2019 with You Can’t Steal My Joy. Now, after three years where the musicians worked on all sorts of different projects, they have come back together stronger than ever to release their sophomore album, Where I’m Meant To Be.

DJ Sun is an artist from Houston who has been releasing music for about the last fifteen years. In that time, he’s worked with everyone from Free Radicals to Khruangbin. While he’s been keeping busy with other projects, it’s actually been nine years since his last full-length album, One Hundred. That all changes now with the release of his new project, Loveletter. It doesn’t take long into listening to Loveletter to catch the vibe and see what this album is all about.

Awon is an emcee from Newport News who co-founded Don’t Sleep Records with Phoniks. He has been releasing music for about fifteen years now, often moving back and forth between working with Phoniks on albums and working with other producers. After releasing Nothing Less with Phoniks last year, Awon has now teamed up with Los Angeles producer SOUL.DOPE.95 to release a new album, Infinite Wisdom. The funny thing about an album like Infinite Wisdom is that while Awon is reaching out and working with a new producer in SOUL.

Backxwash is an artist based in Montreal who took the music world by storm with her 2020 debut album, God Has Nothing To Do With This Leave Him Out Of It, which went on to win the Polaris Prize. This is an accomplishment for any Canadian artist, but to do so for a self-released debut album is quite the feat. She then followed up that album in 2021 with I LIE HERE BURIED WITH MY RINGS AND MY DRESSES, which found Backxwash declaring “Fuck a sophomore slump!

junclassic is an artist from Queens who has been part of the hip hop scene for a minute, but really started his solo career in earnest about fifteen years ago with the release of 2 Much Ain’t Enuff. Since that time, he’s been working at a steady pace, collaborating with people like MF Grimm, billy woods, Mr. Troy, Wun Two, and Pen Pals along the way. Most recently, he collaborated with IV The Polymath to make the album Spectrum, which came out last December.

lys scott is a first generation Thai American queer artist based in Pittsburgh. As a twentysomething trying to figure out their identity and dealing with depression and anxiety, they began dabbling in music before the pandemic while working at a restaurant. When the pandemic hit and the job was lost, lys scott worked through the isolation of the period by writing in earnest. Now they are finally ready to present their debut album, squashed dreams & broken wings.