MC Longshot is an artist who originally came up in the Chicago scene, but he’s been based in Minneapolis for quite some time now. His most recent album came out just about a year ago, when he worked with producer Cell Uno to deliver The Healing. Now he is back with thirteenth full-length album, Chocolate. To make Chocolate, Longshot is working with Canadian producer Jay Bee. Jay Bee is a little enigmatic, with not too many releases to his name, or any sort of biographical information available, but his credits do include a track with Mega Ran.

Mister T is a producer from Kavala, Greece who has been releasing music for over a decade now. In that time period, he’s worked with artists like Jean Honeymoon and Mr. Echo. His last solo album came in 2021, when he dropped Soul Shower. Now he’s back with a new full-length album, Synchronized Roots. If you’ve spent time with Mister T’s previous projects, you might have a decent idea of what to expect from Synchronized Roots, in that he’s still digging in the crates and finding some creative ways to flip samples and give us some funky beats.

Yazmin Lacey is an artist from Nottingham, UK. She started releasing music in 2017, when she dropped her first EP, Black Moon. Since that time, there have been a few more EPs, with the latest, Two Takes EP, done in collaboration with Congi, coming in December of 2020. Now she is finally ready to take that next step in her career as she releases her debut album, Voice Notes. To craft the sound of Voice Notes, Yazmin Lacey is working with producers like Craigie Dodds, JD.

Hellsent is an emcee from Chicago who has been releasing music since the mid-2000s. In 2014, he teamed up with Berlin-via-Jacksonville producer Batsauce to make the album Bat Outta Hell. In 2018, the came back together for round two when they dropped Illegal Tender. Now they are finally back for round three as they drop their latest album together, JIMI FLOSS. Sometimes you just need an album to meet expectations. In the case of JIMI FLOSS, that’s perfect, because the first two rounds were so good, you just want more of the same, with maybe a little variety to spice things up of course.

Kendra Morris is an artist based in New York City. After some initial success with the release of her first two albums, Banshee and Mockingbird, released in the early 2010s, Morris found herself in a bit of career purgatory for the next few years. There were good things, such as her collaborations with Czarface, and some key syncs on shows like Ray Donovan, but she lacked label support and had trouble getting her own projects off the ground.

Ray Lozano is a German-Filipino artist who was born and raised in Cologne. After making a few appearances on other peoples’ projects over the last couple of years, Lozano is now ready to release her debut album, Pairing Mode. Working on her songwriting mainly through her main instruments of bass and piano, Lozano has given us a sophisticated neo-soul project with Pairing Mode. Written mostly in 2020 and 2021, Lozano is focusing on themes of connection and re-connection, those basic human needs to know that someone else out there cares about us.

Chicago artist NNAMDÏ is currently on tour supporting his latest album, Please Have a Seat. He recently took the time during a stop at Saturn in Birmingham to talk with us about the album, his songwriting process, adapting the music for the stage, Dr. Mario, and so much more. Scratched Vinyl: Before we get into anything else, you came out on stage tonight in this amazing jump suit. Where did this come from?

CoCec is the collaboration between Flagstaff artists Collin “.smallz” Haviland on vocals and Cecil Tso, aka Tsoh Tso on the beats. They first came together in 2018 to drop the EP Life Sucks but the Music is Good. While they had talked off and on about doing a proper follow up to that project, this was not the path they initially imagined the new project would take. Starting with a compilation of beats that Tso had shopped around to other artists, only to have them pass or sleep on them, CoCec initially thought they might just make something like a mixtape to just tide themselves over as they figured out what the next move would be.

Sensational is an emcee from Brooklyn who originally made his debut on the 1993 Jungle Brothers single, “Troopin’ on the Downlow,” using the name Torture. He made his solo debut in 1997 with the album Loaded With Power. Over the years, he’s had his ups and downs, but he’s recorded with the likes of Handsome Boy Modeling School and Spectre, and put out releases on labels like Ipecac. For his latest release, he’s teamed up with prolific Calgary producer The Dirty Sample to make an album called The Spot Rocker.

Supastition is an emcee/producer originally from North Carolina, but now based in Atlanta. He’s been releasing music for over twenty years now, and over that time period he’s worked with acts like KRS-ONE, Cunninlynguists, Little Brother, and Oddisee, just to name a few. His last solo release came in 2019, when he released Sacrifice EP. He now returns with a new EP, Every Last Word. Sometimes the phrase “grown man raps” gets thrown around without much meaning attached to it, but Every Last Word is really and truly some grown man raps.