mejiwahn is a producer from Oakland who used to record under the name Art Vandelay before switching over to his current moniker in the mid 2010s. Over the years, he’s worked with everyone from Melanie Charles to FlySiifu, as well as maintaining his solo career. His most recent solo project came in 2018, when he dropped Lúil Ó Fadó. Now he’s back with a new project, Beanna. For this album, mejiwahn is handling electronics, acoustic bass, guitar, rhythm king, vocals, percussion, synths, and Casio SK-1.

Wordburglar is an emcee originally from Halifax but based in Toronto. He’s been releasing music for nearly twenty years, both as a solo artist and as part of the massive Canadian hip hop collective known as Backburner. While we heard him on the most recent Backburner album, Continuum, and we got a best-of vinyl release in The MacGuffin Device LP, it’s actually been three years since we got a proper all new full-length album from Wordburglar.

Sankofa is an emcee from Fort Wayne who has been releasing music at a steady pace for the better part of two decades. We last heard from him back in March, when he released the album Legacy Materials. Now he’s come right back with a new EP, KofaSoCalfragilistic. The title of the EP comes from the fact that this project is being done in collaboration with producer SoCal, who is from (you guessed it) Southern California, specifically from Los Angeles.

Memphis Reigns is an emcee from The Bay Area who has been releasing music for the past two decades, sometimes as part of the group Mind Mechanics, other times collaborating with the likes of Kuartz or Sankofa. His latest project is an EP with another Bay Area artist, producer QM, called Reign Clouds. QM is a producer who was formerly known as Cumulus, and he’s been part of groups like the Moonies and ON TILT.

The Difference Machine is a hip hop duo from Atlanta, consisting of Day Tripper and Dr. Conspiracy, who have been releasing music for the past decade. While we’ve recently gotten some instrumental releases and a mix tape from Day Tripper, it’s actually been five years since their last release as a group, Triangle Schemes. Now they are back with a concept album, Unmasking the Spirit Fakers. The concept of Unmasking the Spirit Fakers comes from the work of none other than Harry Houdini.

Sketch the cataclysm is an emcee from Connecticut who has been releasing music since the late 2000s, often as a solo artist, but also working in various collaborative projects as well. In 2020, he teamed up with producer Mandy Moorehol to release a project called Hella Kafkaesque Vol. 1 & 2. Now, two years later, they’ve gotten back together for another round, Hella Kafkaesque Vol. 3. The first thing that hit me when listening to this EP was the energy.

It’s been a busy year for emcee/producer inkline. In February, his group Nerves Baddington released their double album, micro/macro. Then, earlier this month they released what was essentially an inkline solo project recorded under quarantine, fever memes. Now, inkline is right back with a true solo project, a follow up to his 2021 solo project, DUCKHOPEWELL PT. II. As clearly evidenced by micro/macro, inkline knows how to work with others and put together a big project that can appeal to a wide audience.

Shitao is a producer/composer from Paris who has been releasing music for the last fifteen years. Over that time span, he’s released a wide variety of projects, from straight hip hop beats to experimental electronic music to film scores and everything in between. This past March, Shitao released Child’s Head With Flowers, which was something of a soundtrack to a film in Shitao’s own head. Now he is back with the soundtrack to an upcoming film, The Waves.

Sweatson Klank is a producer from Los Angeles who has been putting out music for over twenty years, first under the name Take before switching over to Sweatson Klank around 2009. Coming off of a busy 2021 that saw him drop three EPs, Sweatson Klank is now back with a different sort of LP, Postcards. Over the years, we’ve gotten a lot of different looks from Sweatson Klank as he continues to grow and evolve as an artist and tries different things out.

Emcee G.I. Magus has been a staple of the Birmingham hip hop scene for over a decade now. We last heard from him a little over a year ago, when he dropped his EP, Non-Monolithic (unmastered). Now he’s back with a unique project, Bare. The concept for Bare is an interesting one, in that each song on the album is built from a sample of the same song, Kirk Franklin’s “More Than I Can Bear.