Despite the implications of their name, Kraak & Smaak are actually a production trio, featuring DJ Knupplehout, Oscar De Jong, and Wim Plug. They formed a couple of decades ago in Leiden, Netherlands, and in their long career, they’ve released six studio albums and countless remixes, singles, and other projects, collaborating with a myriad of artists along the way. Now, to celebrate their twentieth anniversary as a group, Jalapeno Records has assembled Twenty, a collection of twenty tracks representing the breadth of their career up to this point.

Factor Chandelier is a producer from Saskatoon whose career goes back over two decades now. In that time, he’s balanced a career where he’s made collaborative albums with artists like Myka 9, Ceschi, Def3, Kay the Aquanaut, and AWOL ONE, alongside a steady production of solo albums. His latest solo album came out just last year, when he dropped Time Invested II. Now he’s back with a new solo album, Moving Like a Planet.

Reginald Chapman is a trombonist/multi-instrumentalist/composer/arranger/producer originally from Champaign, Illinois, later based in Richmond, but now living in New York. After years of contributing to groups like Foxygen, Butcher Brown, and No BS! Brass Band, he stepped out with his first solo album, Prototype, in 2018. After giving us a remix collection, and some music under his side-project alias, Pressure Fit, Chapman is now back to give us his sophomore solo album, Accretion.

Kuna Maze is a producer from Lyon, France, but now based in Brussels. He got his start in the mid-2010s, often pairing up with fellow producer Nikitch to work on projects. He previously put out projects on Cascade Records, but he moved over to Tru Thoughts in 2020 when he and Nikitch released Debuts. His most recent solo release came in 2021, when he dropped the EP called My Fish is Burning.

Joe Armon-Jones is a keyboardist/producer from London who is part of Ezra Collective, but he’s also been building quite a career outside of the group as well, creating solo albums, collaborative albums, and just contributing to albums by other artists, such as Nubya Garcia, Moses Boyd, and Ego Ella May, just to name a few. Starting in 2017, he started working with producer/multi-instrumentalist Maxwell Owin, and they dropped their first album together, Idiom.

Marcel P. Black is an emcee from Baton Rouge who has been releasing music for the last fifteen years. In that time, he’s worked with everyone form Skyzoo to D. Horton to Substantial to Mega Ran, just to name a few. Four years ago, he teamed up with Nashville producer M Slago to make an EP called 4Tha CLTR. Now they’ve reunited for a second round, Moor CLTR EP. The idea behind 4Tha CLTR was to make some music that was specifically about hip hop culture, something to create conversation within this particular niche.

aja monet is a poet who cut her teeth at the Nuyorican Poets Café, where she won the title of Grand Slam Champion in 2007, at the age of 19. In 2017, she released her debut book of poetry, my mother was a freedom fighter. Now she continues to expand her repertoire, as she is now releasing her first album, when the poems do what they do. While it is a path less chosen, there is a precedent for an artist like aja monet, whether it be the pioneers of the early ‘70s like Last Poets, Gil Scott-Heron, or Del Jones, or more recent hip hop influenced poets like Saul Williams or Moor Mother.

Juan Cosby is a producer from Cincinnati who has been releasing music for over ten years now. In that time, he’s released a few projects with Spoken Nerd, as well as a string of solo albums, starting with 2017’s Inhospitable Planet. Just this past January, we got a unique collaborative project alongside St. Louis emcee Farout and Cincinnati singer/songwriter Wonky Tonk called ALPENGLOW. Now Cosby is back with a new solo album, Polychrome [Deluxe!

Shubzilla and Bill Beats are an emcee and producer, respectively, from Seattle. They started collaborating in the mid-2010s, and they’ve kept that creative partnership going ever since. Their most recent album together, Belmont Tapes, came out in fall of 2021. Now they are back with a different type of project, Late Checkout. The concept behind Late Checkout is that Shubzilla and Bill Beats recorded the entire album on the road, often one song at a time, setting up makeshift recording studios in hotel rooms – thus the title.

Joe Nora is a producer from Los Angeles who has been releasing music for a little over five years. In that time, he’s put out projects on Inner Ocean and Stereofox, and produced a track for R.A.P. Ferreira. He made his debut on Friends of Friends last August, when he dropped his album, Toy Animals. Now he returns with a new EP, Still Life. After making a big break through last year, Joe Nora keeps things chill and simple on Still Life EP.