Fly Anakin is a marvel to behold, the kind of lightning-in-a-bottle technician who makes you drop what you’re doing to better absorb his enunciation, syllable placement, and superhuman breath control. Panama Plus, his 2017 outing with fellow Richmond, VA rapper Koncept Jack$son and producer Tuamie, was the best sort of scene record, a distinctive DIY showcase for group of eager upstarts. His Mutant Academy crew has since unleashed a torrent of collaborative tapes, cultivating a spontaneous sound built on rought soul samples. FlySiifu’s, last year’s full-length collaboration between Fly Anakin and Pink Siifu, was one of the collectives most deconstructed efforts to date with 22 short discursive tracks approximating a dorm-room haze.

For his part, Pink Siifu is a trenchant songwriter and a creator ambitious, genre-fluid concept records. He’s also somewhat enigmatic; his rap delivery is laid-back nearly to the point of abstraction. The contrast between his muted presence and Fly Anakin’s breakneck bar could be a compelling Thunder-and-Lightning routine, but lack of structure made FlySiifu’s, hard to pin down. It’s a problem that’s plagued Fly Anakin’s recent work - he’s an unforgettable performer, yet the songs themselves don’t leave much of an impressions, with a combination of choppy loops and free-associative bars hanging in the dull suspension. Even Live at the Barbeque had a hook.

Nappy Nina is an emcee. She was born and raised in Oakland, California. She currently lives in BK. She loves grilled cheese sandwiches and is a connoisseur of trees.

JWords is a producer, composter, and an Afro Latina woman breaking boundaries in Black Electronic Music. An arsenal of synthesizer and drum machines have become her signature in creating dynamic live performances in venues throughout NYC.

Monday Night delivers smoothly confident vignettes over soothing loops. On his new single, Holly Poltergeist, he’s the dude on the block always telling a story that seems too over-the-top to be true, but that you believe anyway - a personality that’ll bring to mind the DVD era of Jim Jones. “Cold stunting, the cops on us, you thought the truck was a Bronco, huh?” he raps on a soulful Benji Socrate$ instrumental. It’s safe to say that whatever project Holly Poltereist ends up on will be in rotation too.