"EYE RHINO" - Bishop

At first you might think you're in for some Marko shit, but no: this is pretty rad and hella weird. Engaging, fast-moving Qi Gong Surrealism rap is a genre in short supply, and this is a strong chi shot right here.

Keep submitting great low-budget video, folks. This has been an inspirational summer so far. Kids these days are fucking smart and they're doing awesome stuff.

THE INBOXXX: "Half Full" - MarKO

Hump Jones: Welcome back to THE INBOXXX. This week we've got something beyond human comprehension for you. This was an actual email submission for a rap blog. I could tell right off the video still we were in serious trouble.

DJ Squid: This right here is Bananamal as fuck.

Hump Jones: Isn't this a Casio preset? That intro was fucking intense. I don't think I'm ready for this.

DJ Squid: Nah, this is more of a medley. I bet this is his album sampler. I would like to state for the record, this is the best email submission copy ever. It is just titled "Awesome Video" and the body of the message was "Awesome Video" with the YouTube link. Okay, now we're definitely just hanging out in this dude's bedroom and it is getting kinda awkward. Speed painting is very deep.

Hump Jones: Now all of a sudden we're on a bridge and he's camouflaged like a normal bro? Can you imagine actually running into this guy and talking to him and gradually realizing how deep and weird those waters really are?

DJ Squid: He likes Skrillex and Dave Matthews and rapping over Casio loops. Ask him about his paintings. He has rooms full of paintings. This is starting to get pretty real, he's dropping some love raps right now.

Hump Jones: "EH OH EL I'm kidding but seriously I'm not" is the lyrical high point so far, I gotta admit, that had me dying pretty hard. This dude really seems to like trains, now we're on the railroad in the snow and he's doing the Thom Yorke.

DJ Squid: Yeah, the full Thom Yorke. Damn. The best part of this whole video so far is the random jailbait ass creeper porn shot that scrolls up to the gigantic blue demon owl towering over a bunch of dancing teenagers. That was pretty memorable. I wonder if all those kids realize they're going to be sacrificed to dubstep Moloch.

Hump Jones: This is really testing my fucking stamina.

DJ Squid: Yeah, pucker up, pal. We started this, it's too late to turn back now. This is so sublimely weird.

Hump Jones: This is very post-structuralist, I like how he keeps undermining the parameters of convention by rhyming about Happy Meal McFlurries over psychedelic painting montages. This is the apex of conscious rap, the peak in the collective Bro Mushroom Trip that has been rippling across America since the late 90's. Mostly it's just agonizing, though.

DJ Squid: I gotta comment on the fact this kid is raphands-ing pretty hard in front of a Mercedes SUV. I don't know what that does for his street credit either way. I'm betting this delicate flower doesn't roll very deep.

Hump Jones: I feel like a lot of these songs are the result of a feedback vacuum in his life This material is brain to bedroom to pro tools.

DJ Squid: These booth shots are intense. His rap hands are basically an EDM seizure, that whole shit is new to me. Wow. DON'T LET HIM BE IN HIS ZONE.

Hump Jones: Yeah, I would earnestly advise this guy's friends to keep him out of his zone, at all times and at all costs. I bet this is the emotional closing track we're being blessed with right now.

DJ Squid: Then it all washed out into deep poetry and the best text graphics in internet history. After taking so damn long, now it feels like it was over too soon.

Hump Jones: You don't mean that.

DJ Squid: I do not.

"Go To Work" - Has-Lo and Castle

Good to see Mello Music Group taking advantage of the best emcee on their roster again. Granted, they just signed Open Mike Eagle and everyone in Diamond District is on point, but still: Has-Lo is a gem. Castle is damn strong, too, and the chemistry here is outstanding. This track is the lead single off their upcoming album "Live Like You're Dead" which promises to be an ambitious banger.



Also, that badass cover art is courtesy of Philly phenom Dewey Decibel, who also raps pretty.

"ONE TWO EP" - Taarach

Like so many other crackers of my generation, I got introduced to Taarach through the classic track Juicin' Dranks off "Above the Heavens." Taarach stole the song and continues to shine on everything he touches. This latest EP is dirty and fun.

"Pedestrian" - Wombaticus Rex

Does the world need another a-capella, spoken-word, free-verse rap-thing? Almost definitely not. That didn't prevent me from making one, however. This is dedicated to the 217.

"Brick In Yo Face" - Stitches

This has been on repeat for awhile here in the RYR office. Unhinged Mystikal fan who loves selling blow -- LOVES SELLING BLOW -- gets the full B&W, Hi-Res, Strobe-Cut, Rental-Car 8.1 Trap Video Treatment here. And it's fucking awesome.

Stay classy, Florida. Don't ever change for nobody.

"People Hear What They See" - Oddisee

Dense, thoughtful, brilliant. This is one hell of an album.

"The Everafter LP" - Witness

Starting off 2014 with a week of album recommendations. This is a tasty, jazzy and distinctly boozy piece of art and a beautifully coherent album. That's rare enough to get some gushing praise from a grizzled hater like Uncle Hump. This album immediately finds an original angle and sticks to it, front to back.

Witness writes damn fine bars and also produces most of the tracks on this album. As I'm sure he would put it himself: this shit goes hard in the paint.

"Live From Vermontistan" - Wombaticus Rex

Fresh produce from the Green Mountains. This was mixed and recorded at Burke by the NEK legend Walter Westinghouse. Just ripping through my catalog with Louis Mackey assisting. We had a great time with good people and questionable substances.



If you're digging this, you will almost definitely enjoy "Fear of Death and the Need for Reproduction."

"Bitches" - Lil' Debbie

This might represent a career peak for Lil' Debbie, but let's enjoy the ride while it lasts, right? Her delivery keeps improving and this beat is a catchy little nightmare.

I have this whole song memorized and I recite this shit at work all the time.

#CLASSIC: Turf Fienz

We don't post a lot of b-boy content here but holy shit, this was impressive. Oakland has some serious flavor.

"brooklyknight" - Sene

Like a transmission from an alternate universe, with a customer-tailored video treatment to match. This is hella tasty stuff. Sene keeps improving on an already impressive flow.

"High on Art" - Dewey Decibel

Fresh visuals from Philadelphia insurgent Dewey Decibel. This is urgent and awesome, an exceptionally colorful blast of a video. Obviously Mr. Decibel is Kinda Artistic, and in fact Algorhythms hired him to produce an awesome cover for us. He's reliable like that. Dig into the man's musical catalog and buy something good.

Man Mantis - "Red Dragonfly"

Dark visions and future funk. This treatment by Joe Ramos enhances the track with some nightmare techno-shamanism. (The incarnation of Man Mantis who makes a cameo here has since been replaced by the 2012 mutation.)

Check out Cities Without Houses and stay tuned for way more Man Mantis material this summer.

TFM x IV The Polymath - "Winter Instro Mix"

Very tasty mix right here. The Find has always been a Quality Over Quantity kinda operation and they made a smart bet having IV The Polymath compile and mix this collection of instrumental hip hop.

TFM & IV The Polymath - Winter Instro Mix (2012) by Thefindmag on Mixcloud

IV The Polymath is a quality producer in his own right -- check out his latest album, New vs. Old, which just got released. He's also done a dope Audible Hype interview that's worth the read: IV THE POLYMATH ON DIY HIP HOP PRODUCTION AND BUSINESS.

Milo Takes Baths

This wins on many fronts: innovative beats, original and intricate lyrics, and creative but creepy cover art, too. Full package art rap, we dig it. Thanks to Lesson 6 for the heads-up on this cat.

Best Hip Hop Video of 2011 | Wiley - "Numbers in Action"

Brilliance. Taking familiar ideas further. Playful and powerful. Runner up: "The Last Huzzah" remix.

PremRock - "The Writers' Block"

Way to take a pun to the next level and then some. The video and verses are both on point, very slick, subtle and smooth hip hop right here. I can dig it.

More info: Planet PremRock

Witness & The Family Secret - "Yesterday's Wake"

More shit like this in 2012, please. More live band / emcee collaborations in the future. Word to Treehouse holding it down in Chicago. Witness is outta PA and The Family Secret is a hella young band of motherfucking wizards from Albany, NY. They're fam with the homie Daimyo...small Universe, especially where good music and dope rap overlap.

Highly recommended: The last album Witness dropped is a unique jazz-rap masterpiece. Lyricism and production both shine -- this project is worth your attention. Behold The Everafter LP...