Roc Marciano is an MC from New York City's tradition-rich Long Island. His work, first with the U.N. Crew and later as a solo artist, is quintessential New York underground. His moody, claustrophobic production and stream-of-consciousness, heavily stylized lyrics made him one of his era's most underappreciated auteurs. Instantaneous is one way to describe Crimewave 5150’s unique brand of dead-eyed serious, eerie, hip-hop that sounds like an ominous cloud of malevolent terror stalking the streets of Long Beach at night. The closest musical comparison is early Three Six Mafia, but while Three Six Mafia were obsessed by a cartoonish satanic aesthetic, Crimewave are much more interested in painting a picture of the type of violence that people are afflicted by, and what that does to their body and their soul. Both the people who are at the receiving end of the violence, and those that do the violence. Philly-raised Lojii was the voice behind one of our favorite rap records of 2017–the collaborative Fresh Selects LP with fellow Philadelphian producer Swarvy. On his first proper solo effort since the duo’s DUE RENT, Lojii settles into a stark new sound with a fresh batch of producers like New Zealand’s HeapRize and Toronto beatmaker Thook. The fourteen-track Lofeye album drops on March 23 on Brooklyn/L.A. label Youngbloods, and features the 2015 summer single (“No Ebola”) that gave Lojii is first big break.