j. rawls is an american hip-hop producer, dj, educator, and speaker born in columbus, ohio. he is best known for his work with mos def and talib kweli on their debut album black star.

chicago-based innovator and educator isaiah collier is opening up new dimensions in the jazzwise continuum.

celebrated composer, performer, saxophonist, soloist, band leader, educator, activist, and mixed-media artist matana roberts returns with a new installment of their acclaimed coin coin series. comes on double 10 inch vinyl with fold-out insert and download code.

no fullcover!! jon dixon, member of underground resistances live band timeline, pays tribute to legendary detroit jazz trumpeter marcus belgrave. the ep features belgrave himself (recorded before his passing in 2015), alongside additional contributions from detroit musicians: ur/timelines mike banks & saxophonist desean jones, and jazz trumpeter, composer & educator kris johnson

hmot aka stas sharifullin is siberian-born, moscow-based musician, curator, educator and multi-disciplinary artist from siberia. using modular synthesizer, field recordings and visual programming languages, hmot collects sounds and organizes them into structures, pushing traditional electronic music genres beyond their comfort zones. “permanent imbalance” is his ep debut on the berlin imprint oqko following a single contribution to the label’s “form_1” compilation. structurally, “permanent imbalance” is disorderly and elusive, it’s a techno record which has undergone a gregor samsaesque metamorphosis. embedded with dizzying polyrhythmics, the discontinuity at the heart of the record might also be its central directive – interrupting the ecstatic clubbing experience in favor of a contradictory reality which is impossible to describe with regular rhythms. boldly submitted to the niche of dance music deviations, “permanent imbalance” also reveals techniques directly derived from early institutional electronics and musique concrete. but where others would pile on the layers, sharifullin keeps it trim. these are just some finishing touches enhancing his rickety and multifaceted soundscapes. subject to constant deviations of its own temporality, this music proves to mirror the crisis in which modernity resides – a state of life out of balance which now appears to be permanent as never before.

jon dixon, member of underground resistances live band timeline, pays tribute to legendary detroit jazz trumpeter marcus belgrave. the ep features belgrave himself (recorded before his passing in 2015), alongside additional contributions from detroit musicians: ur/timelines mike banks & saxophonist desean jones, and jazz trumpeter, composer & educator kris johnson.

third root is a central texas hip-hop collaborative that focuses on black and brown overlapping culture and identity. the group consists of charles peters (easy lee), marco cervantes (mexican stepgrandfather), and dj chicken george (djcg). peters is an accomplished poet and educator, cervantes is a producer and ph.d. who teaches at the university of texas at san antonio, and djcg is a world-renowned dj, musicologist, designer & jazztronica! peddler. their latest album, libertad, produced entirely by grammy award winner adrian quesada (grupo fantasma, brownout, echocentrics, spanish gold), reflects today’s current mobilization among black and brown communities in the face of debilitating cycles of police brutality, ?awed educational systems, privately owned prisons and detainment centers, corporately owned politicians, and racist judicial systems. the album delivers a mix of social justice and jam session with each song designed to raise questions, incite discussion, and promote healing and liberation. “reflection of the times” and “soul force” are the leading singles from libertad.