Scholar Man

Maryland product Scholar Man (who likens his style to artists such as Large Professor, Common and J Dilla) is out to school other so-called rap artists on his latest release, Free Spirit of a Troubled Soul. Armed with a gritty flow and organic, soulful production, Scholar Man creates a sound that harkens back to the '90s Golden Era of hip-hop. On "I Love Hip Hop Music," featuring K-Mynez, Scholar and his homey spit easy over a nice boom-bap backdrop that seriously gets your head nodding. If you aren't feeling this track, ask yourself again if you actually like rap music. Elsewhere, Scholar Man switches it up and gets street over some stellar production anchored by a hypnotizing chorus of cooing. There's no doubt that this dude needs to get his shine, because after four previous albums and numerous mixtapes, it's a shame that real hip-hop like this gets overlooked because of a lack of budget. Take notes: Scholar Man's got next.