THEHIDDENCHARACTER & BoneWeso "THEHIDDENSPLASH 2" ALBUM

THEHIDDENCHARACTER and BoneWeso recorded more music than one “THEHIDDENSPLASH” could hold. “THEHIDDENSPLASH 2” brings together songs from that original batch, with one later addition: “GREENBERET,” featuring FTB BOOGZ. Speaking to The Serpent Tongue, the Lynn rapper said he had left the earlier material intact and recorded that track only a month or two before the interview. That continuity reaches beyond the sessions. In a joint interview with Throw Up Magazine, THEHIDDENCHARACTER, also known as ???, explained that he and BoneWeso share relatives and had known each other for most of his life. BoneWeso introduced him to Estee Nack, who later suggested they make “THEHIDDENSPLASH” together. They recorded at the Mini Mansion and other studios in Lynn, choosing beats from BoneWeso’s folders, with the rapper writing and recording as he selected tracks. The surplus that became this sequel grew out of that process. BoneWeso’s route into those sessions had included production for Don Omar and Wisin & Yandel. He told Throw Up that Nack introduced him to Roc Marciano and encouraged his move toward the underground rap work he began releasing in 2024, starting with “SYSTEMATICALLY WE WERE NEVER FREE.” On the sequel, CODENINE appears on “KINFOLKS,” continuing a relationship THEHIDDENCHARACTER describes as brotherhood and a regular exchange of guest verses. The opening “I.S.L.A.M” offers another point of continuity. THEHIDDENCHARACTER has identified Five Percent teachings as a foundation of his writing; in the sequel interview, he explained the acronym as “I Study Life Around Me.”

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WateRR & Wavy Da Ghawd "Larry & Jordan" (feat. Bub Styles) VIDEO

Bub Styles was already part of WateRR and Wavy Da Ghawd’s partnership when he appeared on “Broadway” from their 2024 album “Washed Ashore.” “Larry & Jordan” brings the three together again, with a video accompanying their collaboration from “Did You Miss Me.” WateRR, from Chicago’s South Side, handles writing and executive production on the album, while Brooklyn producer Wavy Da Ghawd supplies the production. Their returning guest has been building connections beyond his own records, too. Bub Styles, born and raised in Brooklyn, cofounded Chinatown Sound with Gee, creating a platform that showcases underground rappers. Working across a whole release with one producer has a longer history in WateRR’s catalogue. He had already released three albums built around individual producers in 2020 before making “Workshop of the Mind” with The Kurse. In an interview that year, he explained that releasing music regularly was both his livelihood and a way to remain present amid a constant flow of releases, citing Curren$y as an inspiration. Wavy’s own account helps explain their continuing partnership. In an On The Radar interview, he named WateRR among the artists he was focusing on, describing his interest in building consistency with regular collaborators.

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DJ G1 "Mr Ripley Presents Enemies with Benefits" EP

Southern California and Perth were already connected in DJ G1’s catalogue before “Enemies With Benefits.” His partnership with Australian producer AloMega yielded the three song EP “Across The Pacific No Borders,” made while the two were separated by an ocean. Presented by Mr. Ripley, “Enemies With Benefits” brings AloMega into a broader circle, producing “Price Tag.” For the MC and DJ born in Inglewood, the four song release gathers relationships with a history beyond this EP. Emerg Da MC, who previously joined G1 on “WHO’S NEXT” from “TOP SHOTTA,” appears alongside Here$ Johnny on “Feeding off Hate,” produced by Bigg Classic. Emerg and Bigg Classic also share the earlier EP “BEASTMODE.” Mr. Ripley’s involvement adds another connection through Sinamatik, who produces “Big Flex.” Ripley worked with the producer on Crotona P’s “MEN” in 2023 and on his own “Levitate,” featuring Planet Asia and Pab Montega, in 2025. Here, Ripley also produces the opening track, participating in the record he presents.

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Grunge Gallardo "Sun Talk" VIDEO

Before Grunge Gallardo and Ambassador Rick became The Spookz, they were making music with King Kong Gotcha in The Opioid Era. Gallardo’s solo video “Sun Talk” arrives through The Spookz Who Sat By The Speaker’s YouTube channel, placing his individual work alongside those continuing partnerships. The relationships were already longstanding when Gallardo spoke to AllHipHop in 2020. He said the three members of The Opioid Era had been making music together for more than a decade, with Gotcha hosting their mixtapes before their work as a trio. Gallardo identified his roots in the Green Run section of Virginia Beach, while Rick came from the Hampton and Newport News area. Their later work as The Spookz brought Lord Jamar into the partnership as executive producer of the 2025 album “The Spookz Who Sat By The Speaker,” with production from Jamar, Ukat and Fonk Starr. Gallardo has maintained a solo catalogue alongside those collaborations, including the 2022 album “Before the Winner Comes the Fall.” “Sun Talk” itself was featured by Ryan Proctor’s Old To The New earlier this year, before the current video upload.

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Los Chicos Criollos & RUEN "Merca Música" ALBUM

RUEN was already part of Los Chicos Criollos’ story in 2022, producing “Super Asqueroso” on the duo’s album “Los Chicos Criollos.” Their announced album “Merca Música” gives him the production across an entire record by Kingdom Kome and Che Uno, extending that earlier relationship. Where the previous album involved several producers, this one places RUEN alongside the pair throughout, through Walking With Enoch Music. Kingdom Kome and Che Uno formed Los Chicos Criollos as an expression of their shared Argentine roots. In their Apple Music artist profile, they recall growing up with their parents’ Argentine folk music alongside the rap culture of the 1990s. That background has a specific political expression on “Verdadero Argentinos.” The duo describe the song as a tribute to Argentina’s Indigenous peoples, addressing the erasure of their cultures and histories through colonization and state violence. Elsewhere, “Olmedo Y Porcel” takes its name from Argentine comedians Alberto Olmedo and Jorge Porcel. Its video was filmed at Toronto’s El Almacen Café by WIZDOME BUNITALL for Fuego Films. The guests bring existing relationships into focus, too. Daniel Son joins “GunPowda NoseBumpz”; Kingdom Kome explained that they had already made several tracks together and that Daniel was connected to Che Uno. On “Miami Uzi,” the duo bring in Argentine MC Zé Pequeña, whom Kingdom Kome singled out for her work in Argentina and across South America when explaining why they wanted her on the album.

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Rest "GO!" (feat. Masta Ace) VIDEO

In a 2018 interview with BBarak, Rest singled out Masta Ace’s music among the records he loved. On “GO!”, the Czech MC shares a track with that same artist, with Idea producing and Marys handling the official video. The collaboration brings a longstanding listener together with a rapper whose relationship with European audiences helped reshape his own career. Rest’s path to records began in freestyle battles, but his partnership with DJ Fatte gave him a way beyond the competition circuit. Discussing their 2010 debut “Premiéra,” he recalled Fatte sending him beats and repeatedly pushing him to record. After hearing the title track, Fatte proposed producing a whole album. Idea agreed to release it. His involvement in “GO!” therefore reaches back well beyond this beat: he helped Rest turn those early recordings into an album. By the time of “Restart” in 2018, Rest was thanking Idea again for helping him complete the record and everything around it. Ace’s own story stretches from Marley Marl’s Juice Crew to a renewed solo career with “Disposable Arts” in 2001. In a Kingsize interview, he explained that a European tour the previous year had changed his mind about making another album. Crowds knew his songs and asked for more, challenging his belief that listeners had lost interest. That connection also developed through recordings with European artists. Asked how he chose those collaborations, Ace pointed to the beat and the business terms, then described the creative challenge: working out how his contribution could make sense within someone else’s idea. For him, those guest appearances were a way to stay sharp as a writer.

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Kenzi Nagazaki, Rod Roche, SYNO77 & Discan "SHADOWBOX" VIDEO

Discan contributes both verses and the video edit to “SHADOWBOX,” joining Kenzi Nagazaki and SYNO77 over production by Rod Roche. Kenzi presents the song as the opening preview of his forthcoming album “VENENO.” Roche and Discan were already part of the Chilean collective Cash Rules in 2024, alongside Douglass, NCS Aravena and Small Villain. In an interview with Expectador that year, Discan explained how friendship had grown out of making music together and how practical support connected their individual releases. If another member was recording an album, he might handle the filming; a solo record still belonged to the wider collective effort. His dual role on “SHADOWBOX” follows that practice of contributing to both a recording and its presentation. Discan’s own catalogue also reflects his willingness to take on several jobs. He said he had made all seven beats on his first album and recorded and mixed it himself, before setting himself the challenge of working with a different producer on every track of his second.

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Sankofa & Chef Mike "Wonder Twins Activate" (feat. JON?DOE) SINGLE

JON?DOE and Sankofa were sharing a rap community before they became The Silversmiths. Their connection reaches back to Sons of Zadok, the crew that became Society of NIMH. On “Wonder Twins Activate,” that history meets another established partnership: Sankofa’s work with producer Chef Mike. The single also appears on their album “Belle Isle's Abandoned Zoo.” In a 2025 interview with CABBAGES, Sankofa described discovering rap message boards while attending college in Minnesota during the 1990s. Those exchanges led to friendships he continued to draw on decades later, and he named JON?DOE among the artists he learned from. Their Silversmiths release “Gorilla Elephant” gives that relationship a more recent point of reference. Chef Mike brings a separate history of collaboration with the Fort Wayne rapper. Their 2020 release “313260” paired Mike’s production with Sankofa’s verses and cuts by Dap One, initially through Common and Normal in collaboration with Icy Palms. By 2025, Mike was proposing the album that became “43 Ill Laimbeer,” which also featured JON?DOE on “We're Jeff Goldbloom.” The three participants in “Wonder Twins Activate” had therefore already worked together on that earlier album. Their reunion on “Belle Isle's Abandoned Zoo” also carries a personal Detroit connection: Sankofa explains that visits to the city include runs on Belle Isle and stops at the former zoo. That recurring destination supplied the album’s name, replacing his original suggestion, “Detroit's Alchemist Stunt Double,” his nickname for Chef Mike.

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OG Rob "BROOKLYN ANTHEM (Remix)" (feat. Drama Bentley) VIDEO

OG Rob recruits Drama Bentley for “BROOKLYN ANTHEM (Remix),” bringing an artist from the OBH roster into a video directed by ASBCFILM. Bentley’s connection to the label runs through Lik Moss, who signed the Brooklyn MC to OBH Records. The signing was publicized alongside Bentley’s “Dope House” video in 2024. His album “HOOD DIARY” followed through OBH/OBHBKLYN in 2025. Alongside that solo work, Bentley has continued recording with the wider roster: he appears with Lik Moss, Pretty Flock, Beyah and OBH Berto on Idiot Jerk’s 2026 single “OBH WORLDWIDE.”

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YEAROFJORDN, Kai Onyx & Yogi Barry "Cloudy Above Kodak" ALBUM

The Rochester connections behind Kai Onyx and Yogi Barry’s forthcoming “Cloudy Above Kodak” extend from a local showcase to YEAROFJORDN’s earlier recordings. Shua and Lxxseleaf Midas, who join the two MCs on “Nate Will,” also appear alongside them in the Cloud Lounging Experience programme, curated by the Cloud Lounge Collective. YEAROFJORDN produces across the album, bringing that circle together with collaborators from his own catalogue. BroGawd, the guest on “Look At Me Now,” made “Outer Heaven” with him in 2020. Both wrote on that record over production by Adwerdz, with Midnite Beatz contributing additional production and handling the mix and mastering. On “Cloudy Above Kodak,” YEAROFJORDN takes the production role, while Midnite Beatz again contributes additional production and shares mixing and mastering duties. Curtis Coke provides another connection between the records: he appeared on “Outer Heaven” track “Eastside” and joins Magic Gretzky on “Dubland Underground.” Gretzky also contributes to the writing of “The Signs” and “Still Got Time,” participating beyond his guest appearance.

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Modenine "Gudu Gudu" VIDEO

Modenine was making his own beats as far back as “Malcolm IX” in 2004, including the backing for “150 Bars.” The Nigerian rapper presents the official video for “Gudu Gudu,” a song from his album “Barnacles,” with a recording history that includes several ways of getting unfinished music into circulation. Born in east London and raised partly in Lagos, he came through the Swat Root collective before building his solo catalogue. Production became a more deliberate pursuit after difficulties completing projects with other producers. Speaking to Punch in 2023, he recalled buying an MK3 in 2019, learning the hardware and getting pointers from his friend Mr Ray before deciding to rap over the resulting beats. That move followed another resourceful recording decision. For “The Monument,” he had handed Stormatique vocals from five songs originally recorded for a stalled project, allowing the producer to build fresh music around recordings held for years. “Barnacles” also renews an earlier vocal partnership: Maka appears alongside HQ on “Problem Fixer,” extending a relationship documented on the “Goodbye” remix from “Hence4th” in 2018.

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Solo For Dolo "KEEP THIS OFF THE INTERNET" SINGLE

A tour EP limited to 500 copies became Solo For Dolo’s 2009 album “The Truth For The Youth.” After the EP sold out, he returned to the studio to expand it into the earliest work he would distribute digitally. His single “KEEP THIS OFF THE INTERNET,” pairing the title track with “FUCK YA WORLD,” comes from an Asbury Park rapper and producer whose recording history reaches back to his school years. In a 2018 interview with The Pop Break, Solo traced part of that education to Sneed, an older artist who signed him to Adapted and became his partner in The Braves. Their recordings included “Reporting Live” with Canibus, and Solo recalled exploring more political subjects during that period. His work has also extended beyond his own records: he organized the Asbury Park Hip Hop Fest to put underground friends and local artists on the same stage, announcing Pacewon among the performers. That connection continued on record with the 2026 track “Party Crashin ft Pacewon,” which brings the two together over Solo’s production.

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